US Supreme Court revives expanded voter citizenship verification system

The US Supreme Court on Friday granted the Trump administration’s request to temporarily revive an expanded federal voter citizenship verification system while litigation over the program continues.

In a per curiam order, the justices stayed a June 22 ruling by a federal district court in Washington, DC, that had set aside and vacated modifications to the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, program.

The case, Department of Homeland Security v. League of Women Voters, involves changes made to SAVE in 2025 that expanded the records available for citizenship verification and allowed state and local authorities to conduct searches involving multiple individuals at once.

The modified system incorporated records from the Social Security Administration, including Social Security numbers, and allowed election officials to submit identifying information through the SAVE portal. The system could then return information concerning an individual’s citizenship status.

The justices granted the Justice Department’s request to pause the lower-court ruling, which had barred state officials from using Social Security numbers and other federal records to conduct broad citizenship checks of registered voters.

The administration’s expanded voter-verification efforts are part of a broader push to boost the federal government’s role in election administration ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, while states traditionally have primary responsibility for conducting and overseeing elections under the US Constitution.

Attorney General Todd Blanche praised the Supreme Court's decision.

"Huge victory for election integrity!" Blanche said on US social media company X.

Blanche said the Supreme Court granted the Justice Department’s stay in revamping the SAVE citizenship verification database, which will allow states to clear the voter rolls of "illegal voters."

"The modified SAVE system allows state and local officials to conduct citizenship verification of registered voters to keep aliens from voting," he said, adding the Justice Department will continue fighting in court for secure elections.

The decision was a victory for the Trump administration after a series of judicial setbacks.

Trump is not on the ballot for the midterms, but if Democrats make sizeable gains in Congress, as most current polls predict, Trump’s ability to govern in the rest of his term could be significantly hindered.