SCOTUS clears way for Trump to use Social Security data to cure voter rolls

Trump had issued an executive order in March of 2025 directing the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to set up systems that allow governments to verify citizenship and immigration status. The DHS modified the Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to local governments could use it to verify voter rolls. Voter rights groups challenged the move, claiming it violated federal privacy laws.

The Supreme Court ruled in an unsigned opinion that a lower court’s order blocking the move “inhibits the Federal Government’s efforts to assist state and local agencies in the proper administration of the midterm elections.”

The majority said that while the groups that sued had standing to pursue their claim, they were not likely to prevail on the merits of their claims. The court said that the federal government would suffer permanent harm if the lower court’s order remained in place. The ruling stated, “the Federal Government has an obligation to respond to requests from state and local election officials seeking to verify the citizenship of voters. The order below prevents the Federal Government from using the program it believes is best suited to the task.”

The ruling came 39 days before the midterm elections. The court noted in its ruling that the National Voter Registration Act bars state and local governments from systematically removing voters from their election rolls in the 90 days preceding federal elections. They said that the order remaining in place, however, would still bar state and local governments from “conduct[ing] individualized inquiries, which are permitted under federal law during this period.”

The court granted the Trump administration a stay pending the results of an appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.