US Judge Blocks Federal Voter Citizenship Database, Dealing Setback to Trump Election Initiative

A federal judge in the United States has ruled that a recently expanded federal tool central to the government's election integrity strategy is illegal and can no longer be used. Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan sided with activist groups who argued that recent upgrades to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program unlawfully added sensitive personal data of American citizens in a manner that could result in eligible voters being wrongly removed from electoral rolls.

The SAVE program was created under immigration law to help federal, state, and local agencies prevent non-citizens from receiving government assistance benefits. However, the Trump administration significantly expanded the program's search capabilities beginning in April 2025. Since then, at least 25 states have used it to review their voter rolls, with over 67 million voter registrations examined through the system. Critics contend that despite these intentions, the expanded program risks removing legitimate voters from the rolls.

In her ruling, Judge Sooknanan stated that the federal government had deliberately violated citizens' privacy rights in a manner threatening the right to vote. She noted that Congress had explicitly prohibited the government from centralizing Americans' personal identifying information, and that federal agencies that created SAVE "knew that the database violates those legal protections." The decision represents a significant legal blow to President Trump's broader election administration agenda, as the modified SAVE system was a cornerstone of an executive order on voting signed early in his second term.

The ruling casts uncertainty over the future of Trump's expanded election integrity efforts, which have included multiple court challenges. These initiatives also encompass requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship for registration, banning mail-in ballots received after election day, and restricting the Postal Service from sending ballots to unverified registrants. The majority of these measures have been blocked by various courts, partly because the Constitution grants authority over election rules to the states and Congress, not the president.

Non-citizen voting is already illegal and punishable as a potential felony that could lead to deportation, and remains extremely rare, representing only a tiny fraction of those registered to vote. James Percival, the Department of Homeland Security's general counsel, responded to the ruling on social media, stating that "it is incredible how hard the left will fight to prevent us from solving problems they insist do not exist." The Department of Justice declined to comment immediately on the decision.