The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Trump administration to resume using a federal database to identify potential non-citizens on voter rolls. The decision overrides a previous ruling by a federal district judge, who had declared the program illegal and a violation of privacy rights.

The program, known as Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (Save), was originally established in 1986 to verify immigration status for public benefit applicants. Under the Trump administration, the program's capabilities were expanded to include bulk searches using Social Security data. While the Supreme Court's conservative majority noted that the National Voter Registration Act limits broad purges of voter rolls shortly before an election, they concluded that the government should not be prevented from using the program it deems most effective for verifying eligibility.

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The ruling drew dissent from the court's three liberal justices. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson argued that the potential for disenfranchising eligible voters outweighs the government's interest in the program, stating, "The harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the non-existent harm that the government experiences when it is prevented from taking an action that it likely lacks the authority to take."

Critics, including the League of Women Voters, expressed concern that the database is unreliable and could lead to the wrongful removal of U.S. citizens from electoral rolls. Reports from Texas have previously indicated that a significant portion of voters flagged by the system were actually citizens. Conversely, supporters of the program, such as Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, maintain that the system is a necessary tool that includes "guardrails" to protect the rights of eligible voters.

Currently, 27 states participate in the voluntary program. The Supreme Court's decision affirms the government's obligation to provide citizenship and immigration data to states that request it under a 1996 law. Source: BBC News