The Supreme Court has given the Trump administration the green light to use an expanded federal database to help states check the citizenship status of people registered to vote.
The 6-3 decision on Friday allows the administration to move forward with changes to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, better known as SAVE. The case reached the Supreme Court after lower courts blocked the administration's expanded use of the system.
But the ruling comes with an important limitation that states cannot simply use the decision to carry out broad voter-roll removals in the weeks before an election, as per a NBC News report.
What the Supreme Court Ruling Allows
The expanded SAVE system gives states access to additional federal information when checking citizenship.
SAVE was originally created by Congress in 1986 to help government agencies determine immigration status when people applied for benefits such as Social Security.
The Trump administration expanded the system after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March 2025 directing federal agencies to take steps to ensure that only U.S. citizens vote in elections.
The changes added information from the Social Security Administration and made it possible to search the database using Social Security numbers and through bulk searches.
The Supreme Court said federal law requires the government to respond when states request citizenship information. The justices also said the lower-court injunction prevented the federal government from using the program it believed was best suited to provide that information.
Why the Decision Does Not Mean an Immediate Voter Purge
Supreme Court decision doesn't eliminate the federal regulations on voter list management.
Justices particularly mentioned the National Voter Registration Act, which prohibits sweeping measures of voter list cleanup within the period just before an election. The court said that restriction "limits the potential impact" of its decision this year.
States can still make individualized inquiries about voters.
That means the expanded database can now be used for citizenship checks, but existing federal law still places limits on broad efforts to remove voters from registration lists.
Critics Question the Accuracy of the Database
The expanded SAVE system has also faced criticism over the accuracy of the information it produces.
According to reporting from ProPublica and the Texas Tribune cited in the material provided, some local officials found mistakes after states began running voter rolls through the system. Many of those flagged were newly naturalized citizens.
Texas was one of the first states to run its entire voter rolls through SAVE, checking more than 18 million registrations. According to the details provided, only three people had been charged with illegally voting as noncitizens.
Opponents of the expanded system have argued that people who are incorrectly flagged could face additional bureaucratic requirements to prove their citizenship.
Justice Jackson Raises Concern About Lawful Voters
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was among the three justices who dissented.
In her dissent, Jackson argued that the government had not shown enough reason for the Supreme Court to block the lower-court ruling.
She also argued that the potential harm of burdening or disenfranchising lawful voters outweighed the government's claimed harm from being prevented from using the expanded system.
What Happens Now
The Supreme Court's decision allows the expanded SAVE database to be used while the broader legal questions surrounding the program remain in dispute.
The administration can respond to state requests for citizenship information through the system, including individualized checks.
At the same time, federal law continues to restrict broad voter-roll purges close to an election.
The case therefore leaves two issues running side by side: states have greater access to federal citizenship information, while the existing federal rules governing voter-roll removals remain in place.
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