Federal judges issue warring rulings over DHS citizenship database for voter roll checks

Published July 10, 2026 5:00am ET



Two federal judges have issued conflicting rulings over the Trump administration’s use of a federal immigration database to help states check voter rolls for potentially illegal voters, creating a legal clash over whether purported privacy concerns can override state access to federal citizenship records.

The fight centers on the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, known as SAVE, which Republican-led states have sought to use to verify whether registered voters are U.S. citizens.

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