Trump Administration Runs 67 Million Voter Records Through SAVE Program

Donald Trump has pushed to federalize election verification by running approximately 67 million voter registrations through the Department of Homeland Security's Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program. The effort, adopted by at least 25 states primarily under Republican control, aims to identify noncitizens and deceased individuals on voter rolls. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reported that the program flagged roughly 24,000 potential noncitizens. The number of potentially deceased individuals identified increased from approximately 350,000 to over 380,000 as the review progressed. The Department of Justice, under Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division, has sued states that refuse to provide unredacted voter data for the checks. Republican officials, including Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, have endorsed the SAVE system as a critical verification tool and argued that flagged voters can restore their status by providing proof of citizenship. Civil rights advocates and Democratic officials have filed at least six federal lawsuits challenging the program's legality and accuracy. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio is challenging a state law requiring monthly voter eligibility checks through the DHS system. Critics warn that outdated data produces false positives and that short appeal windows before the November elections risk disenfranchising eligible voters who are mistakenly flagged.