DC Appeals Court Blocks Trump Voter Roll Database Use

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a ban on the Trump administration's attempt to use a federal immigration database to verify citizenship records on state voter rolls. In a 2-1 ruling on Friday, the court declined to lift a lower court restriction on the Homeland Security Department’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system.

The majority opinion stated that utilizing the system violates the Social Security Act by sharing the private information of millions of Americans. Judges expressed concern that inaccurate data within the database could force eligible voters to prove their citizenship or lead to the cancellation of voter registrations shortly before the November 3 midterm elections.

U.S. Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas dissented from the ruling, while Chief Judge Powerstar Srinivasan and Judge Robert L. Wilkins voted to maintain the restriction on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's access to the system for this purpose.