A federal judge has recently put a stop to the Trump administration’s use of a revamped immigration database aimed at identifying noncitizens registered to vote nationwide. The 75-page ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle Sooknanan highlighted concerns over the threat to Americans’ privacy and voting rights posed by the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program.
The decision comes amid ongoing investigations in over two dozen states that have utilized the SAVE system over the past year. Despite the ruling, the investigations already underway will continue, leaving the estimated 24,000 registered voters identified by the Department of Homeland Security in a state of uncertainty.
Impact on States Using the SAVE System
Texas stands out as one of the states most affected by the SAVE system, having flagged more than 2,700 people as potential noncitizens. Last fall, the Texas Secretary of State’s Office sent these lists to county elections officials for further investigation. However, as previously reported, many of these voters had already proven their citizenship during the registration process.
Chris McGinn, executive director of the Texas Association of County Election Officials noted that most counties had completed their investigations. County officials sent out letters to those on the list, giving them 30 days to provide proof of eligibility. McGinn estimated that 75% to 80% of those in smaller counties have already been removed from the voter rolls due to non-response within the deadline.
McGinn candidly remarked, “Candidly, I think it was more political than practical in Texas.” He emphasized that with 19 million registered voters in Texas, the 2,700 flagged represent a small percentage, and there is still no consistent evidence that ineligible voters are impacting elections.
Legal and Practical Implications
Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project stated that the ruling “turns the spigot off of a broken system, but it doesn’t go backwards in time.” She underscored that thousands of people already caught up in the system remain at risk.
Dan Vicuña, senior policy director for voting and fair representation at Common Cause which filed a legal brief in support of the League of Women Voters’ lawsuit noted that the judge’s ruling provides avenues for those improperly removed from voter registration lists to challenge the decisions. “It will provide some strong avenues for people who have been tossed to challenge that,” he said, adding that other lawsuits could offer more help to individual voters.
Common Cause is currently suing several Texas counties that removed voters from their rolls based on the revamped SAVE system. Other states using SAVE have flagged smaller numbers of potential noncitizen voters. For instance, Louisiana identified about 400 potential noncitizen voters and found 83 who had voted in at least one election since the 1980s. In 2026Georgia identified 20 potential noncitizen voters out of more than 8 million registered voters.
Ongoing Investigations and Future Steps
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger expressed disappointment with the judge’s ruling but stated his intention to proceed with a new check of voter rolls to ensure no noncitizens are listed. In Arizona’s Maricopa County a top election official recently referred more than 200 cases of potential noncitizen voters to state and local prosecutors for potential prosecution.
Initially, Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap reported that his office had used SAVE to identify 137 potential noncitizens on the rolls, with 60 of those having voted in prior elections. This represents about 0.2% of the 60,000 voters run through the system and a tiny fraction of the county’s total 2.5 million voters.
The legal ruling’s impact on ongoing investigations remains unclear, as Heap’s office and the state attorney general’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Georgia’s Voting System Overhaul Delayed
In related news, Georgia was facing a self-imposed deadline of July 1 to revamp its voting system and stop using QR codes on ballots. After it became clear the state couldn’t meet the deadline, the Legislature voted this week in a special session to delay the overhaul by two years.
Joseph Kirk, an election supervisor for Georgia’s Bartow County and president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials had warned that a failure to postpone the move would have created an “election nightmare.” Kirk expressed gratitude for the Legislature’s decision, stating that it provides the necessary time to examine, test, and educate the public responsibly.
Kirk emphasized that the delay ensures voters will have the same voting experience they have had for the last few years. The new requirements for post-election audits and hand recounts for close races will add more time and cost to the process, but Kirk is confident that efficient methods will be found to meet the new requirements.