Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Use of Revamped Immigration Database to Check Voter Rolls
Luc Cohen, Reuters, June 22, 2026
A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from using a revamped version of an immigration database for checking the accuracy of state voter rolls, dealing a blow to U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost the role of the federal government in elections ahead of the midterm elections in November.
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In a 75-page decision, on Monday, U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in Washington, D.C., sided with voting rights and privacy advocates who argued that the overhaul of the system, known as SAVE, made it less accurate and risked disenfranchising eligible voters.
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A March 2026 executive order restricting mail-in voting has also drawn legal challenges. Federal judges have also rejected nine of the lawsuits the administration has brought against 30 states and the District of Columbia for refusing to hand over their complete voter rolls.
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Voting-rights advocates argue that SAVE can be outdated, meaning immigrants who have been naturalized and are thus eligible to vote are sometimes labeled as noncitizens.
Sooknanan ruled that the revamp also violated privacy laws restricting the federal government’s disclosure of Social Security numbers and other information.
