A federal court has halted a Trump administration initiative aimed at expanding voter-eligibility verification through a federal citizenship database, creating another legal hurdle for the administration as it seeks to implement election-security measures ahead of future federal elections.
The dispute centers on a federal effort launched after President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order directing agencies to strengthen citizenship verification capabilities available to state election officials.
The initiative sought to combine information from multiple federal databases into a system that could be used to verify voter eligibility and citizenship status.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, appointed by former President Joe Biden, blocked the effort in a ruling issued Monday.
At the center of the dispute is the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, program.
The system has historically been used by government agencies to verify immigration status for public-benefit eligibility.
Under the administration’s initiative, the database was expanded to incorporate additional information, including records from the Social Security Administration, allowing broader citizenship verification searches.
In a lengthy opinion, the court determined that federal agencies exceeded legal limits when they combined records from multiple government databases and expanded access to sensitive personal information.
The ruling found that the administration’s actions conflicted with provisions of the Social Security Act, the Privacy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act, CBS News reported.
The ruling stated that several states had already incorporated the updated verification tool into voter-roll maintenance efforts, and court filings alleged that database errors resulted in some eligible citizens being incorrectly identified during those reviews.
According to the decision, those alleged errors contributed to voter-registration cancellations in certain cases, prompting concerns from advocacy organizations that challenged the system in court.
The lawsuit was filed by the League of Women Voters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and several individual plaintiffs.
The groups argued that federal agencies unlawfully consolidated personal information from multiple government databases and created a centralized voter-verification system by combining records from multiple federal agencies without following required legal procedures or privacy safeguards.
The Trump administration defended the modernization effort, arguing that federal law permits information-sharing between agencies and that the SAVE system’s expansion was intended to assist states in maintaining accurate voter rolls.
Justice Department attorneys also argued that only a limited number of records may contain inaccurate citizenship information.
Critics of the ruling, including DHS General Counsel James Percival, argued that the decision hinders efforts to address noncitizen voting concerns, according to The Hill.
In a statement posted on social media, Percival said the ruling was another example of legal resistance to measures aimed at strengthening election security and verifying voter eligibility.
Voting-rights organizations celebrated the decision as a victory for privacy protections and election administration.
USA Today reported that representatives for the League of Women Voters and Democracy Forward said the ruling reduces the risk that administrative record errors could affect voter-registration status.
The administration may appeal the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The ruling adds to a growing list of court battles surrounding federal election-policy changes pursued during Trump’s second term.
