US Appeals Court Blocks Trump Administration from Verifying Voter Citizenship

A federal appeals court in Washington D.C. has upheld a ban preventing the Trump administration from using a Department of Homeland Security immigration database to verify citizenship records on state voter rolls. The ruling, issued on Friday, blocks the administration from using the 'Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements' (SAVE) database ahead of the midterm elections scheduled for November 3. The court, in a two-to-one decision, upheld a lower court's injunction. Judges Sri Srinivasan and Robert Wilkins, both appointed by former President Barack Obama, concluded that the verification system violates the Social Security Act by allowing the sharing of personal information belonging to millions of Americans. The judges also cited concerns regarding the potential for inaccurate citizenship data within the database, which could force individuals to prove their citizenship to remain registered or lead to the erroneous cancellation of their voter registration. Circuit Judge Gregory Katsas, a Trump appointee, dissented from the majority opinion. Previously, in July, a judge in Florida had ordered the Department of Homeland Security to resume granting four Republican-led states access to the database, following a separate nationwide injunction. The latest appellate ruling reinforces the block on the system's use.