Court Orders Dismantling of SAVE Voter Database Over Privacy Law Violations
Summary
A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s SAVE voter database violated federal privacy laws and ordered it dismantled. The court cited unreliable citizenship data and voters whose registrations were wrongly canceled.
Key points
- The court ruled that SAVE violated the Privacy Act, Social Security Act, and Administrative Procedure Act, and ordered the system and related notices vacated.
- The judge found agencies combined and repurposed sensitive information from multiple government databases, including citizenship data they knew was unreliable.
- The ruling said some voters were wrongly identified as non-citizens and had their registrations canceled after states used the modified system.
- The League of Women Voters, local affiliates, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center brought the lawsuit.
- The court found the database’s use threatened privacy rights and the right to vote.
Article Details
- Event Type
- Federal court ruling ordering the dismantling of the SAVE voter database
- Impact
- The court found that the system violated the Privacy Act, Social Security Act, and Administrative Procedure Act by combining and repurposing sensitive government data, including unreliable citizenship data. It found that some voters were wrongly identified as non-citizens and had their registrations canceled, and ordered the 2025 SAVE modified system and related notices set aside and vacated.