Supreme Court Lets Trump Use Your Social Security Data for Voter Checks Without Your Consent

The Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can resume a voter-verification system that uses Social Security records to check whether people on state voter rolls are U.S. citizens.^[1]

That means a state can upload your information for a citizenship check without asking you first. SAVE can check your Social Security record without your consent, and you may not learn about the search unless election officials need you to prove your citizenship.

In June, U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan ruled that this use and disclosure of Social Security information violated federal privacy law. She also found that the agencies began using the expanded system before completing required public notice procedures.^[2]

The Supreme Court has put her ruling on hold while the administration appeals.

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Your Social Security record can be used in a voter check

The system is called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE. Congress called for an immigration-status verification system in 1986, and the immigration service created SAVE in 1987 to help agencies check eligibility for certain public benefits. States later began using it for voter-registration checks.

The Trump administration expanded SAVE in 2025. Agencies can now upload records in bulk and search using full or partial Social Security numbers. Earlier searches generally required a DHS-issued immigration identifier, which people born in the U.S. don’t have.

When an agency submits someone’s information, the Social Security Administration (SSA) checks its records and sends results to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

According to the Supreme Court’s opinion, those results include the person’s full name, birth date, full Social Security number, and citizenship status. SAVE then sends the agency a verification response.

By May, at least 67 million voter registrations had gone through the expanded system, according to an Associated Press report published by PBS News.

The judge found that the data sharing broke the law

The Privacy Act restricts federal agencies from disclosing personally identifiable information without consent, subject to exceptions. One permits a use compatible with the purpose for which the information was collected.

Sooknanan found that the government hadn’t shown how collecting private information for Social Security purposes was compatible with using it for state voter checks.

Her ruling also found that the agencies violated the Social Security Act and failed to meet the Privacy Act’s notice requirements.

DHS and SSA launched the expanded system in May 2025, then published notices describing the new uses of the records in the fall. As Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in her dissent, “the modified SAVE system … had already been in operation since May.”

The Supreme Court’s six-justice majority concluded that a separate federal statute likely permits DHS to request and receive citizenship information despite the restrictions cited by the lower court.

Its decision allows the expanded system to operate during the appeal.

An outdated record can put your registration at risk

If SAVE can’t confirm someone’s citizenship, election officials may ask that person for proof. A state could cancel the registration if the voter doesn’t provide it. SAVE doesn’t make the final decision.

Federal law generally restricts systematic voter removals within 90 days of a federal election. The Supreme Court said that limits the immediate effect of its decision, though individual inquiries can still occur.

You can’t opt out of an election agency’s SAVE query. You can check your registration through your state’s election website.

Use an official election page when you do: as our reporting on VoteSafe found, a private voter-checking site can collect your information without giving you a live view of the state’s records.

If you’ve become a U.S. citizen, SSA also explains how to update your citizenship status in its records.

Author Details

Thomas Kent

About the Author

Thomas Kent is a multi-disciplined reporter with over a decade of experience covering online platforms, digital trends, and consumer-facing tech. Tom focuses on digital privacy, data tracking, and user behavior, with a particular interest in how cookies, online surveillance, and platform design shape the modern internet experience. His reporting takes a research-driven, news-focused approach, translating complex technical topics into clear, accessible insights.