Federal judge blocks updated SAVE database, citing privacy and voter risk | Ukraine news
Federal judge blocks updated SAVE database, citing privacy and voter risk | Ukraine news
https://mezha.net/eng/bukvy/395d4011_federal_judge_blocks/
Publish Date: 2026-06-22 15:23:00
Source Domain: mezha.net
A Washington federal judge halted the upgraded SAVE database, warning it could wrongly remove eligible voters and threaten privacy.
On June 22, 2026, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., halted the use of an updated version of the SAVE database designed to verify the accuracy of voter rolls concerning citizenship and immigration status. The ruling dealt a blow to the administration’s efforts to expand the federal government’s role in the electoral process ahead of the midterm elections.
Last year, the Department of Homeland Security upgraded the SAVE system to streamline citizenship and immigration-status verification and to give states and local officials the ability to verify more effectively that the votes belong to actual U.S. citizens.
In a 75-page decision, Judge Sparkle Sooknanan of Washington, D.C., backed the position of civil rights and privacy advocacy groups, which argued that the SAVE modernization made it less accurate and risked depriving real voters of their right to vote.
The federal government knowingly violated American citizens’ privacy rights in a way that threatens the sacred right to vote.
– Sparkle Sooknanan
The court also noted that the SAVE modernization violates privacy laws by restricting disclosure of Social Security numbers and other information, which could lead to voter discrimination. DHS and DOJ representatives did not immediately comment after the ruling was announced.
State of the Reform and Its Impact on the Electoral System
In the United States, election administration remains with the states, but supporters of strengthening the federal government’s role have pressed for greater oversight of the electoral process as part of countering fraud. Meanwhile, audits and scientific studies indicate that voter fraud is rare. These controversial assessments have provided a basis for further government actions in this direction.
As part of its policy agenda, the administration has proposed expanding the federal…
