As the November midterm elections approach, the Trump administration continues to push unsubstantiated claims about widespread noncitizen voting using flimsy evidence primarily based on half-baked list-matching efforts. In fact, a whistleblower has revealed that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) actions likely violate state laws meant to protect voters’ sensitive data. In doing so, the administration is following an old playbook to produce inflated numbers that can then be used to confuse voters, spread a false narrative about voter fraud, and justify voter suppression. Worst of all, these extreme efforts are improperly flagging eligible American citizens who could be prevented from casting a ballot if they do not understand how to protect their right to vote.
Central to this endeavor is the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system, a tool originally intended to assist agencies with verifying the eligibility of immigrants for government benefits. DHS is now using SAVE to attempt to identify noncitizens on the voter rolls. These list-matching programs, where state voter rolls are compared to potentially incorrect or incomplete federal data, are often flawed because of poor data quality or simply outdated information.
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