Federal Judge Sparkle Sooknanan Halts Trump Administration’s Overhauled SAVE Voter Purge Database

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. blocked the Trump administration’s overhauled SAVE system, ruling that the centralized database violated federal privacy law and had already led states to wrongly purge eligible voters from their rolls.

“Washington — A federal judge on Monday ruled the Trump administration acted unlawfully when it created a centralized database that contains Americans' private information, which she said has since been used by some states to incorrectly remove U”

CBS News

U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan said the administration “knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” and she ordered the overhauled system halted.

CBS News

The blocked system, called SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements), was originally designed to verify immigration status for federal benefits, but the Trump administration overhauled it in 2025 to include natural-born citizens and permit bulk searches by states seeking to identify noncitizens on voter rolls.

Sooknanan found that some plaintiffs’ members were wrongfully identified as noncitizens and had their registrations canceled as a result, and she ruled the administration “flunked compliance” with the Social Security Act, the Privacy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

The ruling immediately halted the overhauled SAVE system and was described as likely to be appealed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The decision was framed as a check on federal use of sensitive data, with Democracy Forward saying the ruling protects “the sacred right to vote” and marks “an important victory for the American people and our democracy.”

Marcia Johnson, chief of activation and justice for the League of Women Voters, said “Efforts to create a federal voter database to facilitate voter purges threaten the fundamental right at the heart of our democracy,” while Joan Porte of the League of Women Voters of Virginia warned that “No one should have to worry that inaccurate records or bureaucratic mistakes could jeopardize their registration.”

CNN

The case was brought by the League of Women Voters and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, with Democracy Forward Foundation, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and Fair Elections Center listed as representing the coalition.

Justice Department lawyers argued only a small number of naturalized voters might have inaccurate citizenship data in Social Security records, but Sooknanan called that claim a “red herring.”

CBS News reported that Sooknanan said the administration violated three different laws with its new system that includes Americans’ citizenship data, and she set aside the overhaul of the SAVE system.

The ruling’s practical effect was described as halting the overhauled SAVE system and blocking the Trump administration from using the citizenship database to purge voters from registration rolls.

“A federal judge in Washington D”

Democracy Docket

The Hill reported that Sooknanan said efforts to establish the database were unlawful and violated the Social Security Act, Privacy Act and Administrative Procedure Act, and it quoted her warning that “Since then, states have partnered with the federal government to access the database and are actively removing United States citizens from voter rolls based on inaccurate information.”

Democracy Docket said the court ordered DHS to set aside the modifications to the SAVE system and the related System of Records Notices, returning them to their status quo before the changes.

CNN described the judge’s order as halting the use of the expanded data system, and it said the ruling was a major setback for the administration’s effort to find foreigners on state voter lists.

The sources also described litigation beyond the database itself, including the Department of Justice seeking to collect state voter registration files and suing 30 states and Washington D.C. for access, with Democracy Docket stating “So far, the DOJ is 0-9 in those lawsuits.”