A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from allowing states to use a centralized national database—originally designed to verify immigration status—to screen voter rolls, ruling that the practice violated multiple federal laws. The decision, issued Monday by Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan of the U.S. District Court, prohibits the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from permitting states to access the data, which also includes sensitive information from Social Security records.

The ruling stems from an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump in March 2025, which directed federal agencies to pool data to help states verify citizenship among registered voters. This database, known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system, was repurposed to check voter eligibility—a use the court found unlawful. The order further mandated collaboration between DHS and the Social Security Administration to cross-reference immigration status with voter registration.

Judge Sooknanan, an appointee of President Joe Biden, criticized the implementation of the system as “haphazard” and warned that it endangered the voting rights of eligible American citizens. She noted that the database contained outdated or inaccurate records, which could erroneously flag naturalized citizens or lawful voters as ineligible, potentially leading states to purge lawful voters ahead of upcoming elections. “The federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” she stated in the ruling.

The judge also pointed to internal Homeland Security communications acknowledging that the system might violate federal privacy laws and produce false positives. Additionally, she expressed concern over federal agencies’ efforts to create a centralized database combining private citizen information—including Social Security numbers and citizenship status—contravening congressional protections.

Responding to the ruling, James Percival, DHS’s general counsel, described the decision as an example of partisan resistance to attempts to address purported election integrity issues. The Trump administration has escalated federal intervention in state election management, citing disputed claims of voter fraud and asserting that ineligible voters, including undocumented immigrants, appear on state rolls. The Justice Department has supported efforts to develop a national voter database and has filed lawsuits against Democratic-led states that resisted sharing voter records.

Earlier on Monday, a separate federal judge in Maryland dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking Maryland’s voter records, marking the latest in a series of legal setbacks for the administration.

The lawsuit that prompted Judge Sooknanan’s ruling was initiated by the League of Women Voters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and several members who argued that the federal government’s compilation of their personal data into a voter eligibility tool posed risks of abuse and suppression. Skye Perryman, president of Democracy Forward, which represented the coalition, called the decision “an important victory for the American people and our democracy.”

Initially, in November, Judge Sooknanan had declined to halt the SAVE system’s overhaul, citing uncertainty over actual misuse of the data. However, new evidence presented showed that states, including Texas and Louisiana, had begun using the system to review voter rolls and had improperly flagged eligible voters for removal.

In related developments tied to the administration’s efforts to influence election procedures, the U.S. Postal Service recently proposed a plan allowing it to reject delivery of mail ballots in states that refuse to share their voter registration lists with the federal government—a move critics contend could further complicate access to voting.