The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to use an expanded citizenship database to check voter rolls, lifting a lower court order while a legal challenge continues.
Read more ‘Blockbuster story’ links $50 million pro-Trump contributions to death of major safeguard
The justices split 6-3. The administration added Social Security data to the SAVE system, allowing officials to search by Social Security number and check voter registrations in bulk, according to NBC News. Critics have warned that errors could cause eligible voters to be flagged.
“But the court noted in its unsigned ruling that the National Voter Registration Act bars the broad purging of voter rolls in the weeks leading up to an election, which ‘limits the potential impact’ of the decision this year,” the outlet reported Friday.
Read more Trump turns back on reporters as they shout questions at him
Democracy Docket founder Mark E. Elias called the ruling “a dangerous decision for voters.”
“The Supreme Court authorized the Trump administration to overhaul a federal immigration database into a vast, centralized and deeply flawed database of personal information to initiate registration purges,” he wrote.
Read more ‘Painful spending decisions’ predicted as map tilts against GOP candidates: report
