A New Complaint Says DHS's Voter Roll Cleanup Is Kicking Americans Off The Rolls
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using a controversial tool to scrub voter rolls, but it may be causing problems for American citizens. The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which was designed to verify the immigration status of individuals applying for government services, has now been expanded to check voters' citizenship.
Twenty-two states have signed up to use SAVE, which means that they will be able to query voter rolls and personal identification information against a massive database of social security numbers. While this may sound like a good way to prevent non-citizens from voting, critics say that it's also putting American citizens at risk of being purged from the rolls.
A new complaint filed in Washington, D.C., alleges that the expanded SAVE program is causing problems for eligible US citizen voters who are being wrongfully kicked off their state voter rolls. The complaint claims that this is happening because of inaccurate data from the SAVE system, which can lead to incomplete or false results.
For example, in Texas, a man named Anthony Nel was identified as a non-citizen by SAVE and had his voter registration canceled in December 2025. However, it turned out that Nel was actually a US citizen. His case is just one of many examples that highlight the potential for errors in the new system.
Experts say that using disparate sources of data - including social security numbers, which were not originally intended for this use - can lead to inaccuracies and errors. They also point out that Congress has provided no specific statutory authorization for DHS to create a national citizenship data bank to look up any American's citizenship status.
"This is not in compliance with privacy regulations," says Leland Dudek, former acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration. "Social Security numbers were never intended for this use case."
The complaint argues that the inclusion of social security data in SAVE has effectively transformed it into a kind of national citizenship verification system, which raises significant concerns about voter rights and the potential for bias.
As the midterms approach, voting advocates are growing increasingly concerned about the impact of these efforts on American democracy. "We're talking about a known error rate that will result - and already has resulted - in multiple people being kicked off the voter rolls," says John Davisson, director of litigation and senior counsel at EPIC.
The expansion of SAVE is just one part of a larger trend of efforts to restrict voting access. Congress is considering a SAVE Act that would require proof of citizenship to vote, while billionaire Elon Musk has publicly supported ending the congressional filibuster to pass an "election integrity" law.
In Texas, there are already primary elections coming up in March, and if a voter's registration is canceled close to that election, they may lose the right to vote. The hurdles from the SAVE program have caused many voting advocates to worry about the potential for further barriers to voting in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections.
"This is not just a matter of fixing one specific error," says Nikhel Sus, deputy chief counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which is counsel for the plaintiffs in the case. "This is a systematic attempt to undermine the democratic process."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using a controversial tool to scrub voter rolls, but it may be causing problems for American citizens. The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which was designed to verify the immigration status of individuals applying for government services, has now been expanded to check voters' citizenship.
Twenty-two states have signed up to use SAVE, which means that they will be able to query voter rolls and personal identification information against a massive database of social security numbers. While this may sound like a good way to prevent non-citizens from voting, critics say that it's also putting American citizens at risk of being purged from the rolls.
A new complaint filed in Washington, D.C., alleges that the expanded SAVE program is causing problems for eligible US citizen voters who are being wrongfully kicked off their state voter rolls. The complaint claims that this is happening because of inaccurate data from the SAVE system, which can lead to incomplete or false results.
For example, in Texas, a man named Anthony Nel was identified as a non-citizen by SAVE and had his voter registration canceled in December 2025. However, it turned out that Nel was actually a US citizen. His case is just one of many examples that highlight the potential for errors in the new system.
Experts say that using disparate sources of data - including social security numbers, which were not originally intended for this use - can lead to inaccuracies and errors. They also point out that Congress has provided no specific statutory authorization for DHS to create a national citizenship data bank to look up any American's citizenship status.
"This is not in compliance with privacy regulations," says Leland Dudek, former acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration. "Social Security numbers were never intended for this use case."
The complaint argues that the inclusion of social security data in SAVE has effectively transformed it into a kind of national citizenship verification system, which raises significant concerns about voter rights and the potential for bias.
As the midterms approach, voting advocates are growing increasingly concerned about the impact of these efforts on American democracy. "We're talking about a known error rate that will result - and already has resulted - in multiple people being kicked off the voter rolls," says John Davisson, director of litigation and senior counsel at EPIC.
The expansion of SAVE is just one part of a larger trend of efforts to restrict voting access. Congress is considering a SAVE Act that would require proof of citizenship to vote, while billionaire Elon Musk has publicly supported ending the congressional filibuster to pass an "election integrity" law.
In Texas, there are already primary elections coming up in March, and if a voter's registration is canceled close to that election, they may lose the right to vote. The hurdles from the SAVE program have caused many voting advocates to worry about the potential for further barriers to voting in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections.
"This is not just a matter of fixing one specific error," says Nikhel Sus, deputy chief counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which is counsel for the plaintiffs in the case. "This is a systematic attempt to undermine the democratic process."
It's like, what if I accidentally misfill out my tax return form? I get audited all the time! 
But apparently, this "SAVE" system is super sensitive and can flag someone for not being a citizen just 'cause they got their SSN mixed up. Meanwhile, people are getting their voter registration canceled without even realizing it! That's some messed up stuff right there... 
Can we please just have a national conversation about how to make voting more accessible, rather than trying to weed out the "undesirables"?
this is getting outta hand, US citizens being kicked off voter rolls because of some messed up data from a system that's not even designed for it... I mean, what's next? 
they're already trying to restrict voting access with proof of citizenship laws and now they're messing with people's registrations too... it's just one big mess. And don't even get me started on the fact that Congress hasn't given DHS any specific statutory authorization for this... like, come on guys, can't you just follow the rules for once? 
It's gotta be super easy to get it wrong and end up affecting innocent people's right to vote. I'm so worried about this because we need everyone to participate in democracy, not have their voices silenced 
. And, like, can you believe they're using social security numbers to verify citizenship? That's, like, totally not what those are for 
. We need to be talking about how to fix this ASAP and make sure our voting systems are more secure, not less 
. This is a major red flag, guys! 
this is so unfair 
. It's like, how can that happen? 
.
They're for paying taxes and getting benefits, not for checking someone's citizenship status 
. And Congress didn't even provide a law to make it happen 
, especially with the midterms coming up 
. We need to protect our democracy 
, not try to restrict voting rights 
️. Can't we just focus on making sure everyone can vote and have their voices heard? 
. It turns out my grandma's maiden name is on there from like 20 years ago... I don't even think she's living anymore! This is so messed up. The government should be more careful when they're making these changes. I mean, what if this system starts picking up wrong info? We need to make sure our votes count and that everyone has equal access to voting 
not cool.
. i got friends who are being flagged for voting twice just because their SSN was used in some random database. that doesn't sound right at all 
. and what really gets my goat is they're not even following proper protocol 
. congress needs to step up and make sure this doesn't happen on election day, 'cause we gotta protect our democracy 
. I mean, we all know how hard it is to keep track of everyone's info, but still... 
It's like they're trying to make it harder for people to vote, which is basically the opposite of democracy 
. I'm all for keeping America great, but not at the cost of taking away our rights 
. And have you seen those Texas primary elections coming up in March? It's like, what if someone shows up to vote but their reg is all messed up because of this program? 
. I'm all for keeping our democracy strong, but we gotta make sure we're doing it the right way