A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration’s national voter verification database to be dismantled, ruling that the system violated federal privacy laws and interfered with Americans’ voting rights.
In the decision, U.S. District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan said federal agencies moved forward with the modified SAVE database despite knowing it conflicted with laws including the Privacy Act, Social Security Act, and Administrative Procedure Act. The court found agencies rushed to comply with President Trump’s executive order by combining personal information from multiple government databases.
Sooknanan ruled the 2025 SAVE system and related notices were unlawful, calling the program “arbitrary and capricious,” contrary to law, and beyond the government’s statutory authority.
The court also found the database violated protections governing Social Security records and federal privacy requirements.
The lawsuit, filed last year by the League of Women Voters, several affiliate organizations, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, argued the federal government unlawfully collected and merged personal data without congressional authorization.
“The federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” Sooknanan wrote. “This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”
