The Supreme Court, divided 6-3, ruled in favor of the Trump administration to permit the use of a beefed-up database for voter screening ahead of the midterm elections.
The database, known as Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE), is now linked with data from the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. The administration says this move will help them root out and prevent anyone without citizenship from voting in U.S. elections.
However, despite Trump’s previous claims that millions of noncitizens have voted illegally in previous elections, it’s exceedingly rare.
While federal law bars any large, systematic changes to elections 90 days beforehand, the decision clears the way for states to potentially use the expanded database to investigate individual voters.
In The Loop discusses what this could mean for voters in Illinois and beyond with a legal expert.
GUESTS: Chika Okafor, assistant professor of law at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
