A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration’s overhaul of an immigration verification system to check voter eligibility across the nation, striking down a central pillar of the government’s efforts to exercise more federal control over elections.

Background

The judge cited Texas’ use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, database, which flagged several voters who were actually citizens as noncitizens, as evidence that it threatened both privacy and voting rights less than five months before the November midterm election.

“The federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote,” Judge Sparkle Sooknanan said in her 75-page ruling. “This Court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”

Impact

The ruling could strengthen challenges by voters who were removed, flagged, or placed under review by the system. Voting rights groups, including the League of Women Voters, argued that the SAVE system was inaccurate and that using it to check voter rolls violated citizen privacy rights.

Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, agreed that voters would benefit from the ruling. “This provides incremental reassurance that they won’t be inaccurately singled out and have to jump through even more hoops to vote,” he said.

Reaction

James Percival, the general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, criticized the ruling as a misguided effort to block the Trump administration from trying to address voter fraud. Michael Morley, a professor at the Florida State University College of Law, said the ruling prevents the federal government from using all the information at its disposal to ensure that only eligible voters take part in elections.

Original reporting: Texas Tribune (HLL/CB) — read the source article.