DES MOINES, Iowa (PulseWire) — In a significant legal development, four Republican-led states have reached a settlement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding lawsuits filed over access to critical voter citizenship data. The states involved — Florida, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio — argued that the previous federal administration was withholding vital information necessary for verifying the citizenship status of registered voters.
The settlement, formalized ahead of the 2024 presidential elections, permits these states to conduct bulk searches for voter verification using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program — a system that has been recently enhanced for more efficient operation. In accordance with the agreement, the states may share selected driver’s license records to assist in modernizing the DHS database.
Voting rights advocates are already expressing concern that this new information-sharing arrangement could lead to the unlawful removal of eligible voters from the registration lists. Notably, the SAVE program is instrumental in ensuring that noncitizen voting, which is illegal in federal elections, remains effectively regulated.
Voting by noncitizens is an area of intense scrutiny, with studies indicating that such occurrences are exceedingly rare and even more so when actual ballots are cast.
As the 2024 elections approach, the implications of this settlement are expected to influence discussions surrounding voter rights, electoral integrity, and the possibility of increased investigations into citizenship status in voter registrations.
