States Settle Lawsuits Over Voter Citizenship Data

Sun Dec 07 2025 04:04:58 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Four Republican states have reached a settlement with the federal government regarding access to citizenship data for verifying voter eligibility, highlighting ongoing concerns over voting rights and the legality of noncitizen voting.

Officials from Florida, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio have settled lawsuits against the Biden administration over access to citizenship data for voter checks. This comes as the SAVE program, designed to verify voter citizenship status, has been updated to streamline access. Critics warn of potential voter purges and the implications for upcoming elections.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — In a significant development, four Republican-led states—Florida, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio—have agreed to settle lawsuits against the federal government concerning access to voters' citizenship data. This legal dispute, which commenced under the Biden administration in anticipation of the 2024 presidential election, focuses on the need for states to verify the citizenship status of registered voters.

The states contended that the federal government was withholding essential information needed to ascertain whether registered voters were eligible to cast ballots. As part of the settlement, these states will now have the ability to conduct searches on thousands of voters using personal identifiers like names, birthdays, and Social Security numbers through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which was upgraded under the previous administration.

This agreement also allows for the sharing of driver’s license records between the states and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enhance the accuracy of the citizenship verification process, heightening the stakes ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Critics, including voting rights advocates, have already raised concerns. They argue that the expanded use of the SAVE program could lead to wrongful purges of eligible voters from registration lists.

Historically, noncitizen voting is illegal in federal elections, with states reporting that instances of noncitizen registration and voting are exceedingly rare. Yet, the narrative continues to be fueled by political discourse, particularly from figures within the Republican Party who emphasize the potential for any noncitizen voting to undermine electoral integrity.

The updated SAVE program allows election officials to wirelessly verify voter eligibility more efficiently, conducting searches en masse rather than individually. State officials are expected to establish a memorandum of understanding with the federal government concerning the use of the SAVE program, along with a new information-sharing agreement, within 90 days. This new framework may include the provision of approximately 1,000 randomly selected driver’s license records to assist in refining the citizenship verification process.