Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Using Social Security Database for Voter Rolls

Why it matters locally: This ruling directly affects how New Mexico election officials might maintain voter rolls, preventing the federal government from unilaterally using the Social Security database to remove voters. State election authorities will continue to rely on their established verification processes for voter eligibility.

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A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from using a database containing Americans' Social Security numbers and citizenship status to remove voters from state rolls. The ruling halts efforts by the Department of Justice to access the citizenship data for voter screening purposes. The judge cited concerns that using the federal database could result in the improper removal of eligible voters from registration rolls. The decision represents the ninth consecutive loss for the DOJ in voter roll litigation, according to court records tracking the agency's legal challenges on election procedures. The case centered on whether the government could use federal citizenship records maintained by the Social Security Administration to identify and remove non-citizens from state voter databases. Supporters of the measure argued it would ensure election integrity by preventing ineligible voters from casting ballots. Critics raised concerns that the database contained inaccuracies and that relying on it could disenfranchise eligible voters, including naturalized citizens whose records might not reflect their current status. The judge's decision did not address whether states could independently access such data for voter maintenance purposes, focusing instead on the federal government's direct use of the citizenship database for this purpose. The ruling comes as election officials nationwide continue to grapple with decisions about voter roll maintenance procedures. States maintain varying practices for verifying voter eligibility, and the use of federal databases in those processes remains a subject of ongoing legal dispute.