Senate

Democratic senators warn Trump administration against taking ‘any illegal activity’ to stymy voting

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by Rebecca Beitsch - 04/30/26 2:40 PM ET

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by Rebecca Beitsch - 04/30/26 2:40 PM ET

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Nearly 30 Democratic senators warned two government agencies against taking “any illegal activity” to carry out a March executive order from President Trump seeking to force states to verify citizenship in order to vote.

Voting is already limited only to U.S. citizens, and the constitution leaves it to the states to determine how to carry out elections.

But a March order from Trump – one already challenged in court by several states – seeks to impose new requirements, including limiting vote-by-mail and using a Trump administration organized database to verify citizenship.

“The foreseeable result is that tens of thousands of eligible U.S. citizen voters will discover on Election Day that they are barred from voting because they have been incorrectly removed from voter rolls,” the senators wrote in a letter spearheaded by Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Trump’s order directs the Social Security Administration to create a “State Citizenship List” derived from its data, naturalization records, and an existing database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that is used to determine eligibility for federal programs, the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database.

“Indeed, reports have already confirmed that eligible Americans are being targeted for removal from voter rolls after being erroneously flagged as non-citizens by the SAVE program, due in part to erroneous data shared by Social Security Administration,” the senators wrote.

The letter also raises concerns about the accuracy of the SAVE database, noting that DHS has previously said the database “may produce inaccurate results.”

“DHS appears to have rolled out the overhauled SAVE program without regard for accuracy or data security, and has only taken token, retroactive steps in the face of litigation to attempt a minimal level of compliance with federal privacy and notice requirements,” the letter states, noting that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin pledged to use SAVE only for lawful purpose.

“At President Trump’s direction, you are now being asked to use the SAVE program to facilitate even more violations of the law and Constitution.”

Neither DHS nor SSA immediately responded to request for comment.

The letter argues SSA was tapped for involvement in voting “despite the fact that SSA does not possess definitive information on U.S. citizenship and there is no legal or historical precedent for federal involvement, let alone SSA involvement, with state-run elections.”

Peters and the other lawmakers are demanding a briefing from leadership at both agencies.

Their pushback comes amid broader concern Trump may interfere with upcoming elections, including by deploying the National Guard or seeking to impose requirements on states they are not obligated to follow.

Twenty-three states have sued over the order, arguing that Trump has no power to dictate to states how to manage elections.

The order from Trump comes as Congress has failed to advance legislation he has demanded that would require proof of citizenship to vote.

Numerous studies have found just a handful of cases of noncitizen voting, and states have a number of methods to verify the eligibility of voters.

“Although the Administration claims that these tasks are necessary to prevent voter fraud, a multitude of laws and processes already prevent noncitizens from voting, and independent research has consistently found that voter fraud is extremely rare,” the letter states.

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