Democrats sounded the alarm Friday after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration's overhauled voter citizenship database, with some predicting "chaos" just weeks before the midterms.
In an unsigned emergency order, the court lifted a lower court's block on the Department of Homeland Security's revamped SAVE system, letting states use it to screen voter rolls for noncitizens. The three liberal justices dissented, and Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias called it a dangerous decision for voters.
Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile didn't mince words.
"Here comes chaos. With less than 40 days before the midterms, the Supreme Court is allowing a very partisan and vindictive administration controls who get access to the ballot. Voters are already casting their ballots in person in several states. If they can't compete, rig it," she wrote on X.
Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) zeroed in on the system's track record.
"The Supreme Court just greenlit Trump's terribly flawed voter database as voting is underway. In Texas, it falsely flagged 578 U.S. citizens as potential noncitizens—making it harder to vote. No American should have to fight a federal database error to keep their vote," he wrote.
State officials in Texas confirmed last week that 578 voters the database had flagged were, in fact, citizens. Most were flagged because their passport information had not yet reached SAVE when Texas ran its check. The state referred 117 other cases for investigation.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) said the court had once again failed Americans and argued the order could be used to purge voter rolls with early voting already underway, and Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) pointed to her Voter Purge Protection Act. Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton accused the court of helping Trump sow confusion.
"Our elections are free, fair, and secure — the Trump administration should not be interfering in them. But this Supreme Court continues to advance Trump’s goal of creating mass chaos and confusion ahead of the midterm elections to keep you from making your voice heard," Stratton warned on X.
Meanwhile, Norm Eisen, senior fellow at Brookings Governance, urged Americans not to read too much into the ruling.
"Pls don't overreact to the SCOTUS SAVE database decision Page 6 of the decision makes clear that we are in the 90 day statutory window when mass changes can't be made to voter lists! It's a s--- decision for the reasons the 3 dissenters say but we can deal w/it. More to come.."
Federal law generally bars systematic voter roll purges within 90 days of a federal election, NPR reported, which may blunt the immediate impact. But the administration has argued that ban does not cover noncitizens who were never properly registered. The Supreme Court agreed in June to decide that question in an Arizona case during its upcoming term.
