A newly expanded federal system intended to verify voter citizenship has generated significant controversy due to widespread inaccuracies. The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, flagged 74 individuals in Boone County, Missouri, as potential noncitizens. County clerk Brianna Lennon, who oversees elections, was shocked by the notification received in November, especially as the flagged voters included U.S. citizens.
The flagged individuals’ registration documents revealed that many had been improperly identified. In several cases, the paperwork bore the initials of Lennon’s staff members, who had helped these individuals register at their naturalization ceremonies. Subsequent investigations indicated that more than half of those identified as noncitizens by SAVE were indeed citizens.
The use of SAVE has expanded dramatically under the direction of former President Donald Trump, who has made claims regarding the presence of millions of noncitizens on voter rolls. Initially designed to check immigrants’ eligibility for public benefits, the system is now being utilized for mass verification of voters’ citizenship status across various states, with numerous Republican secretaries of state supporting the initiative.
Texas and Missouri were among the first states to implement SAVE’s findings. However, investigations by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune reveal that the system was rushed into use without proper data verification processes in place, leading to erroneous classifications. Local election officials have expressed serious concerns about the reliability of the information being used to determine voter eligibility.
In Missouri, state officials acted on the flagged findings without confirming their accuracy, leading to hundreds of voters being temporarily barred from voting. Lennon, along with other clerks, voiced frustration over the inaccuracies. “It really does not help my confidence,” she stated, “that the information we are trying to use to make really important decisions, like the determination of voter eligibility, is so inaccurate.”
The situation in Texas was similarly problematic. Reports indicated that at least 87 voters across 29 counties were mistakenly flagged as noncitizens shortly after officials ran the state’s voter rolls through SAVE. County election administrators pointed out that the errors could be even more widespread.
Election officials faced confusion when the Texas Secretary of State’s office directed them to demand proof of citizenship from flagged voters, leading to widespread alarm among clerks. Bobby Gonzalez, an elections administrator in Duval County, remarked, “I really find no merit in any of this,” after discovering that all three flagged voters turned out to be citizens.
Despite these inaccuracies, the initial bulk searches using SAVE did not substantiate Trump’s claims of widespread voting by noncitizens. To date, seven states with approximately 35 million registered voters reported that only about 4,200 individuals were identified as noncitizens, amounting to roughly 0.01% of the total registered voters. This statistic aligns with earlier findings that noncitizens rarely register to vote.
Brian Broderick, who leads the verification division at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), acknowledged the system’s limitations in finding the most up-to-date citizenship information for individuals born outside the U.S. He emphasized that it was up to states to decide how to utilize SAVE data.
In Texas, Secretary of State Jane Nelson declined to comment in detail but stated that the office has a constitutional duty to ensure only eligible citizens participate in elections. Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins described SAVE as a valuable tool, albeit acknowledging that some flagged individuals may later be confirmed as citizens.
While the use of SAVE has been adopted by 27 states, others remain cautious due to concerns regarding privacy and the potential for data to be misused for immigration enforcement. Broderick noted that flagged voters could also be referred to DHS for possible criminal investigation, emphasizing the seriousness of falsely claiming citizenship.
Individuals mistakenly identified by SAVE have expressed frustration at the need to provide naturalization documentation to prove their eligibility. For instance, Sofia Minotti, a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Argentina, was flagged despite her citizenship status. She, along with others, had to provide proof of citizenship, raising concerns about the system’s accuracy and its impact on eligible voters.
The push for better access to federal citizenship data has long been a goal for election administrators. Previous efforts in Texas to identify noncitizens on voter rolls failed due to misidentifications. Until recently, the SAVE system had not been an effective tool, as local election officials required specific DHS-assigned immigration ID numbers to verify citizenship, which were not typically collected during the voter registration process.
In March 2026, Trump issued an executive order mandating that states receive free access to federal citizenship data. This led to a rapid overhaul of SAVE, incorporating confidential Social Security data and allowing states to perform bulk searches. However, the expedited timeline raised concerns about the thoroughness of the legal requirements governing data collection and usage.
As the rollout of SAVE continues, election officials have expressed varying degrees of confidence in the system’s reliability. Many have called for a more cautious approach to ensure that voter eligibility determinations are based on accurate data. For now, clerks like Lennon remain skeptical, insisting that they will not remove voters from the rolls based solely on SAVE’s flags. “This is not ready for prime time,” she concluded. “And I’m not going to risk the security and the constitutional rights of my voters for bad data.”
