Department of Homeland Security v. League of Women Voters (2026)
Supreme Court case in which a 2026 stay restored bulk SAVE citizenship checks.
On 25 September 2026 the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to stay the lower-court order in this case, letting the Department of Homeland Security restore bulk SAVE citizenship checks while the appeal runs.
Last refreshed: 1 October 2026
Timeline for Department of Homeland Security v. League of Women Voters (2026)
Mentioned in: Supreme Court revives DHS's SAVE checks
US Midterms 2026Background
Department of Homeland Security v. League of Women Voters is the federal challenge to the modified SAVE System, the DHS database that lets election officials check registrants' citizenship in bulk against Social Security records. The League of Women Voters, its affiliates and the Electronic Privacy Information Center sued DHS and the Social Security Administration under the Social Security Act, the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.
The federal district court in Washington set the system aside on 22 June 2026. the Supreme Court's 6-3 stay of 25 September put it back into service pending appeal, on the majority's view that IIRIRA likely authorises the data sharing.
The merits still sit with the D.C. Circuit, and the losing side may then petition for certiorari. Until that ends, the case decides whether a federal citizenship check built on Social Security data stays available to every state election office.
The stay revives bulk citizenship checks
The case began as a suit by the League of Women Voters, its affiliates and the Electronic Privacy Information Center against DHS and the Social Security Administration. On 22 June 2026 Judge Sparkle Sooknanan set aside the modified SAVE System, which checks Social Security records and takes bulk queries from election officials; on 4 September the D.C. Circuit refused to revive it.
the Supreme Court's unsigned order of 25 September reversed that position for now. The majority found IIRIRA likely authorises the data sharing, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan. The stay lasts until the DC Circuit decides the appeal and the Supreme Court disposes of any certiorari petition. It does not free states to purge rolls wholesale before 3 November, because the 90-day quiet period opened on 5 August.