Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County v. Department of Homeland Security
Federal suit by cities and counties against FEMA's 2026 election-security grant conditions.
Cities and counties led by Nashville won this suit on 28 September 2026, when Judge Amir Ali vacated FEMA's election conditions on counterterrorism grants, including mandatory SAVE citizenship checks and a 5% hand audit of paper ballots.
Last refreshed: 1 October 2026
Timeline for Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County v. Department of Homeland Security
Mentioned in: Judge Ali voids FEMA election conditions
US Midterms 2026Background
The Nashville-led suit against DHS challenged conditions that FEMA attached to Homeland Security Grant Program counterterrorism funds. To keep their full allocation, states and high-risk cities had to run voters through DHS's SAVE checks, audit a 5% sample of paper ballots by hand and phase out voting machines. A state that refused stood to lose 20% of its allocation.
Nashville's metropolitan government brought the case in August 2026 with four Texas counties, Harris, Travis, Dallas and El Paso, and the city of Columbus, Ohio. On 28 September Judge Amir Ali of the federal district court in Washington vacated the conditions, holding that the grant statute does not let FEMA use grants to push states into the federal government's preferred projects.
The ruling separates use of SAVE from federal money: states may still choose the system, but grant funding cannot be made to depend on it.