Social Security Administration
US federal agency running Social Security benefits whose records now feed DHS voter citizenship checks.
Social Security records are back in the voter-checking business: on 25 September 2026 the Supreme Court, by 6-3, let election offices again search the DHS citizenship database against Social Security data in bulk.
Last refreshed: 1 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
How did SSA data end up being used to challenge voter eligibility in 2026?
Timeline for Social Security Administration
Supreme Court revives DHS's SAVE checks
US Midterms 2026SAVE System Flags 1 in 6 Wrongly
US Midterms 2026Background
The Social Security Administration is the federal agency that pays retirement, disability and survivor benefits, and in doing so it holds the most complete federal record of WHO is a citizen and WHO has died. That second role has made its files the core of the government's push to check voter eligibility.
The link has been contentious from the start. In April 2026 The Administration admitted that DOGE staff had worked with True the Vote, an election-denial group, to probe voter rolls using Social Security data, under an agreement a DOGE employee signed on 24 March 2025.
the Supreme Court's 25 September ruling settled, for now, that Homeland Security may query the agency's records in bulk on behalf of state and local election officials. How FAR those checks can go in the run-up to an election remains before the Court.
Its records now screen voter rolls
The expanded SAVE System works by matching voters against Social Security Administration files, which is why each court ruling on it decides whether the agency's records reach election offices. Judge Sparkle Sooknanan set the modified system aside on 22 June, and the D.C. Circuit refused to revive it on 4 September.
the Supreme Court reversed course on 25 September, voting 6-3 to let bulk searches against Social Security records resume. The reach is limited before 3 November: a federal law bars systematic roll cleaning in the last 90 days before an election, so states can check voters only one at a time until the justices hear that question on 8 December.
How is Social Security data used to check voter citizenship?
Can DHS and Social Security share citizenship data for voter checks?
Who runs the Social Security Administration?
