A Florida judge has told DHS it can restore states’ access to federal citizenship data, as they check their voter rolls for people who should not be eligible to participate in elections.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: A federal judge in Florida has told the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to restore access to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system’s federal citizenship data for Florida and three other Republican-led states screening their voter rolls, contradicting a previous ruling by a Washington judge that suspended such access nationwide. 📰 DETAIL: The ruling by Judge T. Kent Wetherell II, a Trump appointee, is based on a legal settlement between the Trump administration and Florida, allowing the integration of Social Security data into a federal citizenship database. This decision directly conflicts with an earlier ruling by Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan, a foreign-born Biden appointee, which blocked the use of the database for voter screening, claiming outdated information could potentially disenfranchise voters. 🎯 IMPACT: The conflicting rulings place DHS in a position where it must decide to what extent Wetherell’s ruling invalidates Sookanan’s. The cases could have significant implications for how states manage their voter rolls and the federal government’s role in guaranteeing election integrity. Wetherell noted in his ruling that, between his order and Sookanan’s order, one of them would “have to give,” but predicted that it would not be his. 💬 KEY QUOTE: “The court understands that this puts defendants in a bind because they are subject to two contradictory orders, one from this Court requiring them to include certain features in the SAVE system and one from Judge Sooknanan prohibiting them from doing so,” Judge T. Kent Wetherell II acknowledged, adding: “This Court is not bound by Judge Sooknanan’s order, and with all due respect, the Court disagrees with the conclusions in that order.” |
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