Approximately 27 states have used the SAVE program to verify immigration status for election purposes.
Posted by The Lawfare Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 2 support3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 70%
The Lawfare PodcastSep 14, 2026
The claim matches the primary USCIS fact sheet, which says election agencies from over 27 states are registered to use SAVE for voter verification, and AP reports at least 25 states had used it to check voter rolls since April 2025.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… So I just want to point out that the acronym here is really ambiguous. And, ah, actually, that that didn't come up in the litigation, but not entirely. You make a splendid point, though. Uhm, and, uh, so over the years, uhm, uh, and some states, about 27 of them, also 27 began to use it also for verifying your immigration status for purposes of elections. Uhm, and, uh, eventually, uh, they found that there were a few things about it that made it less optimal than it could be. You had it was a one by one inquiry. You couldn't make bulk inquiries. …
The Lawfare Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. USCIS's primary fact sheet, published 2026-09-25, states that election agencies from over 27 states are currently registered to use SAVE for voter verification.[3]
Supports. AP reports that at least 25 states have used SAVE to check their voter rolls since April 2025, according to USCIS data, which is consistent with a figure of roughly 27.[1]
Context. MIT's election lab reports 26 states with memoranda of agreement as of November 3, 2025, and 29 states with registered election offices as of early 2026, so estimates vary with the measure used.[4]
Context. Earlier PolitiFact coverage cited 21 states registered in mid-2025, and a 2026 PolitiFact piece cited 26 states using or planning to use the tool, showing the count rose over time.[2][5]
Sources
5 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 2 primary, 1 not rated
- 1Trump administration promotes program to check voter ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Trump administration overhauls database for election ...politifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3Voter Registration and Voter List Maintenance Fact Sheetuscis.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 4Evaluating How the USCIS SAVE System Performs in ...electionlab.mit.edu · primary source · cited for: context
- 5api.politifact.com · article · 2026PolitiFact | Is the federal SAVE tool booting naturalized ...api.politifact.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- A federal court decision allows states to use the SAVE database to purge voter rolls.Mixed
- The Department of Homeland Security identified approximately 278,000 non-citizens registered to vote in federal elections across eight states.False
- The Social Security Administration database is used to verify voter citizenship and identity.True
- The Save America Act incentivizes states to check voter rolls against the DHS SAVE system.True
- A ProPublica report from February 2026 stated that the Department of Homeland Security had to correct information provided to at least five states after the SAVE database misidentified some voters as non-citizens.True