The Social Security Administration database is used to verify voter citizenship and identity.
Posted by Badlands Media, Checked
- Sources
- 7 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
Badlands MediaOct 21, 2026
Sources as of late 2026 show the Social Security Administration's data is used to verify voter citizenship and identity: the expanded DHS SAVE system, which draws on SSA records, was allowed to operate by the Supreme Court on 2026-09-25, and SSA's HAVV system has long been used by states to verify voters' identities.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… Not true, broadly, and as much was said by Elon Musk. I knew right away that inflation and outright corruption in the database meant what it meant. The Social Security Administration database is used to verify voter citizenship and identity, and the 60 plus year old software that would cost too much to fix isn't a problem; it's the plan. Yeah, and and we knew that. We've been saying that on Why We Vote and here on Badlands Daily since the day that Elon Musk said that. …
Badlands Media · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Reuters reports the Supreme Court revived an expanded immigration database that lets states use Social Security numbers and other information to check the citizenship status of registered voters against federal records.[1]
Supports. USCIS's primary fact sheet says SAVE queries against source systems including the Social Security Administration to verify U.S. citizenship for voter registration and list maintenance.[4]
Supports. The White House executive order states that SSA records, with SAVE, can assist in verifying identity and federal election voter eligibility.[5]
Supports. PolitiFact reports that states use the SSA's Help America Vote Verification system to verify voters' identities, including for new registrants without a driver's license.[2][7]
Supports. NACO and US News report the expanded SAVE system now links to SSA data and lets states check voter citizenship eligibility in bulk.[8][9]
Context. Critics, including Senate Democrats and election officials, dispute the accuracy of the SSA citizenship data used this way, but this is a dispute about reliability, not a denial that the database is used for these checks.[3][6]
Sources
9 sources: 3 fact-checkers, 3 primary, 3 not rated
- 1Supreme Court restores Trump's mass voter verification systemreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Social Security Administration data doesn't show number of ...politifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 3GOP pushes ahead with citizenship voting bill. Some state electionapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 4Voter Registration and Voter List Maintenance Fact Sheetuscis.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 5Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal ...whitehouse.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 6[PDF] April 29, 2026 The Honorable Frank J. Bisignano Commissioner ...hsgac.senate.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 7Noncitizens are not registering to vote in record numbersapi.politifact.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 8Supreme Court allows new SAVE citizenship voter ...naco.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 9Supreme Court OKs Use of Social Security Data to Check Voter ...usnews.com · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The Social Security Administration database contained 25 million records missing citizenship information.True
- Approximately 27 states have used the SAVE program to verify immigration status for election purposes.True
- Currently, 27 U.S. states use the SAVE system to verify voters.True
- Local clerks in Michigan have no ability to verify the citizenship of individuals in the Qualified Voter Files.Mixed
- A federal court decision allows states to use the SAVE database to purge voter rolls.Mixed