Supreme Court ruling on voter verification system won't affect Minnesota elections

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for the Trump administration to use a federal immigration database to help verify the citizenship of voters, but Minnesota officials said the ruling will have no effect on how elections are conducted in the state.

The court's emergency order allows the federal government, for now, to use the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, database to check voter eligibility. The administration has promoted the system as a way to identify noncitizens who may be improperly registered to vote.

The ruling comes as Minnesota's 2026 general election is already underway. Absentee voting began Sept. 18, and voters can cast absentee ballots by mail or in person. But Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said the federal ruling does not change the state's election procedures.

“I want to be very clear – this ruling has no effect on Minnesota elections. Minnesota has never used the SAVE Program for voter verification, we’re not permitted in state law to do so, and we have no plans to do so,” Simon said.

“Even if it were lawful, reports have shown the SAVE Program to be deeply flawed when it comes to transparency, accuracy, and data security,” he added. “Minnesotans should rest easy knowing that their right to vote won’t be impeded by this faulty project.”

The Supreme Court's order does not require states to use SAVE. It temporarily lifts restrictions that had prevented the Trump administration from using the database for expanded voter-eligibility checks while the underlying legal dispute continues.

The SAVE database was originally created to help government agencies verify immigration status for eligibility for certain federal benefits. The Trump administration expanded its use for election-related checks, arguing that it can help identify people who are not eligible to vote.

The effort has drawn criticism from voting-rights advocates and election officials who have raised concerns about the accuracy of government records and the possibility that eligible voters could be incorrectly flagged.

For Minnesota voters, however, state officials say the federal database will not be incorporated into the state's voter-verification process.

Minnesota's election system continues to operate under state law. Voters can cast absentee ballots through Nov. 3, although mailed ballots must be received by the applicable Election Day deadline. Early voting, in which voters can place their ballots directly into a tabulator, begins Oct. 16 and continues through Nov. 2.

The November general election is Nov. 3. The Minnesota Secretary of State's office reported Thursday that nearly 385,000 ballots had been sent during the first week of absentee voting.

For voters who have already received or requested absentee ballots, Friday's Supreme Court order does not change how those ballots are completed, returned or counted.

Minnesota voters can continue to request and track absentee ballots, find early-voting locations and locate their Election Day polling place at mnvotes.gov.