Washington, Sep 2026 : The administration of US President Donald Trump has intensified efforts to review and verify voter-registration records across the country ahead of the November midterm elections, prompting comparisons with India’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
As part of the initiative, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning to establish a national database containing voter-registration and election-history information obtained from all 50 states. The proposed system could cost up to $5 million and is being presented by the administration as a measure to identify potential voter fraud and strengthen election integrity.
The administration has also sought access to voter-registration rolls maintained by state and local election authorities. The Justice Department has requested voter information from nearly all 50 states, arguing that access to the records is necessary to ensure compliance with federal laws requiring states to maintain accurate and updated voter-registration lists.
Under an executive order issued in March 2026, the administration directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in coordination with the Social Security Administration, to compile lists of individuals confirmed as US citizens and eligible by age to participate in federal elections. The lists are intended to be shared with state election officials and updated ahead of federal elections.
The administration has additionally sought to rely on federal databases to verify voter eligibility. One of the key systems involved is the DHS Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, which contains immigration and citizenship-related information.
However, the effort has encountered legal resistance. On September 5, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling blocking the administration from using the SAVE database to conduct citizenship checks on voter rolls. The decision reflected concerns over privacy as well as the possibility that eligible voters could be incorrectly identified and removed from registration lists.
Civil rights organisations and voting-rights groups have also raised concerns about the accuracy of federal databases. They have warned that outdated, incomplete or mismatched records could result in eligible citizens, including naturalised Americans, being incorrectly flagged during verification exercises.
A separate lawsuit filed in Washington has challenged the administration’s broader attempt to use federal databases to compile citizenship lists for election-related purposes.
The issue could have particular significance for Indian-origin voters, who constitute an influential voting bloc in states including New York, New Jersey, California and Texas. Since voter-registration systems and verification procedures differ from state to state, large-scale comparisons between federal and state databases could affect individuals whose personal information does not match across government records.
However, claims that approximately 10 lakh of an estimated 26 lakh Indian-origin voters in the US are specifically at risk of being removed from voter rolls have not been independently confirmed by reliable sources reviewed for this report. The actual number of voters potentially affected, if any, would depend on state-level procedures, the results of verification exercises and ongoing legal challenges.
The Trump administration is also backing legislation that would impose stricter requirements on voter registration and voting. The proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, known as the SAVE America Act, would require proof of US citizenship to register for federal elections and identification when voting.
The administration has strongly supported the legislation, while opponents argue that additional documentation requirements could create barriers for otherwise eligible voters.
The voter-verification campaign comes as the United States prepares for the November 3 midterm elections. Questions over federal involvement in election administration, access to voter rolls, citizenship verification and voting procedures are already being contested in courts across the country.
The debate is expected to intensify as federal and state authorities continue to negotiate access to election data and determine how voter-registration verification should be conducted while safeguarding eligible voters’ rights.
(Disclaimer :The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)
