Reports of a surge in voter registrations by noncitizens in New Jersey have drawn national attention.
Unlike many states, New Jersey does not use the federal System for Automated Citizen Verification (SAVE) to screen voter registrations or maintain voter rolls.
SAVE, administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, provides immigration status data but does not determine voter eligibility; that decision remains with state officials.
As of June 30, 26 states employ SAVE for voter‑registration or roll‑maintenance purposes, processing 198 million cases in 2025, while the remaining 24 states have no public disclosure of SAVE usage.
In August 2022, New Jersey joined the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) to clean its voter rolls, but the partnership agreement prohibits sharing noncitizen status with ERIC, limiting the ability to flag ineligible voters.
Under the Trump administration, SAVE was expanded to allow bulk processing, integrate Social Security Administration data, and enable searches by name, date of birth, and Social Security number.
Prior to these changes, the system charged per transaction, discouraging widespread use; the expansion made bulk queries free.
SAVE operates atop the Verification Information System, which consolidates data from multiple federal immigration and citizenship databases.
Legal challenges were filed by groups citing privacy and accuracy concerns, leading a federal judge in New Jersey to temporarily block the enhanced SAVE system.
A separate judge in Florida reversed that order, restoring the system’s use in that jurisdiction, creating a conflict that remains unresolved.
Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and legal scholars have voiced concerns over the limitations imposed by the rulings.
Representative Abraham Hamedeh introduced a resolution in the House to address the judge’s decision, reflecting ongoing legislative debate.
New Jersey is not the only state encountering issues with noncitizen registration; other states have also reported similar challenges.
