Jen Fifield

Even with the errors, DHS officials revealed to state election officials at a conference earlier this month that noncitizens identified by SAVE will be referred to DHS for criminal investigation. More to come.

A DHS official I interviewed acknowledged that the new SAVE tool can’t always find up-to-date citizenship information, and said it’s on states to decide how to use SAVE results. He said it was rushed, but that didn’t mean it was “reckless.”

Our reporting found that, after a Trump executive order, DHS rushed SAVE into use, before all citizenship data had been added. Even now, SAVE still sometimes can’t connect automatically to DHS records, which have the most up-to-date information on citizenship.

Woman with glasses, long brown hair and black shirt looks out window. Photo credit: Shelby Tauber for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune

Also in November, local election clerks in Texas began telling us that flagged voters they had sent letters to were able to prove their citizenship. We collected data and found that 85 flagged voters across 29 counties proved their citizenship. That includes Sofia Minotti:

Woman with colorful hair and a black blazer stands in front of a map. Photo credit: Joe Johnson for ProPublica and The Texas Tribune

We started looking into this in Missouri in November after clerks were sent lists of voters flagged by SAVE. The clerks were concerned to see some people who they recognized as citizens on the lists. The state had told them to make the voters temporarily ineligible to vote.

In Missouri, the tool (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE) incorrectly flagged hundreds of voters as potential noncitizens, according to data we exclusively obtained through public records requests.

“Not Ready for Prime Time.” A Federal Tool to Check Voter Citizenship Keeps Making Mistakes. The Department of Homeland Security pushed out the revamped tool while it was still adding data. That led to widespread misidentification, particularly for citizens born outside the U.S.

NEW: A federal tool meant to find noncitizens on voter rolls is consistently marking citizens as noncitizens, especially if they were born outside the U.S., causing chaos as election clerks try not to disenfranchise voters, @zachdespart.bsky.social and I found. 🧵 www.propublica.org/article/save...

FBI’s Search of Georgia Election Center Is “Dangerous,” Experts Warn The search warrant, which sought 2020 election ballots, tabulator tapes, digital data and voter rolls from Fulton County, marked what experts described as a significant escalation in President Donald ...

“The idea that federal officials would seize ballots in an attempt to prove fraud is especially dangerous in this context when we know … the Georgia 2020 election has been extensively counted, recounted and investigated,” one expert said.

By @dougbockclark.bsky.social @jenafifield.bsky.social

good pt

Election officials say trust with CISA is broken — maybe permanently States once relied on CISA for election security. Now officials say politicization and retreating support have shattered that trust.

"Election officials say trust with CISA is broken — and may not come back," via @jessicahuseman.bsky.social www.votebeat.org/2026/01/15/c...

Oh I didn't know that. That's good context.

Lawsuit against Fontes seeks to reverse Arizona Independent Party name change A new lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks to void the name change of the Arizona Independent Party, arguing it will cause widespread voter confusion.

That would mean the general election ballot may have more of a far-R candidate and far-D candidate, along with an "Arizona Independent Party" candidate... Will be interesting to see how this goes. Read @camrynsanchez.bsky.social latest: www.kjzz.org/politics/202...

You're now a member of the Arizona Independent Party, which in AZ means you will can only get that party's ballot in the primary. This is key because it pulls independent-minded voters/moderates out of R & D primaries, maybe giving extreme candidates an advantage in primaries...

The fight over changing "No Labels Party" to "Arizona Independent Party" is important to pay attention to especially for Congressional races. If you're new to AZ, registering to vote and see "Arizona Independent Party" you might think it means you'll be unaffiliated but really...

If you donate $40 to @propublica.org for Giving Tuesday, you can get this awesome Tips Tote: ‘Someone reading this tote has the next big story. Is it you?’ give.propublica.org/campaign/749...

ICYMI: The letter 10 secretaries of state sent yesterday to DOJ & DHS asking if they really ran states' voter rolls through SAVE (the newly expanded system that checks citizenship). The election officials have legal and privacy concerns and want to know why they were misled.

Thousands of ballots rejected due to new birth year law • Daily Montanan Larger counties saw higher rejection rates; secretary of state declared election overall successful

New law in Montana requiring birth year on mail-in ballot leads to thousands of rejected ballots, via
Micah Drew dailymontanan.com/2025/11/12/t...

DOJ asked for 2020 election records. Fulton County responded: By ignoring it. Fulton County faces pressure to hand over documents from the 2020 election, but the county isn't budging.

"DOJ asked for 2020 election records. Fulton County responded: By ignoring it." via @calebgroves.bsky.social www.ajc.com/politics/202...

Trump’s Pardon of Giuliani: How Presidential Clemency Powers Work The US president’s power to pardon is both one of the most absolute and misunderstood provisions of the Constitution. Rooted in the “prerogative of mercy” of English kings dating back to the seventh c...

"Trump's Pardon of Giuliani: How Presidential Clemency Powers Work," via @gregorykorte.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Live updates: US voters head to the polls in first general election since Trump's return to power One year after Donald Trump retook the presidency, 2025 Election Day includes closely watched races for New York City mayor, New Jersey governor and California's Proposition 50.

BREAKING: Maine voters reject changes to voting in the state, including requiring photo ID and having a shorter early voting period.

Follow AP for live updates.

Live updates: US voters head to the polls in first general election since Trump's return to power One year after Donald Trump retook the presidency, 2025 Election Day includes closely watched races for New York City mayor, New Jersey governor and California's Proposition 50.

BREAKING: California voters have approved a new U.S. House map designed to boost Democrats in 2026, aiming to blunt GOP changes elsewhere.

Follow AP for live updates.

Just in: USCIS says in news release that election officials have run more than 46 million queries to check voters' citizenship in expanded SAVE tool, and more than half of states have signed up to use the tool or are in the process. Background:

ICYMI: DHS is seeking to collect state driver's license data as it takes on an unprecedented expansion of a system that used to just contain info on immigrants but now has info on hundreds of millions of Americans, including SSNs. Via me &
@zachdespart.bsky.social @propublica.org @texastribune.org

The plan is the latest step in an unprecedented Trump administration initiative to pool confidential data from varied sources that it claims will help identify noncitizens on voter rolls, tighten immigration enforcement and expose public benefit fraud.

DHS Wants States to Hand Over Driver’s License Data for Citizenship Checks It’s the latest step in an unprecedented initiative to pool confidential data that the Trump administration claims will help identify noncitizens on voter rolls and tighten immigration enforcement.

JUST IN: The Department of Homeland Security says it intends to add state driver’s license information to a swiftly expanding federal system envisioned as a one-stop shop for checking citizenship, raising concerns about privacy and accuracy. www.propublica.org/article/dhs-...

DHS Agreement Reveals Risks of Using Social Security Data for Voter Citizenship Checks A recently released agreement gives the Department of Homeland Security access to hundreds of millions of Americans’ Social Security data. It contains alarmingly few provisions to ensure accuracy and ...

NEW from @jenafifield.bsky.social: recently released agreement gives the Department of Homeland Security access to hundreds of millions of Americans’ Social Security data. It contains alarmingly few provisions to ensure accuracy and privacy, experts say. www.propublica.org/article/dhs-...

Important new story from @jenafifield.bsky.social

Votebeat reports exclusively today that 1,100+ AZ voters now have their registrations suspended entirely because Pinal County is taking a hard line on whether these longtime residents now need to prove their citizenship. FULL STORY: www.votebeat.org/arizona/2025...

It's been more than a year since AZ announced that, over the course of 20 years, it failed to collect citizenship proof for 200K voters. News coverage has mostly moved on but I'm glad
@votebeat.org is staying on it, because the consequences for voters are just now coming to bear...

Arguments are getting kind of heated. Listen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6Ea...