Trump Administration Uses DHS System to Flag 67 Million Voters

The Trump administration has run at least 67 million voter registrations through a Department of Homeland Security verification system to determine eligibility, drawing criticism from voting rights and civil liberties advocates who warn the process could incorrectly remove valid voters from the rolls ahead of the November elections. Democratic officials are fighting the approach in court as states adopt different timelines for how quickly challenged voters can prove citizenship or respond to potential flags.

According to the program’s use and reporting described by federal and state officials, the Homeland Security system, run through the agency’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, has flagged tens of thousands of registrations as potential noncitizens or as people who have died. Some states place flagged voters into a suspense or pending status and require additional review, while others suspend eligibility immediately or give voters about a month to demonstrate they are eligible.

Advocates say the checks are prone to error and can produce false positives, which they argue may disenfranchise eligible voters if corrections are not completed in time. Freda...