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This week USCIS announced that in a continued effort to upgrade the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, states may now use SAVE to verify the U.S. citizenship status of those voting in federal elections.
States may now use SAVE to verify voters' citizenship status using the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number, as opposed to the previously required nine digits. USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser commented, "By allowing states to efficiently verify voter eligibility, we are reinforcing the principle that America's elections are reserved exclusively for American citizens. We encourage all federal, state, and local agencies to use the SAVE program."
In response to Executive Order 14248, "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections," this SAVE upgrade aims to allow registered users to create a SAVE case without needing a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identifier or complete Social Security number. If a voter cannot be identified using their Social Security number, the user agency is prompted to resubmit the search using a DHS-issued identification number or direct the voter to the Social Security Administration to update their record.
SAVE's voting initiatives, combined with SAVE's status verifications for new benefit requests, have together resulted in more than 205 million status verifications in 2025 compared to the 25 million verification queries for all of 2024.
To date, 26 states already have, or are in the process of establishing, a memorandum of agreement for voter verification with SAVE. SAVE is an online service administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that provides immigration status and U.S. citizenship information to federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal agencies. SAVE enables registered user agencies to make decisions for applicants seeking benefits and licenses. Approximately 1,200 agencies nationwide use SAVE to support their benefit eligibility and licensing determinations. This includes agencies such as those that provide health care benefits, social security benefits, education grants and assistance, state driver's licenses and ID cards, and occupational and professional licenses.
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