US supreme court lifts restrictions on controversial voter database

Trump and officials claimed database combats noncitizen voting but critics said it could disenfranchise eligible voters

The US supreme court has lifted restrictions on a controversial federal database of voters as Donald Trump seeks to impose tougher restrictions on voting ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The ruling issued Friday by the chief justice, John Roberts, in the name of the court temporarily sets aside an injunction issued by US district judge Sparkle L Sooknanan, who ruled on 22 June against the Trump administration’s plan to use the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements – Save – database to vet voter registration eligibility. A federal appeals court later declined to pause that ruling.