Tennessee is preparing to use a federal database to review its voter rolls, as early voting is already underway and the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for states to resume using an expanded version of the system. The database, SAVE, has also produced potential noncitizen matches that proved inaccurate in other states.
The tool, known as SAVE, stands for Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, and it pulls from Department of Homeland Security, Social Security and other records to check registered voters’ citizenship and immigration status, according to NewsChannel 5 Nashville. The system was originally created by Congress four decades ago to determine eligibility for federal benefits, not to screen voter rolls, as the Los Angeles Times reports. The Department of Homeland Security overhauled SAVE by linking it for the first time with Social Security Administration records and allowing bulk queries, according to NPR.
Trump Order Pushed States Toward the Tool
The federal push to use SAVE followed a 2025 executive order by President Trump. The order announced a tool to identify noncitizens who had voted and prevent repeat voting, and directed the Department of Homeland Security to notify states about noncitizens on voter rolls and order the removal of ineligible voters, according to NewsChannel 5. Trump has claimed too many noncitizens vote in U.S. elections. In October 2025, he sent Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett a letter thanking him for using SAVE and being among the first officials to protect election integrity, the station reported.
Hargett’s office announced that it had referred 42 people identified as potential non-U.S. citizens who voted to the FBI for review, according to a statement cited by NewsChannel 5. The office has not told the station how many of the 42 were actually noncitizens, how many were removed from voter rolls or whether anyone was prosecuted.
No Charges Found in Tennessee Courts
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville confirmed that no one had been charged with illegal voting in the preceding year, and court records showed no such charges in East or West Tennessee, NewsChannel 5 reported. The Davidson County Election Commission said no noncitizens had been removed from Nashville’s voter rolls and that the secretary of state’s office had not contacted or notified it in the preceding year about ineligible noncitizens voting…