Democracy’s strength rests on the principle that every eligible citizen should be able to register and vote without undue obstacles or concerns about being mistakenly purged from voter rolls. Recent actions, such as Montana sharing voter registration data with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and utilizing a federal immigration database to vet voters, prompt important questions requiring thorough examination.
In November 2025, Montana’s Secretary of State (SOS) provided the DOJ with Montana’s statewide voter registration file that reportedly included sensitive personal information, such as driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers, for approximately 784,789 registered voters in Montana. In January 2026, the SOS stated that the DOJ reviewed this information using the Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database and flagged 23 voters as potential non-citizens. If all 23 unverified cases are ultimately confirmed, it would represent roughly 0.003 percent of Montana’s registered voters. This extremely small number underscores the importance of asking whether the tools used are sufficiently accurate and the risks to eligible voters are worth exposing our voter file information to potential threats of personal identity theft or misuse of sensitive information.
The SAVE database was created to verify eligibility for federal public benefits, not to determine voter eligibility. SAVE can contain outdated or incomplete records that, when applied to large voter files, increase the risk that eligible U.S. citizens will be incorrectly flagged as ineligible (NPR, 2025; Brennan Center for Justice). If flagged voters are required to respond quickly with specific documentation, some eligible Montanans may face real obstacles. Those citizens who are elderly, low-income, rural, or without easy access to government offices may struggle to resolve errors in time to vote. Even temporary removal or confusion can discourage voter participation and undermine confidence in the electoral process.
Election administration has historically been the responsibility of state and local governments, with federal oversight intended to protect voting rights rather than manage voter rolls. The DOJ offered states confidential arrangements to use federal data to identify and remove voters deemed ineligible, raising questions about transparency, due process, and the long-term implications of centralized federal involvement in voter list maintenance (Standard-Examiner, Dec. 19, 2025; Tennessee Lookout, Jan. 12, 2026).
Privacy is another critical issue. Large-scale sharing of voter data that includes sensitive personal identifiers heightens the risk of misuse, data breaches, or unauthorized access. There is limited public information about how long this data is retained, what safeguards are in place, or how errors are audited and corrected before voters are impacted (NPR, 2025). Privacy concerns about the use of SAVE for voter purges are not theoretical.
Nonpartisan organizations, including the League of Women Voters of the United States, have raised legal challenges and public warnings about relying on this system for voter eligibility determinations. Reporting from multiple states has documented instances where individuals flagged by SAVE were later confirmed to be lawful U.S. citizens, illustrating the real-world consequences of database errors (Brennan Center for Justice; NPR, 2025).
Ensuring election integrity is essential. Preventing ineligible voting and maintaining accurate voter rolls are legitimate goals shared across the political spectrum. However, these efforts must be balanced with equally important commitments to accuracy, transparency, data security, and due process. At a minimum, voters deserve clear information about how their data is being used, what steps exist to correct errors, and how their rights are protected.
The League of Women Voters of Montana encourages Montanans to stay informed, ask questions of election officials and policymakers, and engage thoughtfully in discussions about how best to protect both the integrity and accessibility of our democratic system.
Bonnie Lorenzen, President, League of Women Voters of Montana
Cherri Jones, President, League of Women Voters of the Helena Area
