Although a per curiam decision, meaning that it is unsigned in the ruling yesterday that states could, if so desired, could use the DHS “SAVE” database to determine whether people who registered to vote were US citizens, three justices dissented by name on the grounds that certain confidential data would become accessible to persons who should not have such information.
Until 2025, the DHS database had only referred to persons who had gone through the immigration system. Now, DHS and anyone in one of over 100,000 districts can access your Social Security number, not to mention other possible data about you. Just one step closer to the authoritarian state.
You’re probably thinking, the local election officials are just trying to verify who is really entitled to vote. This past week hackers got into the FBI personnel website, which we would assume is more protected than local election sites. And the DHS database is so good that this past week another US citizen was accosted by ICE, beaten, and left with major injuries and broken teeth. But, you say, you don’t look Hispanic. Don’t have to.
Prayer for the Day
Puzzled by the fact that the world is not what it once was, O God,
We search for the anchor that only you can give;
Concerned that so many are torn by our own failings,
We search for a shore where we can stand on solid ground.
But you, O Lord, know that the harbor is our willingness
To speak to the injustice around us and establish righteousness.
In the name of the One who took on principalities and powers,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
[T]he harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the nonexistent harm that the Government experiences when it is prevented from taking an action that it likely lacks the authority to take.
Justice Jackson, dissent in DHS v League of Women Voters
Today’s decision is profoundly disappointing, as it puts millions of Americans at risk of being unlawfully targeted by the administration’s unreliable voter purge database weeks before the midterm elections.
Statement by the League of Women Voters
Crooked minds area an abomination to the Lord,
But those of blameless ways are God’s delight
Proverbs 11: 20