How new Supreme Court rulings could impact midterm elections

WASHINGTON —

The Supreme Court released two rulings Friday in election-related cases, affecting voter verification and congressional redistricting ahead of this fall’s midterms.

The high court issued a 6-3 emergency order, allowing states to use the Trump administration’s recently revamped voter verification database and lifting restrictions that were previously put in place by lower courts, at least for now.

The Department of Homeland Security program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, aims to identify noncitizens to prevent election fraud.

However, critics warn that the system has wrongly flagged eligible voters in the past and that Friday’s ruling could put Americans at risk of being unlawfully removed from voter rolls.

State participation in the program is voluntary, which will limit its uptake ahead of midterm elections.

David Becker, an election law expert who leads the Center for Election Innovation and Research, told The Associated Press that existing law blocks most states from systematically purging voters from their rolls within 90 days of an election.

Since the Trump administration expanded the SAVE program’s search capabilities last year, at least 67 million voter registrations have been scanned.

Missouri congressional map decision

In another ruling Friday, the Supreme Court rejected an effort to use a new congressional map in Missouri backed by President Donald Trump. The map was designed to help Republicans gain an additional House seat this fall.

The court’s unsigned opinion stated that implementing the change during an ongoing election “would usher in electoral chaos.”

This decision wraps up the longest-running legal battle among roughly a dozen states, led by both Republicans and Democrats, that have sought to redraw congressional maps in an unusual mid-decade redistricting race.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court also rejected an effort from Trump to restrict mail ballot procedures before the midterms, allowing states to proceed with their normal processes this fall.