# Supreme Court could allow states to purge voter rolls near elections  
**Published:** 2026-05-28T11:15:53.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/28/repub/states-could-purge-voter-rolls-close-to-elections-if-supreme-court-takes-trumps-side-in-arizona-case/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/supreme-court-could-allow-states-to-purge-voter-rolls-near-elections

The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to let states purge their voter rolls for noncitizens just days before elections, a move that voting rights advocates warn could disenfranchise eligible American voters. The administration's petition, filed with the Supreme Court on Tuesday, centers on an Arizona voting law that has become a flashpoint in the national debate over election security versus voter access, [according to the Nebraska Examiner.](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/28/repub/states-could-purge-voter-rolls-close-to-elections-if-supreme-court-takes-trumps-side-in-arizona-case/)

If the Supreme Court accepts the case, it could significantly expand state power to conduct voter purges close to elections and mandate citizenship documentation, effectively advancing key provisions of the SAVE America Act, President Donald Trump's stalled elections legislation. The decision could arrive before the 2028 presidential election.

Arizona law currently requires proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, for state voter registration. Federal law, the National Voter Registration Act, strictly limits states from canceling registrations in the 90 days before federal elections. The Justice Department argues the Supreme Court should uphold Arizona's law, contending the NVRA doesn't prohibit removing noncitizens from voter rolls.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals previously ruled Arizona's law violates the NVRA. But Republican state attorneys general, including Kansas' Kris Kobach, argue the lower court gutted Arizona's "common-sense measures" to protect elections. Nebraska has signed onto a brief urging the Supreme Court to hear the case.

Opponents argue the 90-day period serves as a "pencils down" deadline to minimize registration errors. Critics point to concerns about the SAVE system—a federal database expanded to check millions of voter names simultaneously—which has falsely flagged U.S. citizens. A Nebraska voter was wrongly flagged by SAVE and [removed from voter rolls](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/nebraska-voter-is-plaintiff-in-federal-lawsuit-challenging-release-of-sensitive-voter-data-to-doj/) before proving his citizenship.

Studies show noncitizen voting is extremely rare—one study placed it at 0.0001% of votes cast in 2016. Utah's recent review of 2 million registered voters identified just 52 potential noncitizens. Yet the Trump administration continues pushing the citizenship verification agenda through litigation and executive action.

## Sources

- [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/28/repub/states-could-purge-voter-rolls-close-to-elections-if-supreme-court-takes-trumps-side-in-arizona-case/)
- [Nebraska Public Media article on Nebraska voter SAVE system flagging](https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/nebraska-voter-is-plaintiff-in-federal-lawsuit-challenging-release-of-sensitive-voter-data-to-doj/)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/05/28/repub/states-could-purge-voter-rolls-close-to-elections-if-supreme-court-takes-trumps-side-in-arizona-case/.