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Senate committee advances bill to codify federal SAVE checks of voter rolls amid privacy concerns
Summary
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee voted to report HB 691, which would require the secretary of state to use the federal SAVE system to check registered voters for potential noncitizen status. Supporters cited 403 flagged registrants; civil‑rights groups warned of inaccurate federal data and privacy risks.
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee advanced House Bill 691 on April 22, voting to report the measure that would require the secretary of state to use the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to screen the state’s voter registration rolls.
Secretary of State Nancy Landry told the committee the office’s initial runs of the SAVE database identified 403 registrants whose records merited additional review and that 83 of those individuals had participated in at least one election. “One ineligible noncitizen on the rolls is too many for me,” Landry said, adding that identified names are investigated and, when warranted, referred to parish registrars for the statutory challenge process.
Opponents — including immigrant advocates, the ACLU of Louisiana, the Urban League and the League of Women Voters — urged caution. Sarah Louisaio of VOTE said SAVE contains outdated and mismatched records that have harmed mixed‑status families and can generate false flags. “When the system gets it wrong, people pay the price,” she said. ACLU attorney Sarah Whittington pointed to the program’s original purpose (federal benefit verification), data reliability concerns identified by federal inspectors and the risk of long‑term federal retention of personal data.
Charles Phipps of the Urban League called the number of flags proportionally small but warned that misflags of eligible voters would be a serious harm. Multiple speakers urged stronger state safeguards, including exhausting state and parish records before submitting personal data to a federal system.
Landry and committee supporters said the bill would not be an automatic purge: matches from SAVE trigger local investigations and a 21‑day challenge process before any removal. The measure conditions required annual submissions on the SAVE service remaining available at no cost or on the legislature funding any access costs.
After extended questioning and public comment, the committee reported HB 691 favorably to the Senate floor; the measure now moves to the full Senate for further consideration.
