The Trump administration has, for the first time ever, built a searchable national citizenship data system.
The tool, which is being rolled out in phases, is designed to be used by state and local election officials to give them an easier way to ensure only citizens are voting. But it was developed rapidly without a public process, and some of those officials are already worrying about what else it could be used for.
NPR is the first news organization to report the details of the new system.
For decades, voting officials have noted that there was no national citizenship list to compare their state lists to, so to verify citizenship for their voters, they either needed to ask people to provide a birth certificate or a passport — something that could disenfranchise millions — or use a complex patchwork of disparate data sources.
Person from outside the US here. Please explain me why this is a problem?
In the EU only citizens can vote in national elections, for local elections non-citizens can vote only if they are residents.
I think in most cases where this administration seems to have a good idea it's important to remember that it's likely designed to keep them in power.
A national database that the trump admin controls will 100% be exploited for their own gain, just like every other aspect of government is being exploited for their gain now.
But if/when the Democrats win it will be under their "control".
You already can’t vote if you’re not a citizen. There are voter rolls and you get checked off when you go vote.
This almost certainly will be used to deport people without going through due process.
What happens if someone is illegitimately removed from this database? How can you show whether it was a glitch, or deliberate? How do you know if the information they have about you is even right, or get it changed if you need to? Where's the accountability?
See the UK Post Office accounting scandal, in which a persistent computer error went unfixed for decades and caused hundreds of post office employees to be fired and dragged through courts for corruption that never happened. A good chunk of them committed suicide. The government and the software company both knew about the bug causing the issue, too, but prosecutions continued. "If the computer says it, it must be right", sort of danger.
The database is the least important part of the system: the organizational structure, rules, and procedures are way more important, because they actively help or harm people.
The database is the backbone of them being able to hurt or harm so I'd say it's pretty important. Here's the other problem though. The federal government under Trump is having a really difficult time protecting the personal identifiable information of the citizens. Not only have they allowed private companies to access that data (palantir etc), but they are also having a lot of difficulties with cyber attacks. Part of the reason those cyber attacks haven't been as effective as they could be is because the data isn't localized in one place. Now that's exactly what they're trying to do with this.
That's a really weird way of looking at it. Without the database, there's no central ledger to consult as to whether or not you're legally a person. Like @[email protected] said:
Without that starting point, "the organizational structure, rules, and procedures" that rely on the data from the database are impotent.
That's how I roll.
We're already seeing them do that without a database. 🤷♂️
Other countries are able to maintain internal databases without using them to screw over their own citizens (except when they do). The problem isn't the database.
That the someone cannot vote. But you can design system resilient to this.
Paper trail.
You check it. I mean, when I ask for a document I expect to receive it. And I check if it is correct, after all human error can happen anyway.
Every document from the state (any level) I have has a signature that indicate who is ultimately accountable for it.
Database logs and procedural logs is how you know.
If you move state etc you would update your details with the government, just like you already should be doing.
"illegitimately" is the key word there. I'm not interested in what you think happens if everything is working as intended, or your poor reading comprehension. F-, rewrite your answer and address the question or you'll fail the class and be held back a grade.
Oh the irony. Database and procedural logs are automatic and extensive, that's why I mentioned them. No amount of "illegitimate" actions would sidestep them. Go back to school.
Logs, eh? You know those are just text files, right? And how do you plan to get access to them to prove any kind of mistake or malfeasance, exactly?
Because they want to use the data for more nefarious purposes to displace non-white American voters.
The US is generally the same where some local elections allow non-citizen residents to vote for local issues.
The issue with this is was not created publicly. We don't know what kind of data is being uses to determine someone's status. If someone is private enough to not have any data collected by its source, then they could be denied voting rights despite being legally able to vote.
It also could end up bring used as the sole source for verifying someone's status, despite having documents to prove otherwise.
I would imagine it's based on social security numbers.
It's not a problem. It's fair to assume anything the Trump administration does is nefarious.
The ONLY People who Are WORRIED about This are STUPID LIBRULS trying to ILLEGALLY Vote! Everyone else is TOTALLY Fine with this because there's NO WAY a Database like This can be Misused by a Government Deporting LEGAL CITIZENS and trying to Make GAY AND TRANS PEOPLE ILLEGAL!
Every region in the world has its way of doing things. When new layers of control are added, it makes some people nervous.
When the new controls are perhaps mismanaged and corrupt, promising to do more than advertised, it makes some people angry. Especially during an increase of lawlessness and corruption of the central government. Especially when it uses the same messaging which has already harmed many
With everything he does the issue is the implementation. Deport criminal aliens? I'm all for it, but most of the deportees have no criminal record or they accuse them of crimes as if it's the same thing as a conviction.
Part of Trump's grand plan is to make federal elections span only a single day. So maybe you check your status the day before and everything is fine, but the day of voting a glitch in the system says it can't verify your citizenship. That's it! No votes for you this year!
Illegal immigration is a crime.
Actually it's a civil offense akin to a parking ticket which is separate from criminal charges.
It's a crime.
The crime of wanting a better life and pulling your bootstrap that is.
Do it legally.
Is selling meth "wanting a better life and pulling your bootstrap"?
Technically, yes, because it leaves a lot of money. Funny way of saying you have never worked a slave-wage job in your life. But immigrants aren't selling meth, though, because that would be a FEDERAL crime and not a CIVIL OFFENSE. Curious comparison to reach for immediately.
You said that commuting a crime of wanting a better life is ok, so I asked if wanting a better life by selling meth is ok……and you said yes….so yeah, your opinion isn’t really necessary after that.
"Improper entry" through illegally crossing a border is a crime, but the majority of undocumented immigrants in the US don't enter that way. "Unlawful presence" after a visa expires or is denied receives civil penalties rather than criminal, meaning they can't lead to imprisonment but only fines or a court action like deportation.
Doubt, especially given what we saw from 2021-early 2025.
Parking illegally is a crime, bub.
Not surprised a MAGAt can't weigh not only the severity of the crime, but the motivations, its consequences, its long history, and overall social impact, and still decide they would rather lick boots instead. Good luck picking all that fruit in Texas and constructing those homes after a hurricane in Florida, though, champ. Send pics of your proud & hard work.
Don't see the problem. For years in Italy elections were a one day only events (normally a Sunday) and everything worked fine.
There are solutions since the system need to be resilient, note that the glitch could be even not "wanted" so while you can think that $HATED_CANDIDATE want to keep his opponents away from the voting, in the same way $HATED_CANDIDATE want to make sure that his supporters can vote.
Also outside the US, and the "problem" is that people - pretty much exclusively democrat voters - want illegal immigrants to be able to vote, or at least don't want their illegal votes to not be counted, because they overwhelmingly vote Democrat since the Democrats are the ones importing them and giving them freebies.
Your post is blatant disinformation. Undocumented immigrants overwhelmingly vote not at all. Voting illegally in the US is difficult, and often prosecuted.
I live in the US. Most of the people I know are Democrat-aligned. None of them want undocumented immigrants to vote. None of them import undocumented immigrants.
Doubt.