“I was confused because I have a passport. I’ve been voting for almost 10 years. Why is this happening now?” Nel recalled in an interview with NPR. “My first thought was something is going on in terms of wanting to adjust and change who is registered to vote.” An election worker raises a U.S. flag while assisting voters at a polling station in Las Vegas on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. earlier

Other eligible Texas voters received the same notice, though official numbers are not yet known.

Their experience underscores concerns election experts have had about the reliability of SAVE, which the Trump administration has turned into a controversial citizenship lookup tool. While the changes to SAVE have made the tool more accessible to states, the overhauled system has been widely criticized for being rolled out without public notice, congressional input or transparency about its accuracy.