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Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application

Voter checks using federal data

Department of Homeland Security v. League of Women Voters

Granted
No. 26A308Stay applicationFiled by the federal governmentPresented to The Chief JusticeFrom United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

What did the Court do?

The Court granted the request on September 25, 2026: the lower court's ruling is on hold while the appeal continues.

Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case. Justice Jackson, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Kagan would have ruled the other way.

Filed Ruled 17 days after filing

What's being asked

The federal government, including the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration, asks the Supreme Court to pause a District Court order. It says the order wiped out its authority to use Social Security data through the modified SAVE system. The government argues that this authority matters to upcoming elections. The League of Women Voters and other organizations challenge the government's use of that data.

What the Court did

The Court gave the government emergency help: it granted (approved) the request and put the June 22 District Court order on hold (stayed it). The pause covers the D.C. Circuit appeal and any timely Supreme Court review request; it does not decide who wins. The Court published no vote count; Justice Jackson dissented (disagreed with the result), and Justices Sotomayor and Kagan signed on to her dissent.

  • Dissented
  • Wrote separately
  • Vote not published
Dissenting · 3recorded against the Court's order
  1. Sotomayorjoined Jackson's writing
  2. Kaganjoined Jackson's writing
  3. Jacksonwrote a dissent
Vote not published · 6the order does not say how they voted
  1. Roberts
  2. Thomas
  3. Alito
  4. Gorsuch
  5. Kavanaugh
  6. Barrett
The order records the positions of 3 of 9 justices. The Court usually does not say how each justice voted on an emergency application, so the rest are shown as not published.
Half of 76 rulings on applications where the Court asked for a response came 12 to 26 days after filing, and the median was 17 days; this one was ruled on 17 days after filing.

What it means

This is temporary emergency relief, not a final decision on who wins; the appeal continues in the D.C. Circuit. No related Supreme Court case is listed, and the Court set no argument date for this application.

Separate writings

  • Justice Jackson, joined by Justice Kagan and Justice Sotomayor, dissenting

    Read (PDF)

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 26A308. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked October 6, 2026