In recent months, nearly 50 million Americans have had their names run through a federal

data system that's now being used to try to weed out non-citizen voters.

But as Republican states run their voter rules through it, the system is also flagging

Americans who do have the right to vote, like Anthony Nell, who lives near Dallas, Texas.

At first I was confused because I have a passport.

I've been voting for 10 years.

Why is this happening now?

My first thought was something is going on in terms of wanting to adjust and change who is registered to vote.

Nell is one of 2,700 people.

The Texas Secretary of State's office, identified as, quote,

potential non-citizens that are on Texas's voter rolls. The state made this list by running

every registered voter through the SAVE data system, which for decades was a federal lookup tool

only used to check if immigrants were eligible for benefits. Earlier this summer, the Trump

administration linked it to social security administration data

and now claims that SAVE is the first tool that can look up the citizenship of almost every American.

NPR reporter Jude Jaffe Block and I have been reporting on SAVE for months.

And recently, Jude has been tracking how American citizens like Nell are being flagged.

In Anthony Nell's case, you know, he goes to his mailbox, he gets a letter.

As the voter registrar for Denton County, I am writing to notify you of important information regarding your voter registration.

It's asking him to prove his citizenship.

We have received information from the Texas Secretary of State reflecting that you might not be

a United States citizen.

...