A federal appeals court panel on Friday declined to lift a lower court order blocking the Department of Homeland Security from making a new voter verification tool available to states.

The 2-1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit kept the system offline. The tool was intended to allow states to compare their voter rolls against federal citizenship and Social Security data.

Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Judge Robert L. Wilkins, both Obama appointees, formed the majority. They ruled that the department had not shown the system could operate without violating privacy laws protecting Social Security information.

Judge Gregory G. Katsas, a Trump appointee, dissented and would have allowed the tool to be restored.

The ruling comes as the Trump administration pursues legal efforts to implement new voting restrictions ahead of the November midterm elections. The system originated from an update to the SAVE database, historically used for immigrant status checks, and was expanded under an executive order to include broader citizenship verification for elections.

A district court had previously blocked the tool, citing concerns over privacy laws and data accuracy. The appeals panel described its decision as temporary and indicated a full ruling on the underlying legal issues would follow within 10 days.

The administration has argued the tool is necessary to prevent ineligible voters from remaining on rolls and to address potential non-citizen voting. Critics have challenged the effort on grounds that it improperly combines sensitive personal data without sufficient statutory authority.