“Federal databases can be extremely helpful for states updating voter rolls, provided their limitations are recognized,” Olson said. “While the Trump administration’s proposal to share this information is beneficial, mandating that states consider the database contents reliable despite ongoing gaps and inaccuracies is problematic.”
Participation in the program is voluntary, and recent users have identified only a small number of non‑citizens.
In Georgia, after an audit of the state’s voter rolls, 432 possible non-citizens were identified, external on its voter rolls over 30 years.
The Department of Homeland Security provided Nevada with a list of 185 names which it claimed identified non-citizens who had been improperly allowed to register to vote, but state officials found that they were all in fact citizens., external
The White House cited a New Jersey case this summer, where a software glitch in the driver’s license department mistakenly added roughly 6,600 non‑citizens to the voter rolls between June 2023 and June 2024. Officials said fewer than 400 of these individuals voted, and all have since been removed from the system.
The U.S. Justice Department asked California to exclude 20,000 mail‑in ballots for the upcoming midterm election, alleging they were cast by likely non‑citizen registrants, but an appellate court rejected the request.
From the 20,000 ballots, the department has charged 28 individuals, external alleging they are non‑citizens who illegally registered to vote.
Also Read
- As Israel goes to the polls, Arab voters find cause for hope despite an ever-uncertain political path
- Iranian President Pezeshkian Urges Regional Self-Reliance in Address to Gas Exporting Nations Summit
- Financial aid for Ukraine is getting harder to find
- Landline switchover could cut people off in emergency, minister warned