The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified more than 250,000 potential non-citizens registered to vote across California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, according to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. Mullin notified election officials in these states on Friday.
DHS's preliminary review indicated approximately 190,832 potential non-citizen registrations in California, 35,152 in New Jersey, 15,903 in Nevada, and 14,576 in Pennsylvania. The department requested that election officials in each state respond within two weeks regarding their willingness to collaborate with DHS on reviewing these registrations to ensure election integrity.
"Election security is national security," Mullin stated. "Only Americans should be electing American leaders."
The notifications were sent to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, New Jersey Secretary of State Dale Caldwell, Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, and Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt.
DHS has also implemented measures such as requiring recipients of certain Federal Emergency Management Agency grants to adhere to election integrity standards and directing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pursue stricter penalties, including deportation, for non-citizens who vote illegally. Federal law prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections, and documented instances are described as rare.
Election officials and voting rights advocates have previously raised concerns that voter list matching processes can generate false positives due to outdated records, similar names, or errors in underlying databases. DHS has not yet released specific details on the methodology used to identify these potential registrations.
The announcement follows a national address by former President Trump on election integrity, during which he raised concerns about voter data.