Trump Administration's Push Against Non-Citizen Voting Yields Few Results
Investigations into non-citizen voter registration and balloting have so far uncovered exceedingly rare instances, contrary to administration claims of widespread fraud.
The Trump administration has intensified its efforts to identify and prosecute non-citizens who register or cast ballots in U.S. elections, but the outcomes of these investigations have largely underscored the rarity of such occurrences, according to reports. This initiative, particularly prominent in the lead-up to the midterm elections, aims to address claims of widespread voter fraud.
The administration has pursued access to state voter rolls and has threatened or pursued legal action against election officials who do not purge suspected non-citizens. A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official stated that the department's investigative arm is committed to finding and prosecuting election fraud, asserting that "aliens can and do vote in our elections" and promising consequences including arrest and deportation for those found to have voted illegally.
Despite claims that hundreds of thousands of non-citizens are illegally registered, federal officials reported pursuing 1,600 voter fraud cases since January 2025, resulting in approximately 160 arrests. This arrest figure represents a minuscule fraction of the roughly 174 million registered voters nationwide. In Nevada, election officials reviewed voter rolls flagged by DHS and found that all individuals identified as non-citizens were, in fact, U.S. citizens.
Elections experts note that the issue of non-citizen voting is minuscule. Stephen Richer, an elections expert at the CATO Institute, stated that federal law enforcement announcements to date affirm this is a small problem.
Administration's Methods and Assertions
President Trump has long promoted the idea of non-citizen voting as a significant problem. Shortly after returning to office, an executive order directed DHS to compare state voter rolls with federal databases to identify "unqualified voters" and the Department of Justice to prioritize prosecuting non-citizen voting. The administration has also demanded voter rolls from states and sued those that did not comply. Furthermore, DHS threatened to withhold federal homeland security funding from states that did not adopt election changes, including running voter rolls through a DHS database. The Justice Department sent letters to all 50 states warning election officials of potential criminal charges if they knowingly allowed non-citizens to remain on voter rolls.
The administration has also pushed for the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote, and advocated for the use of an updated DHS database called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) to verify voter eligibility. The Supreme Court recently allowed the administration's overhauled version of the SAVE database to be used in voter eligibility verification.
An initiative called the “Unlawful Voter Initiative” has reportedly been launched to identify non-citizens on state voter rolls, with hundreds of federal agents assigned to the effort. A whistleblower report alleged that federal personnel involved may have used illegal methods, including posing as voters to access voter registration information, potentially violating state laws.
Critics argue that states have the constitutional authority to run their own elections without federal interference, and that the president lacks broad authority to intervene in the election system. The Trump administration has defended its methods in response to these allegations.
Pushback from States and Data
States have pushed back against the administration's claims and demands. In July, President Trump asserted that 278,000 non-citizens were on voting rolls in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. DHS released figures for suspected non-citizen voters in these states, but all four states refuted these claims. Nevada election officials found DHS's figures to be unfounded after reviewing their data, determining that individuals identified as non-citizens were U.S. citizens.
Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar described the administration's accusations as "shockingly unprofessional" and lacking a systematic process for determining voter eligibility. He expressed concern that Latino citizens, in particular, have voiced fears of encountering federal agents or being misclassified as non-citizens, suggesting this could be an attempt to discourage voting.
Data from nationwide studies and state audits consistently show that non-citizen registration and voting are exceedingly rare. A 2017 Brennan Center survey found approximately 30 incidents of suspected non-citizen voting in the 2016 presidential election across 42 jurisdictions. Audits in Michigan and Georgia in recent years have also identified very few instances of non-citizens casting ballots out of millions of votes cast.
Experts emphasize that non-citizens face significant penalties, including fines and deportation, for voting illegally, making it an unlikely risk for individuals to take. The electoral impact of these rare instances is considered negligible, with the problem described as "infinitesimal."