Claims that noncitizens are voting in U.S. elections are increasingly being amplified by former President Donald Trump and his allies as the November midterm elections draw nearer. Trump is advocating for the U.S. Postal Service to mail ballots only to voters verified as U.S. citizens. His administration's Department of Homeland Security has claimed, without providing evidence, that as many as 250,000 noncitizens may be registered to vote in four states.
Focus on Noncitizen Voting
In Maine, the Republican candidate for governor confirmed an audio recording in which he stated his intention to request federal marshals and immigration agents to monitor polling places to ensure only legal voters cast ballots. White House spokesperson Lauren Bis stated that evidence of noncitizens voting is continuing to "pile up," referencing a Census Bureau report.
However, experts note that voting by noncitizens is exceedingly rare and is a felony punishable by deportation. Opponents argue that the intense focus on this issue by Trump and his allies is a precursor to potential legal challenges of election results if they are not favorable to his party.
"Throw out these deceitful, deceptive claims as an excuse for disruptions," said Alexandra Chandler, director of impact programs, free and fair elections at the Democracy Project. "You can deny the results later."
Scrutiny of Census Data and DHS Claims
The Census Bureau report, which Trump cited on Truth Social, indicated in a preliminary analysis that approximately 24,000 noncitizens may have voted illegally in 2020. The report utilized a commercially available voter file cross-referenced with federal records. Experts suggest this methodology could lead to false positives, such as mislinked addresses or outdated citizenship information in databases. Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, pointed out the absence of typical error rate details in the report, calling it an "empty manila folder that the administration will wave around when it says the elections were fraudulent, noncitizens voted."
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's July letter to California, Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, alleging a high number of noncitizen registrations, was met with skepticism. California's secretary of state, Shirley Weber, expressed doubts about the data's reliability, noting her office had not shared its voter registration list with the DHS. In New Jersey, while the DHS indicated up to 35,000 noncitizens were registered, the state disclosed that about 6,600 had been improperly registered through its motor vehicle system. Governor Mikie Sherrill stated that fewer than 400 of these individuals had voted and that the vendor responsible was being replaced.
Pennsylvania's secretary of the commonwealth, Al Schmidt, reported that DHS officials acknowledged during a meeting a lack of high confidence in their data regarding 14,576 individuals flagged in the initial letter. Nevada's Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar stated he did not understand the federal government's methodology, emphasizing his state's efforts to maintain clean voter rolls.
Legislative Efforts and Concerns
Trump has been actively promoting the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, which requires documented proof of citizenship for voter registration. This bill has passed the House but is stalled in the Senate, facing skepticism even from some Republicans. Former Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar views the administration's release of the census report as a strategy to push for this legislation's passage.
Supporters of the SAVE America Act argue it would enhance election integrity with measures like photo ID requirements. However, collecting the necessary citizenship documents could be challenging for many potential voters. A 2025 University of Maryland study estimates that 21.3 million eligible voters in the U.S. lack easy access to documents proving their citizenship.
Critics contend that Trump's emphasis on noncitizen voting is less about election integrity and more about maintaining Republican power. The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles recently announced the arrest of a Honduran national on charges of fraudulent voter registration, with an assistant U.S. attorney suggesting this was "the first of many to come" and warning about the unknown number of noncitizens potentially registered to vote in California.
Colorado's secretary of state, Jena Griswold, stated, "Trump is trying to lay the groundwork to reject the ’26 election. He’s trying to destabilize both confidence and actual election administration. His efforts to destabilize election information, administration are not working."