Key facts
- DHS confirmed 185 non-citizens on Nevada's voter rolls after initially suggesting up to 15,903.
- The federal agency shared preliminary data with Nevada election officials, acknowledging it required further review.
- DHS officials explained their methodology involved comparing voter rolls with immigration data.
- Nevada officials expressed concerns about the preliminary nature of the data and the lack of transparency.
- The DHS spokesperson stated that 185 individuals were confirmed non-citizens after manual review.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has confirmed that only 185 non-citizens were found on Nevada's voter rolls, a significant reduction from earlier claims. This figure emerged after DHS officials met with Nevada election officials to discuss data that initially suggested as many as 15,903 non-citizens could be registered in the state.
In a primetime address on July 16, Donald Trump had claimed that a DHS review found approximately 278,000 non-citizens registered to vote across four states. Follow-up letters from DHS to Nevada, California, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey presented the Nevada figure as a potential ceiling, not a confirmed number.
During a meeting with Nevada election officials, DHS official Kimberley Vogt stated that 185 individuals had been confirmed as non-U.S. citizens after manual review, with over 14,000 still pending additional review. The department also shared a list of 6,218 other individuals for whom it had a "higher confidence match" of potential non-citizen status.
Nevada's Secretary of State, Francisco Aguilar, expressed skepticism, noting that DHS representatives informed his office the numbers were preliminary and lacked sufficient confidence for full data sharing. He emphasized the office's commitment to avoiding disenfranchisement of eligible voters.
DHS officials explained their methodology involved comparing Nevada's public voter rolls with internal immigration data. The presence of Heather Honey, an election denier working at DHS, at the meeting was noted. Nevada officials pressed for clarity on the vetting process, with DHS acknowledging the 15,000 number was preliminary and had not undergone a full manual review.
Experts like David Becker criticized the administration's continued "baseless claims" of widespread noncitizen voting, stating that such claims "wither away to small numbers" when states demand evidence and transparency. Previously, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin had threatened election officials with penalties for non-compliance in voter removal efforts, though DHS officials confirmed no criminal referrals had been made.