Key facts
- Over 30,000 self-declared non-citizens may have been added to US voter rolls since 2000 due to software glitches and clerical errors.
- The errors occurred while processing driver's license and state ID applications in a dozen US states.
- The number of non-citizen registrations is considered too small to impact elections.
- New Jersey reported about 6,600 non-citizens were mistakenly added to its voter rolls between June 2023 and June 2024.
- Errors were also reported in California, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.
- The White House is pushing for the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of US citizenship to register to vote.
US states may have inadvertently added more than 30,000 self-declared non-citizens to their voter rolls since 2000 due to software glitches and clerical errors during the processing of driver's license and state ID applications, according to official records reviewed by Reuters.
While the number of such registrations is considered too small to impact election outcomes, the findings expose weaknesses in voter registration systems across a dozen states, regardless of political affiliation. The errors appear to stem from bureaucratic failures rather than organized efforts to register immigrants illegally.
New Jersey recently reported that a technology glitch added approximately 6,600 non-citizens to its voter rolls between June 2023 and June 2024, despite them indicating they were not citizens on their applications. Similar issues have been reported in at least 11 other states, including Republican-leaning states like Iowa, Texas, and South Dakota, contributing to the nationwide figure.
Experts like Don Palmer of the Heritage Foundation suggest that errors at driver's license agencies are the primary cause, emphasizing the need for states to improve voter eligibility verification. However, David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation & Research argues that legislative efforts requiring proof of citizenship would not prevent these types of processing errors, as individuals in these cases followed the correct procedures.
President Donald Trump and his supporters have claimed, without evidence, that non-citizen voting is widespread and part of a coordinated effort by Democrats. The White House has pressured Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would mandate proof of citizenship for voter registration. Critics, however, argue that such legislation could disenfranchise eligible voters and create unnecessary turmoil.
Elaine Kamarck, an expert at the Brookings Institution, stated there is no evidence of massive non-citizen voting. While the Department of Justice acknowledges that immigrants sometimes make false declarations about citizenship, a Reuters analysis found federal prosecutors have charged only 129 people under a federal statute for voting by aliens since 1996, with no allegations of coordinated efforts to influence elections.
The errors are linked to state motor-voter systems, established under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which register individuals when they apply for driver's licenses or state IDs. Republicans argue these systems are problematic given the increase in the immigrant population and the issuance of licenses to non-citizens, including undocumented immigrants in some states.
Instances of mistaken registration have been reported, such as a Canadian green card holder in California who was mistakenly registered to vote, and hundreds of immigrants in Oregon who were registered due to clerical mistakes at the Department of Motor Vehicles. In Iowa, an initial estimate of over 2,000 non-citizens registered to vote was later revised down to 277.