The Department of Homeland Security has sent letters to election officials in California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, revealing a preliminary review that found over 256,000 potential non-citizens registered to vote across the four states.
The review, which compared publicly available voter registration records with federal immigration data, uncovered thousands of potential matches, according to the letters.
California appears to have the largest number of potential non-citizen voters, with an estimated 190,832 individuals, followed by New Jersey with 35,152, Nevada with 15,903, and Pennsylvania with 14,576.
The department found that 81,336 California registrants, 19,497 New Jersey registrants, 8,576 Nevada registrants, and 8,594 Pennsylvania registrants had names, dates of birth, addresses, and Social Security numbers that matched noncitizens in DHS records.
It is worth noting that many non-citizens are legally issued Social Security numbers, including lawful permanent residents, people authorized to work in the United States, and certain visa holders.
The Department of Homeland Security used Social Security numbers as one of several identifiers in matching voter registration records with federal immigration records.
The letters describe the findings as a preliminary review and urge state election officials to work with the department to verify the identities of the potential non-citizens before taking any action.
The department is prepared to provide immigration records under federal law to help states determine whether those individuals are eligible to remain on the voter rolls.
Ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections is essential to protecting election integrity, and states maintain voter registration rolls while the federal government maintains the immigration records needed to verify citizenship.
The letters ask the secretaries of state to contact DHS by July 24, so the department can begin sharing records and assisting with the verification process ahead of future federal elections.
Some state officials have not responded to requests for comment, while others are working to verify the identities of the potential non-citizens.
The push for closer collaboration between state and federal agencies on election security and voter eligibility comes as the federal government continues to emphasize the importance of maintaining accurate voter rolls.
