Election expert sounds alarm on how noncitizens are landing on voter rolls
An election integrity expert has raised concerns that noncitizens may be registered to vote in California and Washington through automatic registration systems. The Justice Department says it identified thousands of suspected cases, but state officials dispute the findings and warn that acting on inaccurate data could wrongly exclude eligible voters.
Federal officials reported more than 20,000 likely noncitizens on California’s voter rolls and over 400 suspected cases in Washington, ahead of the 3 November midterm elections. California and Washington both require citizenship to register, but use different automatic registration processes; Washington’s secretary of state says the federal list includes citizens and people not currently registered. The states also challenge the accuracy of the Justice Department’s data and its use of the DHS SAVE database, which the agency says can help verify citizenship.
In short
- Federal officials identified thousands of suspected noncitizen registrations.
- California and Washington dispute the accuracy of the findings.
- State officials warn against removing voters without individual evidence.
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The case for
If noncitizens are being added to voter rolls through automatic registration, officials should identify and correct those errors to uphold the law and public confidence in elections. Supporters of the federal review argue that citizenship checks, including careful use of government records, can help states find problems before ballots are cast.
The case against
The suspected cases may reflect inaccurate or outdated records rather than ineligible registrations, as state officials say the federal lists include citizens and people who are not registered. Removing voters on the basis of flawed data could disenfranchise eligible citizens, so any checks should be reliable, transparent and give people a fair chance to resolve errors.
Explained simply
California and Washington require voters to be US citizens, but both use automatic registration processes that can add eligible people to the voter rolls when they interact with government agencies. The systems differ between the states, and officials say checks are intended to prevent people who are not citizens from registering.
The Justice Department says it used federal data, including a citizenship-checking database, to identify people it suspects may be noncitizens on the rolls. State officials dispute the accuracy of its findings, saying the lists may include citizens or people who are not registered. The issue matters because inaccurate checks could lead to eligible voters being wrongly removed or prevented from voting.