Trump says DHS found more than 2,78,000 non-citizens registered to vote: Here’s what we know | Today’s news
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday (local time) that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified more than 278,000 stateless persons registered to participate in US federal elections.
He made the remarks during his prime-time speech, citing a DHS review of state voter rolls and public records that identified these noncitizens as registered to vote in federal elections. Trump commented: “These revelations reveal an election system so broken and so vulnerable that no one can defend it. It is not defensible.”
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The DHS report cited a review of state voter rolls that lists more than 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote. However, she did not provide evidence that non-citizens actually voted.
Trump argued that the registration of more than a quarter of a million non-citizens points to a broken voting system, suggesting that these vulnerabilities cannot be defended.
DHS conducted a review of voter rolls and public records in four states, identifying 190,832 noncitizens in California and smaller numbers in New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
DHS requested that state election officials respond within two weeks and confirm their intent to work together to ensure accurate elections.
California officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, emphasized that state law requires voters to be U.S. citizens and argued that voter fraud is extremely rare.
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The DHS document states, “Because Democratic states declined to share their voter registrations, the true number is actually much higher — yet even this limited analysis revealed more than a quarter of a million aliens illegally registered to vote.”
DHS finds non-citizens on voter rolls in four states
The development came hours after DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the agency had found thousands of non-citizens on voter rolls in California and three other states, Politico reported. Mullin noted that the initial check found tens of thousands of noncitizens on voter rolls in states like New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania. About 200,000 have been detected in California alone.
The agency sent out the press release ahead of Trump’s prime-time speech, in which he promised to reveal “really big news” about election security. However, the press release did not explain how DHS reached its conclusions or provide evidence that non-citizens voted.
It’s unclear how DHS obtained the data, according to the report. While some voter registration records are in the public domain, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has sued more than two dozen states across the country over this type of data. So far, all 15 judges who have ruled on those cases have rejected the requests, calling them too broad and lacking a clear purpose.
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What was in the proposal?
The document states that “reviews of four state records” found that 190,832 noncitizens were registered in California, 35,152 in New Jersey, 15,903 in Nevada and 14,576 in Pennsylvania. But the document did not indicate that the federal agency had found any evidence of non-citizens casting ballots. She also did not explain how she arrived at the numbers, which appear to be higher than previous reviews.
The report also referred to letters the DHS secretary plans to send to all participating states, and set a two-week deadline for top election officials to “respond within two weeks and confirm their intentions to work with DHS to ensure a free, fair and accurate election.”
California officials on DHS disclosure
In a post on X, California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote: “California law is clear: You MUST be a US citizen to vote in state and federal elections,” adding: “Voter fraud is EXTREMELY RARE – and almost always committed by US citizens.”
California Democratic Assemblyman Marc Berman, who has authored several state election bills, said in a statement that DHS should instead look into what he called the president’s baseless conspiracy theories about his 2020 election defeat. Berman noted, “If Secretary Mullin wants to investigate voter fraud in America, I suggest he start with his boss,” adding, “The only person who was Caught Demanding Election Officials Collect Thousands of Votes Is President Donald J. Trump, who Begged Georgia’s Secretary of State to ‘Find 11,780 Votes’ to Steal the 2020 Presidential Election.”
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A federal judge recently ruled that a citizenship database maintained by DHS incorrectly identified a significant number of US citizens as ineligible to vote.
It is illegal for non-citizens to vote in US elections, Politico reported, adding that cases of non-citizens voting are extremely rare. Additionally, many of those suspected of not being citizens listed on state voter rolls have been shown to be false positives.
