DHS data on noncitizen voters remains largely unverified, officials say
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The Department of Homeland Security's claim of 250,000 noncitizen voters in four states is based on preliminary matches, with only a small fraction manually confirmed in Nevada.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced that the department had identified 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote in Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California, presenting the figure as evidence of widespread voter fraud. The numbers were derived by matching public voter rolls with federal immigration records, but officials acknowledged that the data are preliminary and have not been fully vetted.
In Nevada, DHS initially reported 15,903 noncitizen registrations. A later review confirmed only 185 cases after manual checks, while more than 14,000 remain unresolved, including 6,200 labeled as “higher confidence matches.” DHS officials said the higher-confidence list could include naturalized citizens whose records have not been updated.
“One thing that I love about numbers, and I love about facts, is they don’t lie,” Mullin said.
“We’re going to manually review to be sure that it is not someone’s dad or someone’s son – that it is that person,” DHS fraud division lead Kimberley Vogt told Nevada officials.
Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar warned that the department’s data are preliminary and that the state will not act on them without a high level of confidence, citing the risk of disenfranchising eligible voters. DHS declined to provide the full list of names, citing concerns about accuracy.
The effort is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to tighten voting rules and promote claims of election insecurity. Former Census Bureau officials have criticized a recent Census analysis that claimed 24,000 noncitizens voted in 2020, noting methodological flaws and potential bias.
Heather Honey, who leads DHS’s “election integrity” unit, told Nevada officials the agency is cooperating in good faith and encouraged the state to investigate the matches before the midterm elections. The department has also threatened to withhold federal grants from states that reject its election-security measures.