WASHINGTON, D.C. — State officials have challenged the federal findings. Nevada state officials stated that the Department of Homeland Security wrongly identified 185 people on Nevada’s voter rolls as non-citizens. Nevada election officials stated they reviewed the 185 records DHS sent them and confirmed they were US citizens.

In August, DHS officials told staffers in the Nevada secretary of state’s office that they had reviewed the numbers and confirmed only 185 were non-citizens. Greg Ott, a deputy attorney general, wrote to DHS in an email regarding the discrepancy. "As for the 185 individuals, our records indicate that they were citizens. You have provided nothing of substance to suggest otherwise," Ott said.

Pennsylvania election official Al Schmidt said in an August letter that DHS representatives indicated they did not have high confidence in the claim that there were as many as 14,576 non-citizens on Pennsylvania's voter rolls. The Unlawful Voter Initiative, under the Trump administration, targeted 50 states and potentially hundreds of thousands of individuals, according to a whistleblower's report.

The Department of Homeland Security used a classified database called TECS to create law enforcement records against individuals based on unverified DHS data, including U.S. citizens, during the voter initiative, according to a whistleblower's Senate letter. The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, originally designed to verify immigration status for public benefits, was repurposed under an executive order issued by President Trump in March 2025 to check citizenship status for voter roll matching.

White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis defended the initiative in a statement. "The real story here is after decades of the media denying that non-citizens register and vote in our elections, they are finally being forced to admit after a flurry of recent arrests nationwide that it does happen," Bis said. She added that "Democrats must stop refusing to pass the SAVE America Act—commonsense legislation that ensures Americans, and Americans only, decide our elections." A DHS official stated in a Sept. 1 email that the department "offered to raise with the WH COS if we can't get forward progress," referring to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services, other DHS subagencies, the State Department, and the Social Security Administration have been working to match voter rolls with information from other federal databases. DHS at times has had to purchase information from data brokers to fill in gaps such as a missing birthdate, according to a Sept. 1 email. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin cited a review in a July letter noting that 190,832 non-citizens may currently be registered to vote in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

Why It Matters

The White House has pushed federal agencies to accelerate their review of at least 47 state voter rolls obtained by the Department of Homeland Security, part of an effort to find noncitizens among registered voters. The initiative represents an expansion of federal authority over state election administration, utilizing databases originally intended for other purposes to screen voter eligibility.

Discrepancies between federal assessments and state audits show the challenges of large-scale data matching across different government systems. While the administration cites the need to enforce existing laws against non-citizen voting, state officials argue that the methods used have produced false positives that incorrectly flag eligible U.S. citizens. The use of classified law enforcement databases and the purchase of commercial data to fill informational gaps further complicate the verification process.

Timeline

On February 14, 2021, a final rule amended regulations to clarify protections for beneficiaries and prospective beneficiaries of federally funded social services and the rights and obligations of organizations providing such services. New Jersey Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill admitted on July 21 that 6,600 non-citizens were found on New Jersey voter rolls and that roughly 400 had illegally cast ballots in elections between June 2023 and June 2024.

A DHS official stated in a Sept. 1 email, "offered to raise with the WH COS if we can't get forward progress," referring to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

What's New

In 2025, the Trump administration's 'Unlawful Voter Initiative' led to the identification of 278,000 non-citizens on voter rolls nationwide, but subsequent audits by states like Nevada and Pennsylvania found these claims were based on flawed data matching, with 185 individuals incorrectly flagged as non-citizens in Nevada alone. Greg Ott, a deputy attorney general, wrote to DHS in an email, "As for the 185 individuals, our records indicate that they were citizens. You have provided nothing of substance to suggest otherwise."

This expands the previously reported 47-state scope, indicating broader federal efforts to identify noncitizens on voter rolls. The White House has pushed federal agencies to accelerate their review of at least 47 state voter rolls obtained by the Department of Homeland Security, according to an internal email reviewed by reporters, part of an unprecedented effort to find noncitizens among registered voters as midterm elections near. The Department of Homeland Security's authority to access state voter rolls was formally outlined in an August 2025 Office of Legal Counsel memo, which concluded federal law permits the Attorney General to compel states to produce voter registration lists for identifying ineligible voters, regardless of state privacy laws.

How Sources Differ

Regarding the number of non-citizens on voter rolls, the Authority to Obtain and Share Statewide Voter Roll Data states that in 2025, the Trump administration's 'Unlawful Voter Initiative' led to the identification of 278,000 non-citizens on voter rolls nationwide, but subsequent audits by states like Nevada and Pennsylvania found these claims were based on flawed data matching. He said in an August letter that DHS representatives indicated they did not have high confidence in the claim that there were as many as 14,576 non-citizens on Pennsylvania's voter rolls.

It was reported that as many as 30,000 non-citizens had been added to voter rolls since 2000 as a result of software glitches and errors stemming from the automatic registration of illegal aliens who apply for state driver's licenses. A preliminary DHS review first reported indicated California may have as many as 35,152 non-citizens on its voter rolls.