Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is escalating pressure on state election officials, publicly claiming that hundreds of thousands of non-citizens are registered to vote in key battleground states. Despite these assertions, federal documents and state officials suggest the data remains unverified and speculative, as the administration faces significant legal pushback over its attempts to access sensitive voter rolls.
Data Discrepancies and Verification Challenges
In a news conference Friday, Secretary Mullin alleged that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified a cumulative quarter-million non-citizens registered in California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. However, internal DHS letters to these states reflect a more cautious assessment. For instance, the letter sent to Pennsylvania states there “may be as many as 14,576” non-citizens on the rolls, while noting that 8,594 came up as matches as non-citizens on its files.
The DHS relies on the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to flag potential non-citizens. The system is designed for voluntary list maintenance and requires states to conduct further investigations of its matches. Officials in states like Georgia and North Carolina have clarified that individuals flagged by SAVE are not confirmed non-citizens. In Georgia, officials reported that of 2,549 flagged individuals, only about 120 had ever voted in the state.
Did You Know?
The DHS program central to these audits, known as SAVE, is explicitly designed to require states to conduct further investigations of its matches, yet the administration has not included this context in its recent public claims.
Legal Hurdles and Threat of Prosecution
The administration’s efforts to force states to hand over voter data have faced consistent legal resistance. More than a dozen courts have sided with states that refused to provide their voter rolls, and a judge has ruled the underlying DHS audit program illegal. Secretary Mullin expressed opposition to that ruling Friday, threatening election officials with fines, penalties, and potential prison time if they fail to participate in the reviews.
State officials from both parties have dismissed these warnings. New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, a Republican, stated he is not intimidated by the threats, noting his state recently secured the dismissal of a Department of Justice lawsuit seeking similar data. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat, characterized the administration’s letters as a “temper tantrum” resulting from their legal roadblocks.
Expert Insight:
The conflict underscores a widening gap between federal administration rhetoric and state-level election administration. Because state officials fear the administration may use the data to exaggerate the problem of non-citizen voting, as a way to sow doubt about the midterm results, if Republicans fare poorly, the refusal to share voter rolls has become a central point of tension.
Potential Future Developments
Additionally, if the DHS continues to release unverified figures without providing the underlying methodology, state officials are likely to continue refuting the claims publicly, as Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar did when he labeled the numbers “wildly speculative.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the SAVE system?
SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) is a citizenship data system used by the DHS to review voter rolls. It is designed to flag potential non-citizens but requires further investigation by states to confirm the status of those flagged.
Have any states complied with the administration’s request?
The administration has faced legal hurdles, with over a dozen courts siding with states that refused to provide their voter rolls to the federal government. Many election officials have publicly dismissed the administration’s threats of prosecution.
What evidence exists regarding non-citizen voting?
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt noted that all evidence shows non-citizen voting is “extremely rare.” In Georgia, officials reported that of 2,549 flagged individuals, only about 120 had ever voted in the state.
How will the ongoing dispute over voter roll data impact the upcoming election cycle?