Noncitizens vote in large numbers in US elections
| Noncitizens vote in large numbers in US elections | |
|---|---|
| FALSE | |
| "Large numbers of noncitizens, including undocumented immigrants, vote illegally in US federal elections, enough to swing results." | |
| Domain | Politics & Elections |
| Tactic | Statistical & Evidentiary Distortion Propaganda Technique |
| Era | Current |
| First seen | 2000s |
| Origin | Claims by politicians and activists, prominent in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 US election campaigns |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-27 |
| Further reading: books on Politics & Elections | |
The claim that noncitizens vote in large numbers in US elections has been a recurring theme in American politics, used to explain unfavorable results and to argue for stricter voter registration rules. Noncitizen voting in federal elections is illegal and carries severe penalties, including prison and deportation. Audits, studies and prosecutions have consistently found that it occurs only in very small numbers, typically a handful of cases per state, often involving people who mistakenly believed they were eligible. No evidence has shown noncitizen voting on a scale that could affect a federal election.
The claim
Politicians have claimed that millions of noncitizens voted, that undocumented immigrants are being brought into the country to vote, or that lax registration allows noncitizens to register when obtaining driver's licenses. The claims gained prominence in 2016, when President Trump attributed his loss of the popular vote to illegal voting, and again in 2024.
What the evidence shows
- Audits. In 2024 Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, reported that an audit of the state's more than 8 million registered voters found 20 noncitizens on the rolls, of whom 9 had voted in past elections. Ohio's Republican secretary of state referred several hundred suspected noncitizen registrations, including about 138 people who had apparently voted, for investigation, out of an electorate of about 8 million, covering multiple years.
- Studies. A 2017 Brennan Center survey of election officials in 42 jurisdictions found about 30 suspected cases of noncitizen voting out of 23.5 million votes in 2016, about 0.0001 percent. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that maintains a database of voter fraud cases, lists only a small number of noncitizen voting convictions over several decades.
- Penalties deter. Federal law makes it a crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections and to falsely claim citizenship to register. Convictions can lead to imprisonment and deportation, a strong deterrent.
- Survey misinterpretation. Claims of large-scale noncitizen voting have relied on a 2014 study based on a national survey; the survey's managers showed that the result was produced by a small number of respondents mistakenly checking the wrong citizenship box.
- Local exceptions. A few US municipalities, such as Takoma Park, Maryland, and some others, legally allow noncitizen residents to vote in local elections only. This is sometimes cited misleadingly as evidence of illegal federal voting.
Election officials of both parties generally agree that voter rolls should be accurate and that confirmed cases should be prosecuted. Disagreement centers on whether rare cases justify requirements, such as documentary proof of citizenship, that could make it harder for eligible citizens to register.
Why it persists
The claim connects two politically charged issues, immigration and election integrity. Individual cases, though rare, receive wide attention and are presented as the tip of an iceberg. Large registration databases inevitably contain some errors, which can be misrepresented as fraud.
Lessons for readers
- Ask for actual numbers of confirmed cases, not estimates or anecdotes.
- Compare cases with the total number of voters.
- Check whether studies cited as evidence have been accepted by other researchers.
- Distinguish between legal local noncitizen voting and illegal federal voting.
- Consider how rare cases are used to argue for broad policy changes.
See also
- Millions of illegal votes cost Trump the 2016 popular vote
- The 2020 presidential election was stolen
- Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating pets
Sources
- Georgia Secretary of State, results of citizenship audit of the voter rolls, October 2024.
- Ohio Secretary of State, announcements of referrals of noncitizen registrations, August 2024.
- Brennan Center for Justice, Noncitizen Voting: The Missing Millions (2017).
- Heritage Foundation, Election Fraud Database.
- Stephen Ansolabehere, Samantha Luks and Brian F. Schaffner, "The perils of cherry picking low frequency events in large sample surveys," Electoral Studies 40 (2015).