On October 30, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed an order by a federal district court temporarily blocking Virginia from removing the names of over 1,600 self-identified noncitizens from the Commonwealth’s voter rolls. Virginia can now take reasonable and commonsense measures to ensure the integrity of its voter rolls shortly before the 2024 election.
Noncitizens who vote commit a federal crime and by identifying and removing their names from its voter rolls, Virginia is protecting them from committing an unintentional felony. This issue, however, is not limited to Virginia. Some states have verified the presence of actual noncitizens on their voter rolls in recent months. These include:
- Georgia recently completed a statewide audit that removed twenty confirmed noncitizens from its voter rolls. The audit found that these people had submitted sworn affidavits confirming their noncitizen status to be excused from jury duty.
- In Ohio, six noncitizens were indicted for illegal voting, which is a fourth-degree felony. The state alleges that they illegally registered and voted in multiple elections from 2014 to 2020.
- Oregon also recently identified over 1,500 potential noncitizens on its voter rolls. That number included over a hundred American Samoans whom the Oregon DMV mistakenly labelled as U.S. citizens. American Samoans are U.S. nationals, not citizens, and thus cannot vote in federal elections.
- On October 7, South Dakota removed 273 noncitizens from its voter rolls.
Other states have identified scores of potential noncitizens on their voter rolls without the ability to accurately verify their citizenship status.
- Texas concluded a program in August which culminated in the removal of more than one million ineligible voters from its rolls, of which 6,500 were likely noncitizens. Close to 2,000 of these potential noncitizens were referred to the State Attorney General for further investigation, as records indicated that they had voted in past elections.
- In August, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen announced a plan to remove over 3,000 suspected noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls. People who had received a noncitizen identification number from the Department of Homeland Security were changed to “inactive” status on Alabama voter rolls until they confirmed their citizenship. On October 16, a U.S. District Court judge ordered Allen to pause the removal of possible noncitizens until after Election Day..
Other states, especially those with lax voter roll maintenance procedures, likely have many undiscovered noncitizens on their voter rolls. In the past, Landmark identified lack of protections within California’s DMV and social services that greatly increased the likelihood that noncitizens are on California’s voter rolls.
Over 80% of Americans believe that citizenship should be a requirement for voting. It will be crucial for the next Congress to prioritize election integrity and enact laws that will improve election security. The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), for instance, should be amended to obligate all state election officials to identify and remove noncitizens from their respective voter rolls.
Landmark applauds the Supreme Court’s ruling today, which protects both the security of the upcoming election and any noncitizens who may have unknowingly been registered to vote. Other states should follow suit in prioritizing the security of their elections to restore public confidence in free, fair, and secure elections.