As the midterm elections approach, the Trump administration has ramped up its investigations into non-citizen voting in the United States. However, the results of these efforts show that instances of non-citizen voting are significantly rare.
Investigations and Pressure on Election Officials
In recent months, the Trump administration has seriously examined access to and review of state voter lists, citing its goal of combating fraud. The administration has threatened to withhold funding or take legal action against election officials if non-citizen voters are not purged from the rolls.
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In the lead-up to the November elections, the administration has also assigned several federal employees to review voter lists and identify non-citizens. A federal whistleblower has claimed that this action may involve methods that violate state laws.
Results and Reactions
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official has stated that the department is actively investigating electoral fraud. However, while the Trump administration claims that hundreds of thousands of non-citizens have illegally registered in various states, the number of individuals who have faced legal action in these efforts is significantly lower.
Federal officials recently updated that since January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security has pursued 1,600 voter fraud cases, of which only 160 resulted in arrests. This figure represents about 0.00009 percent of the 174 million registered voters in the United States and aligns with previous research findings indicating that instances of non-citizen voting are very rare.
In Nevada, election officials reported that all voters identified by the Department of Homeland Security as non-citizens were American citizens. Steven Richer, an election expert, stated, "There is no reason to believe that widespread non-citizen voting exists."
The Trump administration also issued an executive order last year requiring the Department of Homeland Security to compare state voter lists with federal databases and compelling the Department of Justice to pursue non-citizen voter fraud.
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