Official records reviewed by Reuters indicate that U.S. states may have added more than 30,000 self-declared non-citizens to voter rolls since 2000. These registrations were attributed to software glitches and clerical errors occurring during the processing of driver's license and state ID applications at government agencies.
The errors were identified in at least 12 states governed by both Democrats and Republicans, including California, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. Experts cited in the reports stated the numbers are too small to impact national elections, noting there are more than 170 million registered voters in the United States. It is not currently known how many of these individuals actually cast ballots.
In New Jersey, a technology glitch between June 2023 and June 2024 added approximately 6,600 non-citizens to the rolls even though the individuals had marked "no" when asked if they were citizens. In Oregon, clerical mistakes resulted in the registration of hundreds of individuals who had presented foreign passports. In Iowa, an initial report of 2,000 non-citizen registrations was later revised down to 277, with state officials confirming that 35 non-citizens cast ballots in the 2024 general election.
The White House has cited these registrations and 11 recent arrests for illegal voting as evidence that U.S. elections are compromised, supporting the SAVE America Act. This proposed legislation would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register and a photo ID to vote. White House spokesperson Lauren Bis stated that recent arrests force the media to admit that non-citizen voting occurs. Conversely, David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR) argued that proof-of-citizenship requirements would not prevent these specific errors, as they resulted from failures in government agency processes rather than applicant dishonesty.
The scale of the issue remains a point of debate among different organizations. The Brennan Center for Justice reported that in a study of 42 jurisdictions during the 2016 election, only 30 suspected incidents were referred for investigation out of 23.5 million votes, or roughly 0.0001 percent. However, the Heritage Foundation’s Voter Fraud Database has documented at least 99 proven instances of non-citizens voting as of February 2026. In Virginia alone, the state reported more than 4,500 non-citizens on its rolls in 2025, though officials noted this figure includes individuals who eventually became citizens or were later removed.
The primary knock-on effect is the potential for new federal or state-level restrictions on registration. Critics of stricter laws, such as Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution, argue there is no evidence of massive non-citizen voting and suggest new restrictions could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters who lack easy access to birth certificates or passports. Supporters, including Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI), argue that automatic registration is irrational when non-citizens are eligible for licenses. Future developments depend on the progress of the SAVE America Act in Congress and ongoing state-level efforts to verify voter eligibility ahead of upcoming elections.