As Trump looks for noncitizen voters, NYS officials say safeguards already exist
President Donald Trump vowed to expand his review of alleged "noncitizen" voters. Credit: AP/Saul Loeb
WASHINGTON — New York election officials maintain that there are safeguards in place to ensure only U.S. citizens can cast a ballot, after President Donald Trump claimed in a primetime address Thursday that a federal probe of four states found more than 270,000 "foreigners illegally registered to vote" out of the country’s 174 million registered voters.
Trump, as part of his ongoing push for Congress to pass a stricter voter ID law ahead of November’s midterm election, said in a White House speech that the Department of Homeland Security had identified 278,000 "noncitizens" registered to vote in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada and California. But officials in those states and election integrity groups immediately pushed back, arguing in part that the administration relied on an immigration database that has been found in the past to deliver duplicate or erroneous information.
The president, who did not indicate there was evidence that those noncitizens actually voted, vowed to expand his review to other states, all as New York and nearly a dozen more states led by election officials from both parties continue to reject the administration’s demand that they release unredacted voter rolls for inspection.
"We have very important elections coming up," Trump said in his speech. "We want those elections to be honest. I've also ordered DHS to notify every state about noncitizens on their voter rolls and direct them to remove all ineligible voters from the lists immediately."
Election safeguards
Asked about Trump’s speech, a spokesperson for the New York Board of Elections, which is run by a bipartisan commission and a bipartisan executive staff, told Newsday there are already mechanisms in place to ensure only U.S. citizens can get on the state’s voter rolls.
"New York has several safeguards to help ensure that only eligible voters are registered," said New York Board of Elections spokeswoman Kathleen R. McGrath in an email to Newsday. "When someone registers to vote, they must attest under penalty of perjury that they meet all legal requirements, including U.S. citizenship.
"Voter registration records are also regularly updated as required by state and federal law using information such as death records, duplicate registrations, change-of-address information, and other authorized data sources," McGrath said.
Asked if the state had compiled data on potential noncitizens in the voter rolls, McGrath said the Board of Elections "does not maintain a statewide database identifying registered voters by citizenship status beyond the eligibility information provided when someone registers to vote."
But she added, "If information is received suggesting that someone who is not eligible may have registered or voted, it is reviewed under the procedures established in state law and, when appropriate, referred to the proper authorities for investigation."
Federal lawsuits
The Department of Justice sued New York and 30 other states, including eight Republican-led states, last May in an effort to force the states to release unredacted voter rolls that include private information such as driver's license numbers and partial Social Security numbers that are not included in publicly available versions of voter enrollment lists.
More than a dozen federal judges have sided with the states and dismissed the various lawsuits, including last week, when a federal judge in Albany dismissed the administration’s lawsuit against New York, noting in part that the Constitution delegates the administration of elections to states.
New York and other states have cited privacy concerns for not releasing the unredacted data, as Trump is reportedly looking to establish a national voter database and has said his administration would provide states with ineligible voters they believe should be purged from voting rolls. Voters' rights groups contend such a move could have dangerous consequences, including discouraging potential voters from enrolling.
Erica Smitka, executive director for the League of Women Voters of New York State, in a statement, said, "When voters fear their private information will be exposed or misused, it undermines confidence in our elections and discourages participation."
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, in a news conference Friday morning, reiterated Trump's plans to provide states with lists of noncitizen voters, and threatened to impose fines and potential "prison time" for state election officials who do not cooperate with the administration.
"If the election officials, once we gave them the information they need to secure their elections — and they chose not to — then those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties, and even, depending on how far it goes, prison time," Mullin said.
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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