FACT CHECK: Did Georgia Find ‘Over 1,600 Instances Of Noncitizens Voting In 2020’?

An image shared on Facebook claims the state of Georgia found “over 1,600 instances of noncitizens voting in 2020.”

Verdict: Misleading

Georgia election officials recently announced that a review of the state’s voter rolls uncovered more than 1,600 instances in which noncitizens attempted to vote in elections. However, the review looked at elections spanning as far back as 1997, not just 2020.

Fact Check:

Republican Georgia Rep. Jody Hice is campaigning to become Georgia’s next secretary of state against incumbent Brad Raffensperger in what is shaping up to be a tight race, according to The Hill. A key issue in the race is Raffensberger’s denial of former President Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him, a claim the Trump-backed Hice has embraced, the outlet reported.

An image shared on Facebook claims new evidence has emerged that supports Trump’s claims of election fraud. The image shows what appears to be a screen grab of an April 28 news article with a headline that reads, “Georgia finds over 1,600 instances of noncitizens voting in 2020.”

The headline is misleading. While Raffensperger’s office announced in a March 28 press release that a review of the state’s voter rolls uncovered more than 1,600 instances in which noncitizens attempted to vote in elections, a later press release clarified the review examined elections over a 25-year period dating back to 1997. In other words, the 1,600 attempted illegal votes uncovered were from a 25-year period, not just 2020 as the Facebook image suggests.

“The attempts spanned from 1997 until as recently as February 24, 2022. 1,319, or 80.7% of the attempted registrations, have occurred since 2016,” the April 11 statement reads in part. The statement also notes that the “1,634 noncitizens who were identified as having attempted to register to vote during the state’s first citizenship check of the voter rolls” were referred for “further investigation.”

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office confirmed in a phone call to Check Your Fact that none of the noncitizens who attempted to vote in prior elections were able to do so. (RELATED: Does This Image Show Two Georgia State Senators Found Counting Ballots?)

The article featured in the post stems from RSB Network. The report cites Raffensperger speaking to the John Solomon Reports podcast about the review of the voter rolls but makes no mention of the 25-year span the review examined.

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