CA Officials Registered Noncitizens To Vote: Report

A county registrar is the first line of defense in keeping a noncitizen off the voter roll. But registrars in Alameda County, California, have approved dozens of voter registrations from “self-confessed foreign nationals” — some of which tried to vote — according to records obtained by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF).

Alameda County disclosed in a dataset provided to PILF that there were at least 54 noncitizens who had been on the voter rolls, with at least one voter having been on the rolls for 14 years, though the “average time” on the voter roll was four years. The earliest known illegal registration began in 2004, according to PILF.

One individual, identified by his first name “Gang,” listed his place of birth as China and indicated foreign citizenship, according to PILF. He had his registration canceled in June of 2023 1 three years after his initial registration.

Another ineligible individual, known by his first name Shahid, was registered for at least two years but “revealed” his ineligibility when, in 2016, he sought a provisional ballot after his “original mail ballot was lost,” according to PILF. The ineligible voter had his voter registration canceled in 2018 after he “came to the office with documentation” that confirmed he was a noncitizen, according to PILF.

Notably, at least 12 noncitizens attempted to register to vote while admitting their non-citizen status but had their applications rejected.

“Why some admissions of ineligibility were noticed and others were not is unclear,” PILF’s report stated.

PILF President J. Christian Adams said in a statement that the records prove “incompetence” of election officials.

“States should enact safeguards against noncitizens registering and voting,” Adams said. “These records show incompetence by election officials. When someone admits they are not a U.S. citizen, they should never be registered to vote. California has the resources and data to better verify citizenship in voter registration if only Governor Newsom had a willingness to act.”

The records were obtained after PILF sued Alameda County for allegedly violating the National Voter Registration Act’s (NVRA) disclosure provision. According to the suit, PILF uses multiple types of records to check whether state and local election officials are taking appropriate steps to keep voter rolls free from noncitizens. But the county allegedly would not provide the requested records that fell under the NVRA’s disclosure provision.

But it’s not just Alameda County registrars letting noncitizens onto the voter rolls. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate recently announced that his office found 87 self-reported noncitizens on their voter rolls after they cast a ballot in elections. The audit also revealed 67 self-reported noncitizens who were registered to vote but had not cast a ballot in elections.

Virginia similarly tried to remove more than 1,500 individuals from the voter rolls who, according to Gov. Glenn Youngkin, “self-identified” as noncitizens. The Biden-Harris Department of Justice sued the state and a Democratic judge recently ruled the state must put the more than alleged “self-identified” noncitizens back on the voter rolls. Virginia asked the Supreme Court on Sunday to permit the state to remove the alleged “self-identified” noncitizens from their voter rolls before Election Day.

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