logo
Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
Brief Publisher Logo
FACT BRIEF

Do people who aren't US citizens commonly vote in its elections?

By Christopher Hutton
Copy link
email
Copy featured image
email
NO

Voting by noncitizens in state and national elections is rare, and usually unintentional. Analyzing the 2016 general election, NYU's Brennan Center found only 30 instances of suspected noncitizen voting among 23.5 million votes in 42 jurisdictions.

When noncitizens register to vote, it's usually by accident—for example, by confusedly responding "yes" to a DMV employee's query about whether they'd like to register. In January 2019, Illinois discovered a software glitch registered as voters more than 545 noncitizens applying for state ID, even though they answered "no" to a citizenship question.

Rates of noncitizen registration have been exaggerated. In 2019, Texas revised a claim that 95,000 noncitizens were on state voter rolls to a list of 4,500. In 2014, Florida warned of 180,000 noncitizen registrations, but ultimately only removed 85 noncitizens from its rolls.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Brennan Center for Justice: Noncitizen voting—The missing millions
NPR: Some noncitizens do end up registered to vote, but not on purpose
Chicago Tribune: Programming error blamed for registering voters who said they weren’t citizens
AP: Voter registration error risks deportation for immigrants
NPR: Texas officials begin walking back allegations about non-citizen voters
Miami Herald: Florida suspends non-citizen voter purge efforts
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Gigafact
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
FACT BRIEF BY
Brief Publisher Logo
Latest fact briefs
facebook
twitter
email
email
About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.