Feds say 15K noncitizens are on Nevada voter rolls; SOS calls it 'wildly speculative'

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is alleging there may be more than 15,000 noncitizens registered to vote in Nevada — echoing past allegations of voter fraud that have been shot down in the state — in a letter sent to the Nevada Secretary of State's Office on Thursday. 

DHS said it found 8,576 Nevada registrants for whom the name, date of birth, address and Social Security number match a noncitizen in its files. Department Secretary Markwayne Mullin urged the state to work with his staff on identity verification and said they are willing to provide the state with immigration records to help with that process. The letter asked for a response by July 30. 

It comes just a week after the Department of Justice sent a letter to all 50 states warning that they could face criminal prosecution if noncitizens are knowingly allowed to remain on voter rolls or cast ballots in federal elections. Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, called that letter "another attempt" to cast doubt on elections. 

"We can affirm that on its face, we refute these claims," Aguilar said in a statement about Thursday's letter. "These numbers are wildly speculative at best and the Department of Homeland Security hasn't shared anything that backs it up."

Read more: FACT BRIEF: Are noncitizens voting in significant numbers in Nevada?

It's part of a broader nationwide part of an uptick of President Donald Trump's claims of voter fraud. In a speech Thursday night, Trump said that DHS has found "approximately 278,000 noncitizens who are registered to vote in federal elections" nationwide. State officials in California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have also received similar letters earlier this week about noncitizens on voter roles. 

But Trump's allegations of voter fraud have largely been qualified as unverifiable and Democrats have worried that it may be part of a large effort to sow doubt ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. A federal judge recently found that a citizenship database created by DHS incorrectly classified U.S. citizens in a large number of cases as ineligible voters.

Data from the Nevada Secretary of State's Office shared with The New York Times on Thursday also showed that out of its 2.1 million active voters, only 138 voters did not provide a state driver's license or Social Security number when registering to vote, meaning that it should be relatively easy to pin down noncitizens. 

Aguilar has repeatedly said that communication sent from DHS has failed to pinpoint faults in the state's voter registration system and that he has communicated with the department. According to the office's voter registration safeguards, applicants must affirm citizenship and may face criminal penalties for false registration. Nevada's automatic voter registration process also does not register every Department of Motor Vehicles customer, with county election officials verifying it.

"The Administration lacks a fundamental understanding of how elections work," Aguilar said in his statement. 

During a speech Friday, Mullin threatened officials with fines or even prison time if they failed to comply with federal orders. He added that DHS would work to "make our security enhancements mandatory" and to withhold federal election security grants until state officials take steps the administration demanded.