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Draft DHS press release claims thousands of non‑citizens on voter rolls in 4 states

journalismJul 16, 2026363,160

POLITICO published a draft Department of Homeland Security press release that said thousands of noncitizens were registered to vote in California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The draft did not provide methodology, evidence for the count, or say whether any noncitizens actually cast ballots. The draft was circulated inside DHS ahead of former President Trump’s planned prime-time speech in which he promised “really big news” on election security. Critics and election-audit veterans cited by sample posts noted the draft offers no receipts, warned DHS systems produce false positives, and pointed to past state audits that found far smaller numbers. At least one post noted California did not provide its voter rolls to federal investigators, which would complicate verification. The draft’s circulation is likely to intensify scrutiny of DHS’s data and of media coverage that reported the draft’s claims before any supporting evidence was released.

Bill Grueskin
@bgrueskin.bsky.social

You had room, @politico.com, to add the words "Without providing evidence" to the beginning of this headline. Because that's what your story (which far fewer people will read) says. 1/2

EQ

POLITICO

DHS says it found thousands of non-citizens on voter rolls in four states A draft press release viewed by POLITICO said non-citizens were registered in California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
6736h ago
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

Given the history of similar audits, and the fact that DHS’s systems are riddled with errors, we should expect that these numbers are very likely false and have not been properly verified yet. Multiple previous state audits produced splashy numbers that evaporated on further investigation.

The draft press release states that "reviews of the four states' records" found 190,832 noncitizens registered in California; 35,152 in New Jersey;
15,903 in Nevada; and 14,576 in Pennsylvania. It does not indicate that DHS found evidence that non-citizens cast ballots or explain how it reached a number that appears to be higher than previous reviews have found.
3914h ago
2 sources