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American Oversight is investigating how the anti-democracy movement has promulgated the nonexistent threat of widespread illegal voting to sow doubt in our elections.
Among the many tactics being deployed by the anti-democracy movement as it seeks to foment chaos and doubt about the 2024 election has been a wave of anti-immigrant rhetoric centered on the nonexistent threat of widespread illegal voting.
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Election denial activists and politicians have advanced false claims that voter rolls are being inflated with non-U.S. citizens and have pressured officials to advance harmful anti-voting measures, directing national attention to the xenophobic attacks.
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Non-citizens in select jurisdictions have been granted the right to vote in local elections. There is no evidence of widespread illegal voting in federal elections.
The far-right fixation on “non-citizen voting” is the latest example of the weaponization of anti-immigrant sentiment for political gain, as the anti-democracy movement uses racist conspiracy theories and positions immigrants as a danger to election integrity.
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A prominent individual behind the spread of these unfounded fears is Cleta Mitchell, founder of the Only Citizens Vote Coalition and the Election Integrity Network (EIN), which has drafted and promoted model state legislation that would require verification of voters’ citizenship status and make it easier to purge voter rolls.
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Documents obtained by American Oversight also show how EIN members have claimed that non-citizens have been added to the voter rolls through enrollment in public benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and have suggested that there should be greater surveillance of immigrant use of these services.
This fearmongering has real and immediate consequences for immigrant communities, who have been wrongly cast as an existential threat to U.S. democracy.
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The lie has been used before by former President Donald Trump and his allies; Trump’s false claims that he lost the 2016 popular vote because of illegal voting laid the groundwork for this latest round of white nationalist and anti-immigrant conspiracy theories.
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This use of anti-immigrant rhetoric to fuel distrust in our elections can sow the same kind of confusion and lies that underpinned the effort to overturn the 2020 election.
On the Records
Texas Gov. Abbott Likely Inflated ‘Noncitizen’ Voting Figures
In August, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that roughly 1 million voters had been purged from the state’s rolls, claiming that 6,500 “noncitizens” had been removed and that nearly 2,000 had a voting history.
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Reporting from the Texas Tribune, ProPublica, and Votebeat shows that only a fraction of those removed from the voter rolls were identified as non-citizens. Most of those included in Abbott’s 6,500 figure were people who had not received or responded to letters informing them there were questions regarding their citizenship.
American Oversight obtained records that back up this reporting, showing that 379 non-citizens were removed from Texas’s voter rolls between 2021 and 2023, and that 5,440 were removed because they did not respond to the letters.
Extremism in the U.S. Military
A new report from the Associated Press documents the alarming problem of far-right extremists with a military background. From 2017 to 2023, more than 480 people with a military background have been accused of extremist crimes.
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Records we obtained that are cited in the AP report show that in 2020 and 2021, the Department of Defense developed a system to identify extremist and white supremist incidents in the military. Researchers wrote that the system was an important step toward identifying extremist activity.
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But according to the AP, the Pentagon is not using the method. The report was never shared with the Pentagon’s Countering Extremist Activity Working Group that was created following the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Other Stories We're Following
Election Denial and Threats to Democracy
- How Trump may try to challenge the election results if he loses again (Washington Post)
- Right-wing activists pushed false claims about election fraud. Now they’re recruiting poll workers in swing states. (Wisconsin Watch)
- Noncitizen voting rarely happens. But Wisconsin voters are hearing a lot about it. (Votebeat Wisconsin)
- 'I will stand my ground': Election officials are prepared for attempts to 'find' votes (USA Today)
- Law enforcement officials prepare for possible post-election violence in DC (News from the States)
- Project 2025 ex-director condemns Heritage president’s ‘violent rhetoric’ (Washington Post)
- Ohio election administrators say their workers are overworked, underpaid, and strained by attacks (Ohio Capital Journal)
Voting Rights
- Judge invalidates Georgia’s new election certification rules (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- Signed. Sealed. Rejected: Arizona’s system for verifying mail voter identity is flawed, investigation finds (Votebeat/Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting)
- GOP lawsuit challenging 225,000 NC voter registrations is set for a federal court hearing (NC Newsline)
- GOP majority on Ohio Supreme Court upholds order limiting who can use ballot drop boxes (Statehouse News Bureau)
- DHS warns law enforcement election deniers may attempt to bomb drop boxes (Wired)
- Ohio Supreme Court tells county to include pollworker training on noncitizen IDs (Dayton Daily News)
- The use of absentee ballot drop boxes in battleground Wisconsin is sharply down from 2020 (Associated Press)
- Voting rights groups request investigation into ‘intimidating’ texts (Wisconsin Public Radio)
- Nebraska Supreme Court restores LB 20 and lets people with felony pasts register to vote (Nebraska Examiner)
In the States
- North Texas sheriff running for reelection faces grief and anger over rising jail deaths (Bolts)
- Judge reportedly strikes down Texas law that Ken Paxton frequently uses to investigate companies and nonprofits (Texas Tribune)
- LaRose shares ‘exclusive announcement’ on election integrity with anti-abortion group (Ohio Capital Journal)
- Republican-sponsored bill would penalize immigrants who enter Ohio without federal legal status (Statehouse News Bureau)
- Migrant deaths in New Mexico have increased tenfold (Associated Press)
National News
- 30% of the cameras in Border Patrol's main surveillance system are broken, memo says (NBC News)
- US troops kicked out under 'don't ask, don't tell' get upgraded to honorable discharges (CBS News)
LGBTQ Rights
- Texas AG sues doctor who allegedly provided transgender care to 21 minors (NBC News)
- Legal experts dismiss attempt to link Missouri abortion amendment to transgender health care (Missouri Independent)
- Opponents of Missouri abortion rights amendment turn to anti-trans messaging and misinformation (ProPublica)
Abortion and Reproductive Rights
- Crisis pregnancy center's forms give rare insight into anti-abortion practices (NBC News)
- GOP states are still trying to restrict abortion pill mifepristone in court — here’s how (Forbes)
- More abortion ballot measures are set to pass. Then state courts will have their say. (Politico)
- DeSantis-backed report accuses abortion amendment backers of signature gathering fraud (Tallahassee Democrat)
- Lawsuit filed to try to remove Florida abortion amendment from ballot (Tampa Bay Times)
- Florida health officials sued for censorship over abortion campaign ad (The Hill)
- ‘Weird consequences’: Abortion rights measure could scramble Arizona election (Politico)
- Maryland and NY have repro rights questions on the ballots. They're missing the word 'abortion.' (News from the States)
Threats to Education
- US law entitles immigrant children to an education. Some conservatives say that should change (Associated Press)
- In a state with school vouchers for all, low-income families aren’t choosing to use them (ProPublica)
- 32 Oklahomans ask state Supreme Court to block school Bible purchases, teaching (News from the States)
Trump Accountability
- Georgia prosecutor seeks to reinstate quashed charges in Trump elections case (New York Times)
- Trump escalates threats to political opponents he deems the ‘enemy’ (New York Times)
- Trump team preps list of banned staffers (Politico)
- Doomsday and democracy: Former Trump aides warn of secret presidential crisis powers (TIME)
- Two key prosecutors in Trump documents case leave special counsel’s office (New York Times)
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