GOP-led states remove hundreds of thousands from voter rolls, finding non-citizens had registered

Two Republican-led states have removed hundreds of thousands of registrations from their voter rolls this month, while another identified hundreds of non-citizen voters during their voter list maintenance.

Collectively, the GOP-led states of Idaho and Missouri took nearly 300,000 registrations off their voter rolls after finding inactive, ineligible, or deceased voters, in addition to duplicates and voters who moved. Iowa identified nearly 300 non-citizens on the state’s voter rolls and referred them to the Iowa attorney general.

At the federal level, support from White House

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on election integrity last week, offering assistance to states on maintaining voter rolls. “To identify unqualified voters registered in the States: the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, consistent with applicable law, ensure that State and local officials have, without the requirement of the payment of a fee, access to appropriate systems for verifying the citizenship or immigration status of individuals registering to vote or who are already registered,” the executive order reads.

The order added that DHS, with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), “shall review each State’s publicly available voter registration list and available records concerning voter list maintenance activities … alongside Federal immigration databases and State records requested, including through subpoena where necessary and authorized by law, for consistency with Federal requirements.”

Also, within three months of the order, the DHS secretary is to give “the Attorney General complete information on all foreign nationals who have indicated on any immigration form that they have registered or voted in a Federal, State, or local election, and shall also take all appropriate action to submit to relevant State or local election officials such information.”

The executive order also requires the attorney general to “take appropriate action with respect to States that fail to comply with the list maintenance requirements of the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.”

Idaho

Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane (R) announced on March 19th that 144,121 voter registrations were removed from the state’s voter rolls during its biennial voter list review and maintenance. The removed registrations were for inactive voters, ineligible voters, and voters who moved. The affected voters were sent notices before their registrations were canceled.

“Ensuring the integrity of our elections starts with maintaining accurate voter rolls,” McGrane said in a statement. “Thanks to the hard work of our county clerks and our collaboration with state and federal agencies, Idaho continues to lead the way in protecting our elections. We are committed to ensuring that only eligible voters are on our rolls, and we are taking every step necessary to make that happen.”

In July, Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) issued an executive order to ensure that only U.S. citizens are on the state’s voter rolls, which started a review and verification of registered voters.

Iowa

On March 20th, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate (R) announced that there were 277 non-citizens confirmed to be on the state’s voter rolls, after gaining access to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. Of the 277 non-citizens, 35 of them cast ballots in the November election, and five attempted to vote but their ballots were rejected.

Pate sent proposed legislation to the Iowa legislature that would require citizenship verification when people register to vote.

"The federal government reviewed our data and verified the citizenship status but refused to share who the noncitizens were," Pate said in a statement with the announcement. "Only eligible Iowa voters should participate in Iowa elections. We are working with the Iowa legislature on solutions to verify citizenship at registration rather than as ballots are cast, and we're confident both chambers will recognize the importance of this legislation. Our proposed solutions will be crucial next steps in confidently balancing voter participation with election integrity."

Regarding whether the non-citizens had been removed from the state’s voter rolls, Pate’s office told Just the News on Wednesday, “The 277 noncitizens have been turned over to the Iowa Attorney General and Iowa Department of Public Safety for next steps.” In December, the Iowa attorney general and secretary of state sued then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, DHS, then-USCIS Director Ur Jaddou, and UCIS itself for allegedly refusing to inform the state of how many non-citizens were on Iowa’s voter rolls. The case is ongoing.

“Maintaining election integrity is a team sport, and we need cooperation from multiple agencies, including the federal government,” Pate said in a statement. “We are hopeful that between our legislative proposals and this lawsuit, we will have the tools we need to verify voter eligibility during the voter registration processes, allowing us to ensure in the future, only eligible Iowa voters are participating in Iowa elections.”

When asked by Just the News about whether the lawsuit will be dropped following the executive order, Pate’s office said, “Our goal is to receive the best possible information to help us maintain Iowa’s election integrity. At this time, we do not have plans to drop the lawsuit. We will be paying close attention to the implementation of the executive order and revisit the question as necessary.”

Missouri

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) announced on March 14th that his state had removed 18,637 deceased voters from Missouri’s voter rolls since Jan. 13th.

State law requires county clerks and local election authorities to examine their voter rolls for people who have moved away, died, or cannot vote anymore. “In Missouri, we are taking action—not just making promises—when it comes to election integrity,” Hoskins said in a statement. “By working hand-in-hand with local election officials, we have removed outdated registrations, strengthening confidence in our elections and making sure every vote cast is legitimate.”

Missouri also removed 75 duplicate registrations, 1,864 disqualified registered voters (adjudged incapacitated or felon), 133,520 inactive voters, 2,583 voters who moved, and 282 voters who requested to be removed from the state’s voter rolls.