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Back to Rumor Control

The rumor is Misleading

Voter rolls and eligibility Nationwide

“DHS has found 300,000 cases of noncitizens voting.”

The fact

The 300,000 is a count of names DHS flagged on voter rolls, not votes, and DHS has not published its method.

Some posts call them all voting cases, but Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Oct. 30 he cannot say whether they voted, and his count of open investigations is about 1,600. Matching voter rolls against government and commercial records has a long record of false alarms, often from outdated records on naturalized citizens: about 20 percent of the 2,724 Texas voters flagged by the federal SAVE system were found to be citizens, and in Maricopa County, Arizona, 52 of 60 flagged voters were citizens. A database match is a lead, not proof.

How this story developed

  1. Mullin tells Fox News DHS is investigating over 300,000 cases. Newsweek notes the figure is not confirmed illegal voting.
  2. Mullin tells Newsmax more than 300,000 people are flagged on voter rolls and says he cannot say whether they voted.
  3. DHS Secretary Mullin tells Fox News officials are looking into 300,000 cases, with 1,620 under investigation and 151 arrests.

How we know: 7 sources

News reports 6

  1. Newsweek: 300,000 figure is cases, not confirmed votes, Oct 31 Checked Archived copy
  2. NPR: Texas says about 20 percent of 2,724 flagged were citizens, Sep 25 Checked Archived copy

Other 1

  1. Newsmax: Mullin says he cannot say if flagged people voted, Oct 30 Checked Archived copy