DHS walks back inflated noncitizen voter numbers in Nevada, records show

A month after President Trump claimed in a primetime address that his administration had identified roughly 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote in four states, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have acknowledged that in Nevada, only 185 of the nearly 16,000 initially flagged voters have been confirmed as noncitizens. That admission came during a video call with Nevada election officials and in subsequent emails obtained by NPR and The Guardian through public records requests.

According to records reviewed by NPR and The Guardian, DHS initially told Nevada that close to 16,000 people on the state's voter rolls were potential noncitizens. But in an August 14 meeting, federal officials described that number as "the ceiling," noting that each match still required manual review. A day later, the agency sent Nevada a list of 185 voter ID numbers it said it was confident belonged to noncitizens.

Kimberley Vogt, a DHS official, wrote to Nevada election officials that the department had "manually reviewed some of the 15,903 and confirmed 185 are not U.S. Citizens," adding that more than 14,000 others still "need additional review." The agency also provided an additional 6,218 names for which it said it had a "higher confidence match" but had not yet manually reviewed.

States push for evidence

During the call, Nevada's deputy secretary of state, Mark Wlaschin, stressed the importance of accuracy, saying, "The integrity of the electoral process in our state is of supreme importance... we also don't want to inadvertently accuse a U.S. citizen of not being [a citizen]." Wlaschin also asked whether any election officials had been referred for criminal investigation; Heather Honey, a DHS official who previously worked to promote election falsehoods, said no.

Nevada officials asked for the data points used to match voters, but federal officials declined to provide them. Vogt said, "We'd prefer to limit our information sharing to just providing you the voter ID from your public voter list." In an August 20 email, Nevada responded: "We are unable to conduct an analysis without real verifiable information."

Pennsylvania, another state named by Trump, had a similar call with DHS but has not received a smaller list of potential noncitizens. A Pennsylvania official said, "It was clear that DHS did not have confidence that the numbers they have stated publicly were accurate." California said DHS has not responded to its questions.

Nicolas Bartell, an associate director at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said during the Nevada call that the agency was moving 40 additional staff to manually review voter rolls. Bartell complimented Nevada's voter data but would not name other states; Nevada's chief deputy secretary of state, C Murphy Hebert, interjected, "Except in the press releases."

Threats and pushback

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had earlier threatened to prosecute local election officials, saying, "Those individuals can also be held accountable by fines, by penalties... and even prison time." However, federal officials said they had not made any criminal referrals against state election officials.

Nevada's secretary of state, Francisco Aguilar, said in a statement: "The Secretary of State's Office will not risk disenfranchising eligible voters."

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said the administration continues to make baseless claims. Experts had predicted the confirmed number would drop dramatically, noting that DHS had not revealed its methodology or provided a list of voters to the states.

In the call, Honey insisted the agency was acting transparently: "We are acting in very good faith... And we just want to help you." But NPR notes that her assurances were undercut by the fact that, more than a month after Trump's speech, states were still waiting for proof or even complete lists of the voters in question.