{"id":3528,"date":"2026-07-20T19:07:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=3528"},"modified":"2026-07-20T19:07:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:07:27","slug":"new-data-deflates-gop-claims-that-noncitizen-voting-is-a-problem-in-nc-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=3528","title":{"rendered":"New data deflates GOP claims that noncitizen voting is a problem in NC | Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republicans would have you believe that voting by noncitizens is an urgent problem in North Carolina. And in pursuit of that so-called problem, they\u2019ve adopted protocols that risk disenfranchising legitimate voters, including comparing voter rolls to government databases<\/a> and jury lists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Now, those protocols are exposing what we already knew to be true: noncitizen voting is not a widespread problem in North Carolina by any means.<\/p>\n

The State Board of Elections recently announced<\/a> that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security identified 1,599 potential noncitizens in North Carolina using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database. That\u2019s 0.0205% of the 7,800,000 registered voters in our state \u2014 a truly miniscule number.<\/p>\n

The actual number may be even smaller. The SAVE database has been known to incorrectly flag voters as noncitizens<\/a>, to the extent that one federal judge ruled<\/a> it can no longer be used to screen voters. It\u2019s also unclear whether any of those potentially ineligible voters ever voted in an election.<\/p>\n

In a statement, NCSBE Executive Director Sam Hayes noted that while the potentially ineligible registrations represent a tiny portion of the electorate, \u201cone ineligible registrant is still one too many.\u201d That\u2019s true, and those 1,599 registrations should be removed if further investigation finds they are, in fact, ineligible to vote.<\/p>\n

But the truth remains that it is an exceedingly rare issue, and developing new avenues to address it could cause more problems than it solves. Faulty tools like the SAVE database could force some legitimate voters to jump through hoops to prove their citizenship or risk disenfranchisement. Elections officials are pressuring the DMV<\/u><\/a> to hand over drivers\u2019 full Social Security numbers for the purposes of verifying voter eligibility, which could have major security risks. They\u2019ve also adopted new rules that lower the threshold for county boards of elections to throw out ballots.<\/p>\n

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Republicans insist that these measures are necessary to restore public confidence in our elections, yet they\u2019re the ones who have given voters reasons to distrust the process by feeding false, dangerous narratives. They\u2019ve repeatedly stoked fears<\/u><\/a> that undocumented immigrants are diluting the votes of American citizens. They\u2019ve sued elections officials<\/u><\/a> claiming that \u201csignificant numbers of non-citizens\u201d may be registered to vote. They\u2019ve pushed federal legislation that would go a step further than voter ID by requiring proof of citizenship to vote, something that many actual citizens do not have. Perhaps most insidiously, they\u2019ve implied that ineligible registrations are part of a more sinister plot to influence our elections rather than simple human error, including by accusing Democrats<\/u><\/a> of intentionally opening the borders to recruit undocumented immigrants to vote.<\/p>\n

Republicans may be tempted to tout these 1,599 potentially ineligible registrations as a vindication of their claims, or use it as a pretext for future efforts to make voting harder. That would be dishonest. To continue to say our elections are at risk seems to imply that Republicans\u2019 own efforts in North Carolina \u2014 which they often brag about \u2014 have not worked. After all, they\u2019re the ones who have spent 15 years enacting countless rules and restrictions in the name of \u201celection integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the moment, the true threat to our elections is the deliberate effort to cast doubt on the results, particularly as President Donald Trump doubles down on his mythical claims of \u201crigged and stolen\u201d elections ahead of the 2026 midterms. The best thing that North Carolina Republicans can do to protect our elections right now is point to this new data and admit that they are already secure.<\/p>\n

Deputy Opinion Editor Paige Masten covers politics and the 2026 elections for The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Charlotte diocese releases letter addressing SSPX Catholics after excommunication<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A miniscule number of registered voters were identified as potential noncitizens. | Opinion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nNew data deflates GOP claims that noncitizen voting is a problem in NC | Opinion - \u0421harlotte Relocation Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=3528\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New data deflates GOP claims that noncitizen voting is a problem in NC | Opinion - 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