Trump, GOP, sue Nevada over allegations of 'non-citizen voting'

A lawsuit from Republicans, including the campaign of former President Donald Trump, alleges that up to 4,000 noncitizens in Nevada might have voted in the 2020 general election, and that nearly as many such people will cast a ballot in November.

The complaint, which was filed in Carson City on Wednesday, lists Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar and the state and national Democratic parties as defendants.

“Nevada’s elections should be a reflection of its citizens’ voices, not influenced by non-citizens who have no legal standing to participate,” Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald said in a news release. “Any efforts to allow non-citizens to vote threatens the very foundation of our elections and diminishes the power of lawful voters across our state. This isn’t just a legal issue — it’s about protecting the rights of Nevadans and preserving the integrity of our elections.”

The lawsuit seeks to have Aguilar’s office implement a system to verify that registered voters in Nevada are U.S. citizens, and to maintain that list.

“We have discovered evidence of thousands of non-citizens on Nevada’s voter rolls who may be able to cast ballots this November,” the Republican Party wrote in the release.

The party said that it parsed through 2020 data and discovered 6,360 people listed in the DMV’s “non-citizen file” who also were registered to vote. A total of 3,987 of those people voted in 2020, the lawsuit alleges.

“Non-citizen voting remains a problem in Nevada,” the release said. “Data reveals there are likely more than 11,000 non-citizens registered to vote in the state, and it is estimated that more than 3,700 non-citizens will cast a ballot in the 2024 presidential election.”

Claims of widespread voter fraud and a stolen 2020 election have been a cornerstone of Trump’s reelection campaign since he lost to President Joe Biden nearly four years ago.

The Brennan Center for Justice noted that registering to vote or casting a ballot as a noncitizen is a federal offense punishable with prison and deportation, adding that the crime is extremely rare and “usually an accident.”

The conservative Heritage Foundation has identified 21 such crimes since 2003 across the country and none in Nevada, according to a database, which shows eight total of overall cases of voter fraud in the state since 2013.

‘Safe and fair elections’

“Only United States citizens are eligible to vote in Nevada’s elections,” said a statement from Aguilar’s office. “There are already numerous safeguards in place to prevent noncitizens, or anyone ineligible to vote, from casting a ballot.”

The statement also added: “Any claims of a widespread problem are false and only create distrust in our elections. The Secretary of State’s Office is focused on running successful, safe and fair elections on behalf of the voters.”

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office said in a statement that while it couldn’t comment on the recent lawsuit, he has the “utmost faith” that Aguilar will conduct a “safe, secure and accessible” election.

“Our office has always taken credible allegations of voter fraud seriously, and will continue to do so,” the statement said. “We have seen bad actors work to sow distrust in our electoral process since the 2020 election, and the 2024 election has been no different.”

The office of Barbara Cegavske, the former secretary of state and a Republican, investigated claims from Nevada Republicans after the 2020 election, including allegations of noncitizens in the DMV records voting.

A 2021 report by the secretary of state’s office at the time said that more than 40,000 immigrants became citizens from 2015 to 2019.

“Given the large number of naturalizations that occur on an annual basis in Nevada, the data suggests that many voters were likely naturalized between the date of the DMV transaction and the election,” the report said.

The report said that an investigation determined that the overall allegations of voter fraud were based on “an incomplete assessment of voter registration records” and a misunderstanding of election records processes.

“And while the NVGOP raises policy concerns about the integrity of mail-in voting, automatic voter registration, and same-day voter registration, these concerns do not amount to evidentiary support for the contention that the 2020 general election was plagued by widespread voter fraud,” the report said.

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