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State Board to Check Voter Rolls to Identify, Remove Non-U.S. Citizens

  • 14 hours ago
  • 3 min read

PRESS RELEASE



Thursday, April 16, 2026





Jason Tyson, (984) 289-9542



State Board to Check Voter Rolls to Identify, Remove Non-U.S. Citizens



Decision follows vote by Board at its meeting Thursday



Raleigh, N.C. — The State Board of Elections will soon check the


citizenship of all registered voters in North Carolina against federal


databases to identify and remove any non-U.S. citizens from the voter


rolls. The board approved new rules at its meeting today for a process that


must be followed before a voter is removed.



Voters’ names, dates of birth, and the last four digits of Social Security


numbers will be run through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for


Entitlements (SAVE) database, which will provide information on any


possible noncitizens. The State Board recently entered into a [3]Memorandum


of Agreement with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for this


purpose.



“This is another way that we will continue to improve the accuracy of our


voter rolls and make sure only eligible voters can cast ballots in this


state,” said Sam Hayes, executive director of the State Board of Elections.


“As noncitizens are removed from the voter list, necessary precautions will


be taken to ensure that no eligible voters are affected.”



When any voters are identified by SAVE as potential noncitizens, elections


officials will take several steps designed to ensure that only non-U.S.


citizens are removed from the voter rolls. These include:


* Working with SAVE to confirm that no other records available to SAVE


show the registrant is a U.S. citizen.


* Checking the voter’s registration records and other state records and


databases to determine whether that voter has ever provided proof of U.S.


citizenship to a government official.


* If no records available to the State Board show the voter has provided


proof of U.S. citizenship, the voter will be notified and given the


opportunity to correct or update their citizenship information before they


can be removed from the voter rolls. The State Board administrative rules


adopted today establish procedures to guide county boards of elections in


carrying out this process. The [4]proposed rules require that the voter


receive notice and an opportunity to be heard, including the opportunity to


obtain and provide documentation of their citizenship, before being


removed. The rules approved by the State Board on Thursday, now go to the


Rules Review Commission for review and final approval before they become


effective.



Why is this effort important?



Under [5]Article VI, Section 1 of the North Carolina Constitution, only


U.S. citizens may vote in N.C. elections. Registering and voting as a


non-U.S. citizen are state and federal felony offenses. Ballots cast by


ineligible voters cancel out ballots cast by eligible voters.



It is the mission of the State Board of Elections to ensure that the votes


of every eligible voter count, and that means not counting ballots cast by


ineligible persons. North Carolina often has close contests, where outcomes


can be decided by very few votes.



Also, it is possible that noncitizens are on the voter rolls without their


knowledge or that they have been misled to believe that registering and


voting by noncitizens is lawful.



This list maintenance program will also give election officials and the


public important data on noncitizen registering and voting, which can


inform future policy decisions and public discussion of the issue.



Election officials do not have evidence to suggest noncitizen registering


and voting is a widespread problem. However, there are documented cases of


noncitizens making their way onto the voter rolls, often by mistake.



An [6]audit conducted by the State Board after the 2016 general election


showed 41 ineligible noncitizens with legal status (green card, etc.) voted


in that election, in which nearly 4.8 million voters cast ballots.


According to that audit report, interviews and evidence showed that some


noncitizens were misinformed about the law by individuals conducting voter


registration drives or, in at least one documented case, by a local


precinct official. One registrant in her 70s had lived in the United States


for more than 50 years and believed that she was a citizen because she had


been married to a U.S. citizen. Additionally, a Canadian citizen recently


[7]pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of making false claims


certifying that he was a U.S. citizen on North Carolina voter registration


applications in 2022 and 2024 in order to vote in elections.



More information



For more information, see “Q&A: Use of the Federal SAVE Database for


Verification of U.S. Citizenship for Voters” at [8]Maintaining Accurate


Voter Rolls, a new webpage with information about voter list maintenance


efforts in North Carolina.



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[9]Facebook [10]Twitter [11]LinkedIn



References





3. https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/Legal/North Carolina BOE SAVE MOA, March 2026.pdf










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NC State Board of Elections


North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE)


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