The National Council of State Board of Elections (NCSBE) will verify the citizenship of all registered voters in North Carolina through federal databases to identify and remove any non-U.S. citizen from the voter rolls.
“This is another way in which we will continue to improve the accuracy of our electoral registers and ensure that only the eligible voters "They can cast their vote in this state," said Sam Hayes, executive director of the NCSBE.
“As non-citizens are removed from the list, the necessary precautions will be taken to ensure that no eligible voter is affected,” he said.
Voter verification will be carried out through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) tool, a Department of Homeland Security database for maintaining voter lists.
How it works
Voters' names, dates of birth, and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers will be cross-referenced with the federal SAVE database, which will provide information on potential non-citizens.
The State Board signed, on March 3, a Memorandum of Agreement with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for this purpose.
When the SAVE system identifies voters as potential non-citizens, election officials will take several steps to ensure that only people who are not U.S. citizens are removed.
These include:
- Work with SAVE to confirm that there are no other records available indicating that the person is a U.S. citizen.
- Review the voter registration records and other state databases to determine if that person has provided proof of citizenship in the past.
- If there are no records proving that the voter has submitted proof of citizenship, the authorities will notify them and give them the opportunity to correct or update their information before removing them from the voter registry.
Next steps
The adopted administrative rules establish procedures to guide county election boards in this process. Among these, the rules require that authorities notify the voter and give them an opportunity to be heard. This includes the possibility of presenting documentation proving their citizenship before removing them from the voter registry.
The rules need approval from the state's Rules Review Commission, a panel appointed by legislators, to be officially implemented.
Database accuracy is a concern
Critics warn that using the system for mass verifications could lead to errors and affect eligible voters.
The SAVE database was used in North Carolina in 2016. At that time, a audit of the electoral authorities They determined that it had accuracy problems.
Approximately 75% of the people identified in that process turned out to be legally naturalized citizens, according to the group. Common Cause NC.
The updated version of the SAVE system It would allow bulk queries using different search identifiers. However, it has not yet been proven that the new system corrects past accuracy errors.
Election officials have no evidence to suggest that the registration and voting of non-citizens is a widespread problem. However, there are documented cases of non-citizens who have ended up on voter rolls, often by mistake.
You may be interested: Concord residents are calling for an official resolution against an immigrant detention center.
There is no evidence that voting by non-citizens is a widespread problem.
An NCSBE audit following the 2016 election It found that 41 non-citizens with legal status voted out of nearly 4.8 million participants. That represents a tiny fraction, equivalent to less than one-hundredth of one percent: approximately 0.00086%. In other words, something extremely rare to see in the state.
The report notes that some cases were due to misinformation during registration campaigns, including by an election official.
For example, a woman in her seventies believed she was a citizen through her marriage. On the other hand, a Canadian citizen pleaded guilty to falsifying his citizenship to vote in 2022 and 2024.
Republish our stories for free on your website or newspaper. We follow the Creative Commons license. Click the box and follow the instructions.
