The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) announced earlier this week that it has discovered about 34,000 deceased individuals listed on the state’s voter rolls. The finding follows the State Board submitting more than 7 million voter records to its Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database as part of its effort to uphold election integrity.
“While we expected to find some cases, this is higher than we anticipated,” said NCSBE Executive Director Sam Hayes. “The benefit of entering into cross-state and federal database checks is that it allows us to uncover issues like this. Our goal is to use every available and legal tool at our disposal to achieve the most accurate voter rolls possible. Now, we must roll up our sleeves and begin the hard work to act of verifying that every person registered to vote in North Carolina is eligible. Our team, along with our state and federal will do what’s necessary to meet this responsibility.”
Similarly, the Department of Homeland Security recently identified more than 24,000 names on U.S. voter rolls that may belong to noncitizens.
North Carolina’s action aligns with President Trump’s March order seeking to ensure citizenship verification and enforce integrity in elections. “The right to vote in Federal elections is reserved exclusively for citizens of the United States under the Constitution and Federal law,” his order reads. “Federal statutes explicitly prohibit non-citizens from registering to vote or voting in Federal elections and impose criminal penalties for violations.”
Last year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated a system that allows officials to verify immigration status while one votes. The SAVE system allows authorities to input Social Security numbers to confirm citizenship and prevent illegal immigrants from voting in U.S. elections.
