Claims suggesting that noncitizens are voting in significant numbers, often pointing to Census Bureau data as evidence, have resurfaced in political discussion, following a pattern that has come up repeatedly in past election cycles.
The Census Bureau's American Community Survey does ask respondents about citizenship status, but researchers and election officials say that data is collected for demographic and funding purposes, not as a measure of who is registered to vote or who has cast a ballot. Fact checking organizations, including The Associated Press, have previously examined similar claims and found that they typically rest on a misreading of survey data rather than direct evidence of illegal voting.
Voting in federal elections is already illegal for noncitizens, and violations carry criminal penalties, including possible deportation. Multiple state and federal reviews conducted in recent years have found confirmed cases of noncitizen voting to be extremely rare relative to the size of the electorate.
Election administrators say safeguards, including citizenship attestations required on voter registration forms and cross checks against other databases, are designed to catch the small number of cases that do occur. Voting rights advocates argue that claims like these are often used to justify stricter registration requirements that can also make voting harder for eligible citizens.
As with earlier versions of this claim, experts say the underlying data does not show what is being suggested, and they expect the debate to continue as election season proceeds.