Nine come from a database Heritage built "to demonstrate the vulnerabilities in the election system." It files more cases as noncitizen voting, but in the rest the person was here legally, or the record shows only a registration, a charge or a different crime, not a vote. The other four come from the Justice Department's own cases.
Heritage calls its database a sampling rather than a census, so treat thirteen as a floor. Most of the thirteen voted under a stolen or forged identity that said they were a citizen, which means voter ID and citizenship checks would not have caught them either.
However you count it
Count far more loosely, and it's still hundreds, not millions.
Left out: the Justice Department's "70 charged," because it includes citizens, and noncitizens who registered but never voted, such as most of Ohio's 1,084.
Six proven in 2016. Three to five million claimed.
Each dot is one person from the count at the top, in each year they are proven to have voted. Above them is what officials and their allies were saying. Recent years can still grow: several people described as here illegally are charged and awaiting trial.
250,000 · 300,000noncitizens registered (Trump) · cases to come (DHS), 2026
"a lot of illegals"are voting, "we all know, intuitively," says Speaker Johnson, 2024
3 to 5 millionillegal votes in 2016, says Trump, 2017
In 2024, Georgia's Republican secretary of state checked the entire voter roll against state and federal records, looking for noncitizens of any status, legal or not.
8,200,000registered voters checked
20 of 8,200,000were noncitizens
9 of 20had ever voted, mostly before 2012
0 of 9voted in the 2024 general election, as of the announcement
These 20 are a separate group from the thirteen above. Each dot is one thousand registered voters.
The faint red dot is those 20, and even it is fifty times too big. Count all 156 unresolved cases as noncitizens too, and it is still more than five times too big.
None of the 20 had voted in the 2024 general election as of the announcement, and their registrations were canceled. Another 156 were still under investigation when the results came out.
Could it change a result?
The closest state in 2020 was decided by 11,779 votes.
That was Georgia, by share of the vote, and Georgia is also where a Republican secretary of state checked every name on the roll. Take every noncitizen that check found, add every case it left unresolved, and suppose all of them voted in 2020, for the same candidate.
176 of 11,779
votes of Georgia's 2020 presidential margin, if every noncitizen the audit found (20) and every case it left unresolved (156) had voted for the winner. Each square is 100 votes.
Take all 176 away, and the result still stands, by 11,603 votes.
It overstates: only 9 of the 20 had ever voted, mostly before 2012, and the 156 were cases still under investigation, not confirmed noncitizens.
It can't see two things. The audit checked the roll as it stood in 2024, so someone who voted in 2020 and has since left the roll isn't in it. And no roll check catches a person voting under a stolen citizen's identity; those cases surface through identity-theft and passport charges, like most of the thirteen.
Small local races are different. A handful of votes can decide them, and it has happened.
In the news
The latest claims, and what the record shows.
Newest first. Updated October 12, 2026.
October 12, 2026
Claimed
The Justice Department charges 16 more people with election crimes, "including an illegal alien."
The record
Real charges. 1 of 16 is called an illegal alien, and a second overstayed a visa before applying for a green card. 11 have green cards, per the administration's own release. The rest are someone who registered before becoming a citizen and two people accused of voting twice or casting a dead spouse's ballot.
October 5, 2026
Claimed
The Justice Department charges 16 noncitizens with election crimes.
The record
Real charges. 16 of 16 have green cards, per the administration's own release, and none is described as here illegally. Ten are the Minnesota cases below.
October 1, 2026
Claimed
A federal judge in Florida rules the federal law against noncitizen voting unconstitutional.
The rare noncitizen who votes is usually a green card holder.
This is the part that gets skipped. The claim is about people here illegally. Where a case's immigration status is known, it is usually someone here legally.
The count, person by person Heritage data
What counts. A case is in the count only when both are true:
Here illegally. Heritage's entry or the prosecutor's announcement says the person had no legal status, having crossed illegally or overstayed a visa, or was living under a stolen or false citizen identity. Green card holders and other legal residents are not counted.
Proven to have voted. A conviction for voting, a guilty plea or signed statement admitting it, or a court's finding that they cast a ballot. Registering isn't voting, a charge isn't proof, and neither is the label a database gives a case.
Each case checked against its court record or the prosecutor's announcement of the conviction, October 2026, including the four newer cases. The American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration group, counted 16 in Heritage's database in August 2026.
See all 13 cases, with the line in each record that proves the vote
Most of those nine people voted under a stolen identity or with forged papers that said they were a US citizen. At the moment they voted, the government had no reason to think they were anything else. Proof of citizenship requirements would not have stopped them. Each person counts once, however many times they voted. Some were convicted of a different crime, such as passport fraud, but admitted the vote in a signed plea. They count, because the vote is proven.
Heritage last updated the database in December 2025, and it is missing four federal convictions from 2025 and 2026 of people here illegally, in Florida, Michigan, Massachusetts and Texas. That brings the total to at least thirteen.
In Heritage's database, each linked to the record that proves the vote
Anthony Kimani, Illinois, 2009: overstayed a visa; conceded in court that he voted in 2004. Ordered deported."Kimani concedes that he voted in the 2004 general election."Federal appeals court opinion
Ricardo Lopez-Munguia, California, 2012: previously deported; admitted in his guilty plea that he voted in 2008 under a citizen's identity."Lopez-Munguia unlawfully used his assumed identity to vote in the Presidential Election in 2008."US Attorney, on his guilty plea
Abel Hernandez-Labra, Iowa, 2014: his signed plea says his absentee ballot was cast in 2012."Defendant also requested and obtained an absentee ballot which was cast in the Federal, State, and local election on November 6, 2012."Plea agreement
Fredericus Slicher, Maryland, 2014: his signed plea says he voted for more than 30 years, through 2012. Convicted of holding a forged naturalization certificate."SLICHER has also voted in numerous federal elections over a period of more than 30 years, including the most recent presidential election in 2012"Signed statement of facts
Kevin Kunlay Williams, Missouri, 2017: previously deported; voted in 2012 and 2016, according to the documents filed with his guilty plea."…by falsely claiming that he was a U.S. citizen and voted in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections."Justice Department, citing court filings
Miguel Valencia-Sandoval, Illinois, 2017: pleaded guilty to voting as an alien in 2012, 2014 and 2016, under a bought identity."…by falsely voting as Ramiro Vasquez, a citizen of the United States"The counts he pleaded guilty to
Laura Janeth Garza, Texas, 2018: convicted of illegal voting in the 2016 general election, under her cousin's identity.Guilty of illegal voting, a second-degree felony; offense date November 3, 2016.Texas district court judgment
Gustavo Araujo Lerma, California, 2019: convicted by a jury of voting five times from 2012 to 2016 under a stolen identity."Yes, sir. I voted."His own trial testimony
Angelica Maria Francisco, Alabama, 2024: her signed plea says she voted in 2016 and 2020 under a stolen identity."FRANCISCO voted in the State of Alabama's 2016 primary election … 2016 general election … 2020 primary runoff election … and 2020 general election"Plea agreement
Federal convictions not yet in Heritage's database
Carlos Abreu, Florida, 2025: his signed plea says he voted in 2016 and 2022 under a stolen identity."On or around November 8, 2016, he voted in Florida in the 2016 federal general elections under the name C.R.V."Signed factual proffer
Jose Gargenis Vasquez-Rosa, Michigan, 2026: pleaded guilty to voting as an alien in 2020.Adjudicated guilty of "18 U.S.C. § 611 Voting By Aliens"Federal judgment
Lina Maria Orovio-Hernandez, Massachusetts, 2026: convicted by a jury of fraudulent voting in 2024."…she voted for a candidate for President"Stipulation in the government's trial brief
Eliseo Morales-Tapia, Texas, 2026: pleaded guilty to voting as an alien in 2024."On or about November 5, 2024 … using the identity of Individual A, voted in the general and special elections held in Tarrant County."Signed factual resume
Why the other eight are not counted
Voted, but their immigration status was never established:
"John Doe", Maryland, 2017: voted in 2016 under a stolen identity, but prosecutors never learned who he is or where he is from.
Alford Nelson, Florida, 2024: convicted of voting while unqualified, but Florida's own release calls him both "an illegal alien" and a lawful permanent resident since 1977.
No proof that they voted:
Alvaro Jimenez-Aguilar, Alaska, 2011: registered under a dead nephew's name and was convicted of falsely claiming citizenship. No source says he voted.
Mario Obdulio Orellana, Texas, 2018: the voting charge was dismissed; he was convicted only of passport fraud.
Teresa Martin Pascual, Alabama, 2023: the identity-theft charges were dismissed; she pleaded guilty only to obstruction with a false identity.
Hortencia Segura-Munoz, Nevada, 2014: pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor conspiracy over voter registration, not to voting.
Maria Azada, Illinois, 2012: arrested in 2011; no record of how the case ended could be found.
Also not counted: Heritage records a 2004 Georgia county election in which a man was fined $80,000 for helping an unidentified number of people here illegally vote by absentee ballot.
Where the immigration status is known
13 of 62
federal convictions with a known immigration status, over thirty years, were people here illegally; 49 held green cards. Reuters, a separate count from the thirteen at the top
8 of 41
noncitizens charged in 2026 were here illegally; at least 23 had green cards, and the rest are unclear. Votebeat
5 of 16
people in the Justice Department's September 18 batch were described as here illegally or suspected of it; 10 had green cards, and 1 had no status given
0 of 10
people charged in Minnesota in September 2026 were here illegally; all 10 hold green cards, per the administration's own release
0 of 5
people charged by Michigan's attorney general in August 2026 were here illegally; 4 are here legally, and 1 had no status given
Here illegally
Green card or other legal status
Not given or unclear
About these counts
Reuters reviewed every federal case brought under the 1996 law. Over thirty years, 129 people were charged with voting as a noncitizen and 73 were convicted or pleaded guilty. Of the 62 whose immigration status Reuters could determine, 49 held green cards and 13 were living here illegally.
When Michigan's Democratic attorney general announced charges against five noncitizens in August 2026, three held green cards, one was a lawful limited-term resident, and the fifth lives in the UK and voted by overseas ballot. None was described as here illegally.
Sometimes a government clerk registered a person who had said they were not a citizen. State audits have also turned up several hundred noncitizen voters over the years, mostly without saying which status they had.
Heritage's whole file, across a quarter century Conservative source
100 of 1,619
election offenses in Heritage's database are filed as noncitizen cases, of any immigration status, one square per case. Nine more noncitizen cases are filed under other categories.
Even if all 109 had voted in a single presidential election, it would be about one vote in a million.
Heritage's database holds 1,619 election offenses of every kind. It files 100 of them, about six percent, as noncitizen cases, covering people of any immigration status. Nine more involve a noncitizen registering or voting, or being helped to, but are filed under other categories; one is Kevin Kunlay Williams, one of the thirteen. Across the seven presidential elections since 2000, the vote for president ranged from 105 million in 2000 to 158 million in 2020.
What the state audits found
Three states checked their entire voter rolls.
Two of the three were run by Republican officials.
Brad Raffensperger audited the full roll in October 2024, calling it the most comprehensive citizenship check the state had ever done. Most of the nine who had voted did so before Georgia tightened verification in 2012. Raffensperger's conclusion: "Georgia is a model when it comes to preventing noncitizen voting."
Michigan Democratic SOS
15 of 5,700,000+
ballots in the 2024 general election appear to have been cast by noncitizens
The state compared citizenship data in 7.9 million active driving records against 7.2 million registered voters. Fifteen people appeared to be noncitizens who voted in the November 2024 general election, and 13 were referred to the attorney general at the time.
Deidre Henderson's office began reviewing every active and inactive voter record in April 2025. Its conclusion: "99.72% of Utah's registered voters are verifiably U.S. citizens."
Pushback
Yeah, but what about the cases that did turn up?
These are the strongest arguments on the other side. Each one gets a straight answer.
Federal prosecutors charged ten noncitizens in Minnesota in September 2026.
True. All ten have green cards.
0 of 10
people charged in Minnesota were here illegally. All ten hold green cards.
The national crackdown shows the same pattern. In the Justice Department's September 18 batch, 10 of 16 defendants had green cards and 5 were described as here illegally or suspected of it. Votebeat's review of 41 cases found at least 23 green card holders and 8 people here illegally.
Those 8 are real, including a DACA recipient in Georgia accused of voting nine times. If they are convicted, the thirteen at the top of this page goes up. But even with prosecutors told to make these cases a priority, the charges number in the dozens, mostly green card holders.
DHS says it has 1,600 voter fraud cases, and 300,000 more to come.
Those are leads, not findings. Here is what they have produced so far.
300,000more cases Secretary Mullin says DHS is "getting to"
1,600open voter fraud investigations
160arrests from January 2025 to September 2026, many for related offenses rather than the voting law itself
70people charged by the Justice Department over the same period
17noncitizens convicted of voting-related offenses this term, as of September 6, per Justice Department figures reported by Heritage's Daily Signal. The figures give no immigration status. The four in the count at the top are convictions this term whose releases say the person was here illegally.
The last large DHS number to be tested in public was Nevada's "as many as" 15,903. It came down to 185 voter records, and Nevada says all 185 belong to citizens.
Ohio referred more than a thousand noncitizens to the Justice Department.
True. Most of them registered but never voted.
167 of 1,084
noncitizens Ohio referred in October 2025 appear to have voted, in federal elections from 2018 to 2024. The rest registered but don't appear to have voted. Ohio has more than 8 million registered voters.
How it happens: noncitizens can get an Ohio driver's license, and at the counter they are offered voter registration they are not eligible for, Statehouse News Bureau reported. Frank LaRose's office mails warning letters first, and he says some recipients have come to his office to say it was a mistake.
New Jersey registered 6,600 noncitizens in 2023 and 2024.
True, and it was the state's own mistake.
~340 of 6,600
noncitizens registered by a Motor Vehicle Commission software error went on to vote. Even if all of them voted in 2024, that is under 0.01% of the state's ballots.
Stephen Richer, the Republican former Maricopa County Recorder, makes the same point in a New York Times essay (reprinted by Cato): "Just because something isn't prosecuted doesn't mean it doesn't happen." The numbers keep coming back small, though not every official reads them that way. Louisiana's secretary of state now calls hers "proof of a problem."
A few illegal votes can swing a close local race.
True, and it has happened.
2001Compton, California: a judge found a city council winner had helped noncitizens register and vote, and removed her from office. An appeals court upheld the removal and ordered a new election.
624noncitizen ballots a House committee found in a 1996 Orange County congressional race. The result stood.
Georgia's audit was run by Brad Raffensperger, Utah's by Deidre Henderson, Ohio's by Frank LaRose. All Republicans. Heritage, whose database supplies most of the thirteen, is a conservative institution. Its numbers point the same way.
The other side of the ledger
When states hunt for noncitizens, citizens get flagged too.
Denton County, Texas, 2025: 84 flagged
14 of 84 proved they were citizens
14 of 84 were noncitizens registered by mistake; none had voted
Alabama, August 2024: 3,251 voters were flagged as possible noncitizens. The secretary of state later admitted the list "included thousands of United States citizens (in addition to far fewer noncitizens)."
The details, and where the courts stand
Alabama, August 2024. The state flagged 3,251 registered voters as possible noncitizens and made them inactive, on a path to removal. A federal judge halted the program because it began inside the 90-day window before a federal election.
Denton County, Texas, 2025. The state sent the county 84 flagged records. Fourteen proved they were citizens. Another 14 were noncitizens whom officials had registered by mistake after they said on the form they were not citizens; none had voted. The other 56 were cancelled because no answer came back, five of them because the notice was undeliverable, and at least one was a citizen who did not get to the county office in time and did not want to mail his citizenship documents.
In June 2026 a federal court ruled that the changes making SAVE available for voter list maintenance were unlawful. On September 25 the Supreme Court paused that ruling, saying it would likely reverse it, so the expanded SAVE system can be used ahead of the November election.
In Alabama the list swept up far more citizens than noncitizens. In Denton County as many citizens were confirmed as noncitizens, and none of those noncitizens had voted.
Count the fraud database built by the people making the accusation, add the Justice Department's newest convictions, and voting by people here illegally comes to at least thirteen cases, most committed by someone carrying forged papers that said they were a citizen.
That is about one case for every 117 million ballots. The thirteen are scattered across ten states and twenty years of elections, and no state ever had more than one of them in the same election. That is nowhere near enough to decide a national or statewide race. The one result in Heritage's own file that noncitizen votes changed was a city council seat in 2001.