Mike Lee presses voting bill after noncitizens found on rolls

What Lee said

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, argued on the Senate floor Wednesday that existing bans on noncitizen voting are difficult to enforce. He said improper registration and voting “keeps happening” and blamed reliance on people confirming their own eligibility.

Lee used the findings to press for passage of the SAVE America Act, which he introduced earlier in the year. The House has passed the measure, but it has not advanced through the Senate. President Donald Trump supports it.

Lee criticized members of both parties who have resisted the legislation. He said the measure would address ineligible registration and fraudulent voting.

What the review found

A Reuters review identified more than 30,000 self-declared noncitizens who were added to voter rolls since 2000. The registrations occurred in California, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

The review linked the registrations to software problems and clerical mistakes, pointing to administrative failures rather than an organized effort to register immigrants illegally. It could not determine how many of the registered noncitizens cast ballots.

The total is not a final count because state records can be tentative and later revised. The distinction between appearing on a voter roll and casting a ballot is central: registration records show who was listed, while voting records would be needed to establish participation.

The findings follow New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s disclosure that 6,600 self-identified noncitizens were registered in that state. Fewer than 400 of those individuals cast ballots. New Jersey was not among the 11 states listed in the broader review.