Non-citizen voting has never been found to be a major issue in elections.
Posted by The NPR Politics Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict7 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 80%
The NPR Politics PodcastOct 26, 2026
The claim, as extracted from the NPR Politics Podcast passage, is that non-citizen voting has never been found to be a major issue in elections.
What was said
… Yeah, I mean, but to be clear, the states have handled both of these issues in different ways, right? I mean, we should say also, I didn't mention it when I was mentioning the California lawsuit, non-citizen voting has never been found to be a major issue in elections, and the other efforts led by this federal government try to root out non-citizen voting have already been found to entangle Us. Citizens. …
The NPR Politics Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Brookings states that until Trump raised the issue, voting by noncitizens had never been a major factor in campaigns, and that very few noncitizens try to vote due to documentary proof requirements.[5]
Supports. BBC cites a Heritage Foundation database of 24 convicted non-citizen voters from 2005 to 2025 and a Brookings expert saying there has never been evidence of enough non-citizen voting to influence an election.[7]
Supports. CEIR research tracking state efforts found noncitizen voting occasionally happens but in minuscule numbers, not in any coordinated way, with Georgia and Michigan audits finding very small counts.[5][8]
Supports. Snopes and the Migration Policy Institute report that audits by election officials and independent studies show noncitizen voting is extremely rare, and that the 14% survey claim relied on a study that was rebutted for sample-size and methodology problems.[1][2][6][9]
Contradicts. The 2014 Richman and Earnest study claimed non-citizen participation was large enough to affect Democratic victories, but fact-checkers and academic critics widely refuted it, so it does not establish a major issue.[2][3][6]
Context. Sources note the Reuters analysis found 129 people criminally charged over 30 years with 73 convictions, and Trump's cited 278,000 non-citizens on rolls is contested by the 0.04% verification figure.[4][7]
Sources
9 sources: 4 fact-checkers, 2 primary, 1 tier 1, 2 not rated
- 1Noncitizens don't vote in large numbers in US elections. Here ...snopes.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Donald Trump wrongly says 14 percent of noncitizens ...politifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts, supports
- 3Trump's Bogus Voter Fraud Claimsfactcheck.org · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
- 4Three things to know about Trump's election fraud allegationsreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 5Why do so few noncitizens try to vote? - Brookings Institutionbrookings.edu · primary source · cited for: supports
- 6The anatomy of a resurging rumor stemming from peer-reviewed ...cip.uw.edu · primary source · cited for: contradicts, supports
- 7Trump says US voter fraud is 'rampant' - evidence suggests it is extremely rarebbc.com · tier 1 · cited for: supports, context
- 8Despite grand claims, a new report shows noncitizen voting hasn't ...kpbs.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 9Noncitizen Voting in U.S. Elections - Migration Policy Institutemigrationpolicy.org · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Government analysis shows non-citizen voting almost never happens.True
- Non-citizens are illegally voting in elections.Mixed
- Ineligible individuals casting ballots in American elections is not widespread enough to shape election outcomes.True
- The number of non-citizens found on voter rolls in states that have announced findings is in the hundreds or low thousands, representing less than 0.1% of the electorate.Mixed
- Non-citizens and aliens have been voting in U.S. elections for the past four years.Mixed