Polygraph

A database from a conservative think tank lists about 100 instances of non-citizens voting over the past 25 years.

Posted by The Headlines, Checked

Polygraph verdictTrue
Sources
6 support1 context
Said
1 time·
Confidence
70%
The HeadlinesSep 4, 2026
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29 claimsThe check →

The claim matches the post's wording and is supported by multiple sources reporting that the Heritage Foundation's conservative-think-tank database lists about 100 cases of noncitizen voting. The NYT, via France24 and ENCA, reports 100 cases from 1982 to 2025, while Minnesota Reformer describes it as 100 cases in 25 years.

What was said

… The administration has launched the intensive operation despite the fact that there's no evidence of widespread voter fraud. A database from a conservative think tank lists only about 100 instances of non-citizens voting over the past quarter century, but President Trump has fixated on the issue, claiming without evidence that tens of thousands of non-citizens are registered to vote. Now the administration has pulled DHS agents away from their normal duties, like investigating trafficking and terrorism. …
The Headlines · · from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. The New York Times, citing the Heritage Foundation's database, found just 100 cases of noncitizens voting from 1982 to 2025.[1][3][4]

Supports. Minnesota Reformer reports that a Heritage Foundation database shows only 100 cases of non-citizen voting in 25 years.[5]

Supports. Other Heritage database counts are of similar magnitude: 77 cases from 1999–2023 (BBC) and 85 cases from 2002–2023 (Roll Call), consistent with about 100 over roughly a quarter century.[2][6]

Context. The American Immigration Council's analysis of the same Heritage data characterizes these cases as exceedingly rare and often due to voter mistake rather than fraud.[7]

Sources

7 sources: 1 tier 2, 1 tier 1, 5 not rated

  1. 1A Surge of Russian Sabotage Attacks in Europe, and ...nytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
  2. 2Can illegal immigrants really vote in the US election?bbc.com · tier 1 · cited for: supports
  3. 3$1m bounties, dawn arrests: Trump presses voter fraud campaignenca.com · not rated · cited for: supports
  4. 4$1m bounties, dawn arrests: Trump presses voter fraud ...france24.com · not rated · cited for: supports
  5. 5Minnesota begins routine election machine tests as feds retreat from election securityminnesotareformer.com · not rated · cited for: supports
  6. 6GOP centers election concerns on noncitizen voting, but it's rarerollcall.com · not rated · cited for: supports
  7. 7Unpacking Myths About Noncitizen Voting — How Heritage ...americanimmigrationcouncil.org · not rated · cited for: context

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