NEVADA (KTNV) — Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo is urging the state's top election official to use federal resources to verify the citizenship status and eligibility of registered voters.
Lombardo made the request Wednesday in a letter to Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, citing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, system.
The governor’s letter follows a Sept. 25 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily block a lower court order that had prevented the use of an enhanced version of the SAVE system.
According to Lombardo’s office, the Supreme Court said existing federal law allows the Department of Homeland Security to respond to eligibility inquiries from state and local governments and that Congress authorized the information-sharing involved in the case.
“I have always maintained that elections should be administered by the states,” Lombardo wrote in the letter. “As part of that duty, it is contingent upon the State of Nevada to work with the federal government to ensure that every registered voter is a lawful citizen.”
Lombardo also encouraged Aguilar to use "individualized inquiries" permitted under the National Voter Registration Act during the period leading up to an election to verify citizenship status and voter eligibility.
The governor’s office cited a Pew Research Center survey conducted in April of this year in support of the request. The survey found 85% of U.S. adults said it is important that ineligible voters are not permitted to vote. Pew reported that included 92% of Republicans and 79% of Democrats.
The governor's full letter can be read below:
