LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Proven instances of non-citizens registering to vote — much less casting ballots — in Nevada elections is exceedingly rare.
But that has not stopped people online and in person from questioning the process of signing up voters at the DMV, or verifying their applications after they're submitted.
"Nevada, we do not have non-citizens voting," said Cisco Aguilar, Nevada's secretary of state, in a recent interview. "And if there is the occasional case of a non-citizen voting, our checks and balances find it, and we will hold those people accountable for violating the law."
Indeed, the conservative Heritage Foundation maintains a database of proven voter fraud cases. In Nevada, just 11 incidents are listed between 2011 and 2021. During that time, 5.4 million voters turned out to vote in five general elections.
Channel 13 took a look at the process of automatic voter registration, and what safeguards are in place to prevent non-citizens from ending up on the voter rolls.
On the front lines: the DMV
First, the Department of Motor Vehicles. Since 2018, when Nevada voters approved Question 5 by a 60% to 40% margin, people have been signed up to vote automatically at the DMV.
On the application for driving privileges or a state ID card, people are asked for their Social Security number and birthday, as well as their place of birth. Then they are asked whether or not they are a U.S. citizen.
"Just for voter registration purposes, they'll be asked if they are a citizen," says Hailey Foster, spokeswoman for the DMV. "If they are not, then that would typically fall within the driver authorization card, and that automatically prevents them from moving forward with the automatic voter registration process."
Driver authorization cards are offered to non-citizens and those without the required documents to obtain a driver's license. It can't be used for federal identification purposes, but it does allow a person to legally drive in the state and obtain required car insurance.
But, Foster says, the DMV does not verify the person's citizenship status.
"We're just collecting information," she says. "All we are is a conduit of information, which we then send over to the Secretary of State's office for the actual voter registration part."
That raises the question: What if a non-citizen were to lie about his or her status, or misunderstand the question and mistakenly answer "yes" when they should have answered "no"?
State officials argue it makes little sense for someone not lawfully present in the United States — or even a legal immigrant who doesn't have citizenship — to lie in order to cast a single vote in an election. Doing so is a crime, one that can (and has) resulted in prison time, as well as a risk of deportation.
But people insist — often without evidence — that it nonetheless happens.
Double-checking: Clerks and registrars
That brings us to the second line of defense: county clerks and registrars of voters.
According to the state's elections website, clerks and registrars take voter registration applications and match up data (including Social Security numbers, vital statistics, and driver's license numbers) to ensure an application is legitimate. Only once that information is verified is a person actually registered to vote.
Not only that, but Nevada is one of the 25 states that use the Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as ERIC. States send their voter registration information to ERIC, which has access to Social Security's master death index, U.S. Post Office change of address information and DMV data.
ERIC produces reports that help member states identify voters who have died or who have moved. It also helps states find voters who are eligible to register, but have yet to do so. States can use those reports to correct errors in their voter rolls.
Finally, the Secretary of State conducts investigations when election violations are alleged and publishes the results of those investigations on its website.
Drawing the line
Despite the checks and balances, Nevada has resisted the federal government's attempt to obtain its full voter registration list, which comprises 2.4 million active and inactive voters. (Active voters are those who have voted in recent elections. Inactive voters are those to whom the state has sent postcards that have been returned as undeliverable. They are eventually purged from the rolls.)
Aguilar has said the state has furnished the Justice Department with all public components of the state's voter rolls, but the government has sued, demanding even non-public information, including driver's license numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers.
Stateline reported in September that the Justice Department is sharing voter data with the Department of Homeland Security, seeking to find undocumented people on voter lists. It's part of what some have characterized as an attempt to create a national voter database.
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Aguilar: SAVE Act, requiring voters prove citizenship, not needed in Nevada
At the same time, the House of Representatives has passed a Republican-authored bill to require proof of citizenship to register to vote, and, in some instances, before casting a ballot. Aguilar says the measure is unnecessary in Nevada, and the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
Meanwhile, an initiative to amend the Constitution to require a photo identification to vote in Nevada passed overwhelmingly in 2024, with a margin of 73% to 27%. If approved again in 2026 — which seems likely — the requirement would go into effect in 2028.
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