Mike Lee Explodes on Voting Error That ‘Keeps Happening’ as Huge Number of Noncitizens Found on Rolls
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, blasted Democrats and Republicans who resisted the SAVE America Act after a report found 30,000 noncitizens were “mistakenly” registered to vote in U.S. elections since 2000.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that the number of self-declared noncitizens who have been added to U.S. voter rolls since 2000 exceeds 30,000. The outlet attributed these additions to “software glitches and clerical errors”, and said a review suggested that the figure stands at “inadvertent bureaucratic failures, rather than organized efforts to register immigrants illegally.”.
The Reported Numbers
The mistakes happened across eleven states: California, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Reuters was unable to ascertain how many noncitizens actually voted.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey revealed that 6,600 people who described themselves as noncitizens were registered to vote, and that fewer than 400 of those individuals actually cast a ballot.
Lee’s Reaction
Lee named the mistakes “that thing that they claim never happens, voter fraud or noncitizen voting, just keeps happening over and over and over again.”
He attributed problems with ineligible voter registration and voting to reliance on the “honor system” for self-attestation of voter eligibility. “It should not be any easier for someone to get away with voter fraud at a polling location on voting day than it is to cheat Olive Garden through its never-ending pasta pass,” he said.
The SAVE America Act
Lee’s SAVE America Act, introduced this year, would mandate that registrants confirm citizenship and eligibility at the time of registration, and that voter ID and photo identification be shown at the polls. Trump backs the bill, which has passed the House but stalled in the Senate.
Palmer’s Suggestion
Don Palmer, a senior legal fellow for election integrity at the Heritage Foundation, proposed strengthening driver’s license agencies to confirm citizenship instead of demanding documentation of citizenship. Palmer compared the seriousness with which state agencies approach voter registration with the seriousness they approach Italian food.
What the Report Found
- The 30,000 noncitizens were added to rolls since 2000
- Errors were attributed to software glitches and clerical errors
- Review suggested inadvertent bureaucratic failures, not organized illegal efforts
- Numbers are not precise; state data is often tentative and subject to revision
- Reuters could not determine how many noncitizens actually cast ballots
The Pattern
The phrasing Lee uses to describe voter fraud as “that thing that they claim never happens” matches what he has said before about the subject. That specific wording has shown up in his past criticism of election integrity issues.
The SAVE America Act would tighten the self-declaration system. Whether that would stop the mistakes Reuters found, though, is another question entirely.
Why This Matters
The presence of ineligible voters on voting rolls is a problem. The question of how to correct it remains open.
The idea behind Lee’s all-you-can-eat example is that anyone who tries to cheat the system should not be allowed to slip through. His proposed fix, which includes ID requirements and documentation, is one way to address that problem.
Palmer’s suggestion to improve driver’s license agencies to verify citizenship is another. Both aim at the same problem — noncitizens on the rolls.
“That thing that they claim never happens, voter fraud or noncitizen voting, just keeps happening over and over and over again.”
The Takeaway
This reading is a single data point, not a final judgment. It indicates a real issue — noncitizens listed upon voter rolls — but it also demonstrates that many of these mistakes were made without intent.
The bill has passed the House. The Senate will decide.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs Sen. Mike Lee’s call to enforce the SAVE America Act and is against the software glitches and clerical errors that keep letting noncitizens register to vote. The mistakes at the center of this story are not a matter of lawlessness or political design; they are clerical failures, and the paper’s position is that the law already exists to stop them. The bill’s mandate that registrants confirm citizenship and show photo ID at the polls is aimed at a real problem, even if the report found that most of these errors were made accidentally rather than through a planned effort.
The SAVE America Act is a narrow bill aimed at a specific problem — people registering to vote when they are not citizens — and it gives the small business of American elections a clearer rule to follow. The paper’s position is that rules are meant to be enforced, not collected as unfinished business; the fact that these errors keep happening suggests that the existing rules are not being enforced as they should be.
The reader should watch for the Senate to act on the bill. The House has already passed it, and the next step is a vote in the Senate. The paper’s position is that any measure advancing through Washington must be examined carefully for its effect on the individual and that citizens’ choices should not be made by faraway offices or commissions. The bill’s aim, in the paper’s view, is at the right target — noncitizens on the rolls — even if the report suggests the errors are mostly accidental.
Source material: “Mike Lee explodes on voting error that ‘keeps happening’ as huge number of noncitizens found on rolls,” the New York Post.
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