Noncitizen voting claims animate Trump's attacks on the midterms

Key Points:

• President Donald Trump and allies are intensifying claims about noncitizen voting threats ahead of the November midterms, pushing for mail ballots only to be sent to verified U.S. citizens and citing dubious reports alleging thousands of illegal votes in 2020.
• A Census Bureau report claiming 24,000 noncitizens voted in 2020 has been criticized for flawed methodology and lack of error rate data, but it may still fuel voter distrust during the upcoming election.
• Homeland Security’s unsubstantiated claim that nearly 250,000 noncitizens are registered to vote in four states has been met with skepticism by state officials who question the data’s reliability and methodology.
• The Trump-backed SAVE America Act, requiring documented proof of citizenship to vote, faces opposition in the Senate due to concerns about disenfranchising millions of eligible voters who lack easy access to such documents.
• Critics argue Trump’s focus on noncitizen voting aims to undermine election confidence and set grounds for challenging unfavorable midterm results, while election officials emphasize the rarity of such fraud and efforts to maintain secure voter rolls.