Federal government confirms another 300 noncitizen voters

SAVE database flags 441 noncitizen registered voters this year

Denver, October 24, 2012 - Today, Secretary of State Scott Gessler announced that the Department of Homeland Security identified another 300 Colorado voters as non-citizens. Gessler notified county clerks and transmitted the names to them for follow-up hearings. The latest round of verifications came after Gessler worked with the Division of Motor Vehicles to secure alien identification numbers, which are required by the Department of Homeland Security's immigration database.

"It's unacceptable to have ineligible voters casting ballots in our elections," Gessler said. "We want to ensure the most accurate, reliable elections possible."

Gessler's office mailed notices to these voters confirming the federal government's findings and alerting them to their options to verify their citizenship or remove their registration.

"Though the timing is not ideal, I felt it was important to alert these voters that the federal government says they're not citizens," Gessler said. "We want to remove any confusion about voting requirements. An illegal vote reduces the integrity of our election and jeopardizes someone's path to citizenship."

Gessler's office originally identified 3,903 voters who previously showed proof of noncitizenship when they received their driver's licenses. Among that group, the office verified 1,416 voters against the Systematic Alien Verification and Entitlements (SAVE) system and confirmed 141 voters as non-citizens. After securing additional identification numbers for the remaining voters and verifying through the SAVE system, the office confirmed another 300 voters as non-citizens. In all, Gessler referred 441 non-citizen voters to the county clerks.

Additionally, Gessler also forwarded the non-citizen voters to Colorado's United States Attorney John Walsh and his assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Rourke, who was recently identified as the state's U.S. Election Officer.