Nevada says all 185 names on DHS noncitizen voter list were lawful citizens

Nevada election officials have told the Department of Homeland Security that every one of the 185 names on its list of suspected noncitizen voters was a lawful US citizen, dealing a fresh blow to Trump administration claims about illegal voting in the battleground state.

In a letter sent on Tuesday and reported by The New York Times, deputy attorney general Greg D. Ott wrote that “as for the 185 individuals, our records indicate that they were citizens,” adding: “You have provided nothing of substance to suggest otherwise.” The letter was obtained through open records requests.

The 185-person list was a dramatic reduction from DHS’s original claim, relayed in a letter from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, that as many as 15,903 noncitizens could be registered on Nevada’s rolls. In a private August 13 virtual meeting with Nevada officials, DHS leaders admitted that the 15,903 figure was a “ceiling” and that each voter still had to be manually reviewed, according to recordings obtained by Democracy Docket and public records reported by NPR (via Techdirt).

A DHS official, Ms. Vogt, wrote in a follow-up email: “I also wanted to be sure I clarified that we did not reduce the 15,903 to 185. We’ve manually reviewed some of the 15,903 and confirmed 185 are not U.S. Citizens.” Nevada says even that figure was wrong.

Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar said: “Our records do not support DHS’s claims, and DHS has still not provided evidence to change that. Repeating unsupported claims does not make them true.”

The row feeds a wider push: federal investigators are reviewing voter rolls in 47 states, comparing records against immigration and Social Security databases, with DHS saying 1,620 cases are under investigation. Reuters has reported the review has produced false positives, including US citizens flagged for having names similar to immigrants.

Sources

• The New York Times (via Election Law Blog), “From 16,000 to 185 to Zero: Trump’s Claims of Illegal Voting in Nevada Fizzle” — https://electionlawblog.org/2026/from-16000-to-185-to-zero-trumps-claims-of-illegal-voting-in-nevada-fizzle/
• Democracy Docket, “Nevada election chief blasts Trump’s noncitizen voter roll claims” — https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/bullst-nevada-election-chief-blasts-trumps-noncitizen-voter-roll-claims-after-dhs-walks-them-back/
• Techdirt (citing NPR public records), “DHS Claimed It Had Found 16,000 Illegal Voters In Nevada. Now It’s Admitting It’s Less Than 200.” — http://www.techdirt.com/2026/09/11/dhs-claimed-it-had-found-16000-illegal-voters-in-nevada-now-its-admitting-its-less-than-200/
• Lawyer Monthly, “White House Pushes Review of 47 State Voter Rolls” — https://www.lawyer-monthly.com/2026/09/white-house-pushes-review-of-47-state-voter-rolls-in-noncitizen-voting-initiative/