A lawsuit filed against Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar accuses him of failing to maintain accurate voter rolls, potentially allowing thousands of noncitizens to vote in the 2020 election. The suit, brought by the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, the Nevada GOP, and a state resident, claims Aguilar has not met his legal duties to ensure only citizens are registered to vote.
Nevada GOP Chair Michael McDonald criticized the situation, stating, “Nevada’s elections should be a reflection of its citizens’ voices, not influenced by non-citizens who have no legal standing to participate.” He added that allowing non-citizens to vote undermines the integrity of elections and diminishes the power of lawful voters.
According to the plaintiffs, Aguilar has failed to implement rules for verifying voter citizenship or systematically removing noncitizens from the voter rolls, as required by state law. Data from a 2020 election case suggests that 3,987 individuals listed in the DMV noncitizen file cast ballots. This figure is based on a sworn affidavit from former RNC Chief Data Officer Jesse Kamzol, who matched DMV records with voter files.
Kamzol’s affidavit indicated that out of 110,164 non-citizen records obtained from the DMV, 6,260 were found to be registered voters and 3,987 had voted. However, he acknowledged the potential for false positives due to inconsistent name suffixes and missing birth dates.
In response, former Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske’s office reviewed the allegations and found that 5,320 of the individuals identified were active registered voters, with 4,057 having voted in 2020. However, Cegavske’s report dismissed the claims, suggesting that some individuals may have naturalized before the election.
Aguilar’s spokeswoman defended the current system, stating, “Only United States citizens are eligible to vote in Nevada’s elections.” She claimed that numerous safeguards are already in place to prevent noncitizens from voting and dismissed the allegations as creating unnecessary distrust in the electoral process.
The plaintiffs are seeking a court order requiring Aguilar to implement systematic voter list maintenance to verify citizenship. They also request an injunction to ensure these actions are completed before the upcoming November election.
