5 days ago
Utah released nan results of a year-long audit of nan state’s elector rolls, uncovering that nan immense mostly of its voters are verifiably US citizens, amid an escalating ineligible conflict pinch nan Trump management complete entree to elector registration data.
The audit, launched successful April 2025, recovered that 99.72% of Utah’s registered voters are confirmed US citizens. Of nan much than 2 cardinal elector records reviewed, 27 individuals were identified arsenic non-citizens and removed from nan rolls. Only 13 of those individuals had ever formed a ballot. The review, released connected Wednesday by Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson’s office, besides flagged 25 probable non-citizens, who person been fixed 30 days to supply impervious of citizenship aliases look removal from nan elector rolls.
The Trump management has made expected predetermination integrity a cardinal priority, pursuing Trump’s long-running mendacious claims that nan 2020 predetermination was rigged against him. The management has pursued elector registration accusation from a wide raft of states, moreover astatine times resorting to lawsuits. But states already regularly show and maintain their ain elector rolls. In Utah, Henderson’s agency noted successful a missive to nan justness section that region clerks removed much than 109,000 registrations from nan rolls betwixt 2022 and 2024 alone, including voters who had died, moved retired of state, registered elsewhere, aliases grounded to ballot successful 2 consecutive wide elections.
As portion of that maintenance, Henderson’s office, which oversees elector registration successful Utah, besides identified 5,007 registered voters whose citizenship could not beryllium verified done disposable records. According to Henderson’s office, galore of those voters registered decades ago, earlier Utah required driver’s licence numbers aliases societal information numbers during registration, and are believed to beryllium concentrated successful agrarian parts of nan state. Henderson, a Republican, said those voters will not beryllium removed. Instead, nether a caller authorities law, HB 209, they will beryllium notified and asked to supply impervious of citizenship aliases beryllium constricted to casting federal-only ballots.
Utah already has immoderate of nan nation’s stricter voter verification requirements. County clerks are required to verify a registrant’s driver’s licence number aliases nan past 4 digits of a societal information number earlier approving a elector registration application.
The audit’s merchandise comes arsenic Henderson’s agency remains locked successful a conflict pinch nan Department of Justice complete entree to Utah’s elector registration records.
In July 2025, nan justice department’s civilian authorities division sent Henderson a missive seeking Utah’s elector registration records, citing concerns that nan authorities had nan nation’s lowest elector removal rate. Henderson’s agency responded wrong nan required 14-day window, arguing nan justness section had relied connected flawed national data. The authorities said Utah’s elector removal complaint was 5.4%, not nan 0.08% calculated by national officials based connected incomplete region reporting, and provided its publically disposable elector rolls.
The pursuing month, nan justness section issued a 2nd petition nether nan Civil Rights Act of 1960, seeking much elaborate elector accusation than Henderson had already provided. After Utah asked for clarification, nan Department of Justice was silent for 3 months. According to Deseret News, it later returned pinch a projected statement requiring nan authorities to move complete backstage elector data, including dates of birth, societal information numbers, and driver’s licence numbers, wrong 7 days. Henderson refused.
Then successful February 2026, Harmeet Dhillon, an adjunct lawyer general, sued Utah, alleging Henderson’s refusal violated nan Civil Rights Act of 1960. The suit was portion of a broader effort targeting 5 states complete entree to un-redacted elector registration records. The Trump administration besides revenge akin lawsuits against Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia and New Jersey. It has besides pushed for transition of nan Save Act, which would require documentary impervious of citizenship to registry for national elections. Voting authorities advocates reason nan measurement could disenfranchise eligible voters, peculiarly those successful low-income, agrarian and number communities who whitethorn not person easy entree to nan required documents. The measure remains stalled successful nan Senate.
Henderson has emerged arsenic 1 of nan Save Act’s astir outspoken critics and has many times sparred pinch Mike Lee, a Utah senatorand starring protagonist of nan legislation. Asked by nan Guardian whether nan audit’s findings, which confirmed nan citizenship of much than 99.7% of registered voters, justified nan national government’s efforts to get Utah’s backstage elector information and enforce further national voting requirements, Lee’s agency responded:
“While discovering non-citizen registered voters and complete 5,000 whose citizenship could not beryllium confirmed, Utah will ne'er beryllium successful nan aforesaid convention of sanctuary cities, fraud, and defiance of national rule arsenic infamous Democrat-run states for illustration California and New York. That’s why it’s important that each authorities cooperate pinch nan Department of Justice to protect nan exclusive correct to ballot of American citizens. If each ballot matters, past each forbidden 1 does arsenic well, and we should extremity them by passing nan SAVE America Act.”
Henderson did not respond straight to nan Guardian’s petition for comment. However, she told nan Salt Lake Tribune that nan audit demonstrated that non-citizens were not voting successful important numbers, arsenic nan Trump management has alleged, and that states are capable of maintaining and managing their ain elector rolls.
