Nevada Will Not Use Federal SAVE Tool to Check Voter Citizenship

Nevada will not join the federal SAVE program for checking voter citizenship, Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, confirmed to the Nevada Independent on Tuesday, Oct. 27. The Trump administration had asked the state to participate in the voluntary program. Aguilar said it produces too many false positives, the Independent reported.

The paper reported errors elsewhere, including hundreds of voters wrongly flagged in Missouri and at least 87 errors across 29 Texas counties. The administration’s letter says flagged voters must be verified before registrations are canceled, but some states acted without that step, the Independent reported. It also reported the tool is free and more than half the states participate.

The dispute follows a July claim by Homeland Security that as many as 15,903 noncitizens may be registered in Nevada. Aguilar replied by letter July 29, Democracy Docket reported, asking the agency to identify the people flagged and explain its methods and data sources, and saying Nevada would consider next steps once it did. The Independent reported the administration later cited about 185 potential cases, which state officials said were likely citizens.