Trump's Latest Election Claims Face Scrutiny Over Census Report

Former President Donald Trump’s ongoing attempt to assert that he won the 2020 election has taken a controversial turn, hinging on a recent report from the Census Bureau that alleges thousands of noncitizens voted illegally. The report, which surfaced on Trump's Truth Social platform, has drawn skepticism from election law experts who argue that its methodology is flawed and lacks transparency.

The seven-page document, reportedly not authored by Census Bureau professionals, instead comes from the Trump-affiliated America First Policy Institute. Trump asserted that an analysis of 128 million voter records reveals over 24,000 noncitizens voted illegally, claiming the number could rise significantly as more votes are processed.

Experts like David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, have dismissed the report as lacking credibility. Becker remarked that the data cannot be reliably matched to public voter records, emphasizing that Census data lacks unique identifiers necessary for accurate comparisons, which would likely lead to numerous false matches.

In a statement from the America First Policy Institute, the organization insisted that transparency is crucial for restoring confidence in elections. However, Trump’s focus on noncitizen voting seems to be part of a broader strategy to influence election administration, particularly as he pushes for the passage of the SAVE America Act in the Senate.

This comes amidst federal courts blocking many of Trump’s executive orders aimed at tightening voter ID laws and restricting mail-in ballots—measures that critics argue would complicate midterm election preparations. While the Trump administration has highlighted recent prosecutions related to noncitizen voting, election officials maintain that while ineligible ballots may occasionally occur, they are generally caught and addressed.

Even if Trump’s cited figures were accurate, they would represent a mere 0.02% of the total votes cast in the 2020 election, a minuscule fraction that could not have altered the outcome. Becker pointed out that the reported numbers are smaller than the victory margins in each state, indicating they would not have changed the election results.

Further complicating the narrative, the 2020 Census did not collect citizenship status information, and critics like Omar Noureldin from Common Cause argue that the data used in Trump’s claims are merely modeled estimates, lacking the evidence to substantiate allegations of widespread illegal voting.

Despite these challenges, the Trump administration has pointed to several incidents, including a New Jersey software glitch that inadvertently registered thousands of noncitizens and led to hundreds casting ballots. Trump has also made unverified claims that the Department of Homeland Security discovered a substantial number of noncitizens on voter rolls in multiple states, claims that those states have disputed.

As legal battles continue over the administration's attempts to monitor voter records, the Justice Department has faced numerous setbacks in its efforts to enforce these measures, raising concerns over potential voter purges and the impact on eligible voters.

Source: www.independent.co.uk