Can Illegal Immigrants Register To Vote In Nevada?

President Donald Trump is greeted by Matt Schlapp, Chairman of the American Conservative Union, as the president arrives to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 29, 2020 at National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md.

Matt Schlapp: Equally an example of voter fraud, "nosotros take literally ix,000 people who voted in this election (in Nevada) who don't alive in Nevada."

PolitiFact's ruling: Pants on Fire

Here's why: Equally supporters of President Donald Trump ramp upward their efforts to delegitimize the ballot with unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud, one high-profile Republican ally claimed that 9,000 Nevada ballots were fraudulently cast past nonresidents.

"We have literally 9,000 people who voted in this election who don't live in Nevada," American Conservative Union chair Matt Schlapp told Play a trick on News on November. eight, wrongly challenge the ballot has seen widespread "fraud" and "illegality" but offer no proof to support his allegations.

Schlapp also cited the 9,000 figure during a printing conference the same solar day, telling a crowd of Trump supporters that many "non-Nevadans" had been caught illegally voting in the country.

Schlapp'south allegation earned a shoutout from Trump, who tweeted that Nevada was "a cesspool of false votes." Schlapp has continued repeating the claim since.

But there is no proof that nine,000 people bandage illegal ballots in Nevada afterwards moving out of state, and there remains no evidence of whatever widespread voter fraud in Nevada or elsewhere.

Schlapp'south claim is derived from a Trump campaign list

Schlapp's 9,000 number derives in office from another unproven claim from the Trump entrada and Republicans in Nevada, who argued days earlier that there were 3,062 instances of voter fraud stemming from cases in which people moved out of Nevada but yet voted in the country.

Trump entrada attorneys sent U.S. Attorney General William Barr a list of three,062 unnamed individuals who they claimed voted in Nevada after moving out of state. A contempo lawsuit also referenced "over iii,000 instances of ineligible individuals casting ballots."

The campaign's list showed ZIP codes for voters' current and previous addresses, simply it left out other personally identifying information. The lawyers said they formed it by cross-referencing the list of full general election voters in Nevada with publicly available change-of-address records.

But the list alone did not bear witness that anyone had violated the police force, as we reported.

That'south because people who move within 30 days before an election can legally bandage a ballot in their new state — or in their prior state of residence — in-person or via absentee election. Nevadans who exit the land to attend college or other reasons can also request a election.

The list from Trump'southward lawyers as well included addresses for Americans serving overseas in the armed forces and their spouses, including some people who have since spoken out.

The ACLU of Nevada said the listing showed changes of accost for people who moved to armed forces bases, including at least 129 Regular army or Air Postal service Office addresses, 13 Fleet Post Offices and 15 Diplomatic Postal service Offices, according to the Wall Street Periodical. At that place are other addresses on the list, the Journal reported, that the ACLU said are located in cities almost armed services hubs.

"This list they're talking about has been debunked every bit having, for case, having military personnel on there who are serving overseas and have the right to vote," Nevada Chaser General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, said on Pull a fast one on News November. 7. "It could include Mormon missionaries on that listing. It could also include college students on that list."

Any registered voter in Nevada could request to vote by post in 2020, according to the website for the Nevada secretary of state.

Clark Canton, which includes Las Vegas and almost 75% of Nevada'due south population, has so far referred simply three cases of potential fraud to the Nevada secretary of state's role, said county spokesperson Dan Kulin. None of the iii cases involved an ineligible voter from out of state.

Schlapp does not have hard evidence to support his claim

How did Schlapp get from the campaign's list of 3,062 out-of-state voters to 9,000?

His number relies on back-of-the-envelope math and some major assumptions, including the assumption that everyone who mailed in a election was ineligible to do so. There are no signs of a new, bigger listing that includes 9,000 changes of accost or voter names.

An American Bourgeois Spousal relationship spokesperson said Schlapp had projected that the number of people who illegally voted from outside Nevada was really iii times as large as the 3,062 people originally alleged. The spokesperson said that's because merely one-third of people written report changes of address to the national database maintained by the U.S. Mail.

"The 3,000 that nosotros came up with, we believe that that is two-thirds shy of the bodily number because well-nigh people don't go to the post office to change their address," Schlapp said in a Nov. 9 interview with one-time White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

But Martha Johnson, a spokesperson for the Postal Service, said the service was "unable to confirm" that simply one-third of people report when they alter their accost. "The USPS processed approximately 36 million change of addresses" in 2020, Johnson said.

Schlapp has not backed his claims up with any hard evidence. Even if 9,000 absentee voters did mail in ballots to Nevada from out of state, there'due south no proof any of them did so illegally, as he claimed.

A spokesperson for Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, declined to comment on Schlapp's specific claims but pointed to a statement. It said Nevada is investigating all apparent allegations of fraud merely noted that "many voter fraud complaints lack whatever evidence."

Nevada police force does allow the residency of registered voters to be challenged, including for people who have moved, the Nevada Contained reported. But that law would have required that an affidavit exist filed by the challenger with the county clerk in advance of the election.

Our ruling

Schlapp claimed that as an example of voter fraud, "we have literally 9,000 people who voted in this election (in Nevada) who don't live in Nevada."

Schlapp has best-selling that his ix,000 figure is not a literal count of illegal out-of-land voters. It is a speculative approximate he came upwards with based on a listing of 3,062 individuals produced past the Trump campaign — a list that had its own issues.

The original list included armed forces personnel in its count and did non plant that any of the people it identified were actually ineligible to vote in Nevada. The burden of proof is on the speaker, and Schlapp has provided no credible evidence to substantiate his merits.

Nosotros rate this statement Pants on Fire!

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Sources

Grabien clip, Nov. viii, 2020

The Independent on YouTube, "Spotter again: Trump campaign holds news briefing in Las Vegas," Nov. 8, 2020

Mediaite, "Fox News' Neb Hemmer: We Haven't Seen Show on Squad Trump Nevada Claims, 'At What Moment Exercise You lot Say Put Up or Close Up?'" November. x, 2020

Newsmax TV on YouTube, "Viva Lost Ballots: Matt Schlapp sounds off on Nevada'south voter rules," Nov. ix, 2020

Jon Ralston on Twitter, Nov. ix, 2020

Donald J. Trump on Twitter, Nov. 9, 2020

Nevada Secretary of State, "Absentee Voting," accessed Nov. ix, 2020

Nevada Secretary of State, "Secretary of State Cegavske Issues Statement on Complaints of Voter Fraud," November. nine, 2020

Yahoo! Finance, "Nevada AG: Trump's election lawsuits 'are speculative,'" November. 9, 2020

C-Span, "Trump Campaign News Conference in Las Vegas," Nov. 8, 2020

The Wall Street Journal, "Nevada Ballot Results: the 3,000 Challenged Votes," Nov. eight, 2020

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Time, "Here Are All the Lawsuits the Trump Campaign Has Filed Since Election Day—And Why Almost Are Unlikely to Go Anywhere," Nov. 7, 2020

NV Attorney General on Twitter, Nov. 7, 2020

The Nevada Independent, "Federal approximate blocks another attempt to stop use of signature verification automobile in Clark Canton, slow count of postal service ballots," Nov. 6, 2020

Bloomberg Constabulary, "Nevada Gauge Agrees to Expedite GOP Suit Over 3,000 Ballots," November. 6, 2020

Jon Ralston on Twitter, Nov. 6, 2020

Riley Snyder on Twitter, Nov. 5, 2020

ACLU of Nevada on Twitter, Nov. v, 2020

The Daily Fauna, "Trump Ally Ric Grenell Runs Away From MSNBC Reporter Demanding Proof for Voter Fraud Claims," Nov. v, 2020

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Email and telephone correspondence with the American Bourgeois Marriage, Nov. ten, 2020

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Electronic mail interview with Martha Johnson, spokesperson for the U.S. Mail, Nov. 10, 2020

Electronic mail correspondence with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, November. ix, 2020

Email interview with Dan Kulin, spokesperson for Clark County, Nov. 9, 2020