Pennsylvania Official Who Exposed Noncitizen Voting Calls Threat “Exaggerated” Despite Trump’s False Claims

Al Schmidt isn’t your typical election integrity hawk. The former Philadelphia city commissioner and current Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth uncovered a major motor voter system glitch that allowed noncitizens to register and even cast ballots. But instead of fueling conspiracy theories, Schmidt warns that the threat of noncitizen voting is wildly overstated — and that election security efforts must not come at the expense of voter access.

Schmidt’s investigation began in 2012 after years of hearing claims about voter fraud in Philadelphia. He discovered that Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation (PennDOT) had a programming error in its motor voter registration system. This glitch, dating back to the mid-1990s, failed to block noncitizens from registering despite PennDOT having paperwork confirming their status. As a result, 168 noncitizens registered in Philadelphia alone, with an additional 52 registering by other means, collectively casting 227 votes.

The state responded by sending letters to over 11,000 voters statewide to verify eligibility. While some registrations were canceled, many were confirmed valid. Pennsylvania fixed the glitch in 2017, and an ongoing audit by the state auditor general is assessing the system.

Schmidt stresses the human cost of this bureaucratic failure. Many noncitizens were in the process of applying for citizenship and faced the risk of deportation or citizenship denial because of a government error. He even testified in immigration court to explain how these registrations were not intentional fraud but the result of a flawed system.

Despite this being one of the largest documented cases of illegal noncitizen voting, it accounted for a fraction of a percent of Philadelphia’s nearly 800,000 registered voters at the time. Other states have found even fewer instances: Utah found one noncitizen registered voter who never voted, Michigan identified 15 potential cases, Georgia found 20, and Florida’s audit uncovered 198 “likely” noncitizens among millions of voters.

Schmidt is clear: noncitizen voting is rare and not the widespread threat some politicians claim. “Every vote is precious,” he says, “but there’s no evidence to suggest that it happens in any widespread way whatsoever.”

That hasn’t stopped former President Donald Trump from weaponizing the issue. After losing the 2020 election, Trump baselessly blamed immigrant voters for his defeat and doubled down during the 2024 campaign. His administration even issued an executive order demanding proof of citizenship for voter registration—a move critics say is a thinly veiled attempt to suppress votes.

The Department of Justice has since ramped up efforts to collect voter rolls and coordinate with other agencies to investigate voter eligibility, feeding into the ongoing narrative of election fraud despite a lack of evidence.

Al Schmidt’s experience exposes the truth behind the myths: genuine election integrity requires fixing real problems without manufacturing crises. The exaggerated fear of noncitizen voting serves as a political tool to justify voter suppression, not a reflection of reality. We need to hold accountable those who weaponize false claims to undermine democracy and restrict the right to vote.