A newly obtained audit of Georgia's voter rolls has identified roughly 2,570 people who appear to be noncitizens sitting in active or inactive voter status, but investigators say the problem traces back to clerical mistakes at the Department of Driver Services rather than any coordinated effort to commit voter fraud. County registrars approved at least 395 voter registrations even after DDS records indicated the applicants were noncitizens, and of those flagged registrations, 407 had some kind of voting history on file.
The audit was obtained by Channel 2 Action News, whose investigative reporter Justin Gray reviewed the findings alongside reporter Scott Flynn. According to the outlet's reporting, auditors combed through roughly 8 million voter registrations statewide and concluded that no more than 0.1% of those records would have allowed someone to vote despite an unverified identity, invalid address, or citizenship-related issue. The audit attributed the bulk of the problems to driver's license process errors and county-level verification failures, not to intentional wrongdoing.
How Clerical Errors Slip Through the System
Investigators found that DDS workers submitted automatic voter registration applications before an applicant's citizenship status had been properly verified, and in some instances coded noncitizens as U.S. citizens outright. The audit also found that DDS workers misclassified immigration documents as proof of citizenship in certain cases. Counties were supposed to obtain citizenship documentation before activating any registration that carried a citizenship flag, but the audit found that verification step broke down in the identified cases.
Still, the audit explicitly found no evidence of widespread fraud, describing the flagged cases as a very small fraction of Georgia's overall voter rolls. It concluded that the state's election system is generally effective at preventing noncitizens from registering to vote, and that the Secretary of State's and county registrars' voter-roll processes comply with statutory requirements and align with best practices. Auditors did identify several areas needing improvement going forward.
A Pattern Consistent With Past Georgia Audits
The new figures echo a pattern seen in earlier state reviews. Georgia's first statewide citizenship audit, conducted in March 2022, found that 1,634 people who attempted to register to vote out of 2,258 pending applications were noncitizens, but state safeguards kept every one of them off the active voter rolls and away from a ballot, according to the Georgia Secretary of State's office. A follow-up audit in October 2024 of the state's 8.2 million registered voters identified just 20 noncitizens on the rolls, and only nine of those had ever cast a ballot, all predating verification rules adopted in 2012, as reported by the Associated Press.
Roughly 80% of new Georgia voter registrations flow in automatically through DDS, which operates under federal REAL ID rules requiring applicants to present proof of citizenship or legal immigration status, per the R Street Institute. That volume helps explain how a small error rate at DDS can still produce thousands of flagged names statewide. Georgia also cross-references its voter rolls against the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program, but the National Immigration Law Center notes that SAVE was built for benefits eligibility screening and can flag naturalized citizens whose federal paperwork simply hasn't caught up.
Federal Numbers Sparked Confusion Earlier This Summer
The tension between federal and state accounting became public in July, when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported finding roughly 2,500 noncitizens on Georgia's voter rolls. The Secretary of State's office responded by clarifying that most of those names were already sitting in pending status or had never voted at all, with only about 150 of the people DHS flagged having any voting history whatsoever, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The episode underscored how differently federal and state agencies can count the same underlying data.
Nationally, the pattern holds. An analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center found that only 0.04% of records checked through the SAVE system nationwide come back as noncitizens. Georgia isn't alone in facing administrative mix-ups, either — in July, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill disclosed that a motor vehicle agency software glitch had inadvertently registered about 6,600 noncitizens who had accurately disclosed their status while applying for licenses, according to CBS News.
Legislative Response and Ongoing Scrutiny
Under Georgia law, O.C.G.A. § 21-2-561 makes it a felony to knowingly register to vote without meeting legal qualifications, including citizenship, carrying penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. In June, state lawmakers introduced Senate Resolution 4EX, proposing a constitutional amendment that would explicitly bar noncitizens from voting in any Georgia election, according to the Georgia Secretary of State's office.
The debate over roll accuracy has also drawn independent scrutiny. Hoodline previously reported on tools like Elly and Psephos being pitched to Georgia election watchdogs and local boards as a way for citizen auditors to cross-reference public records against voter rolls. Channel 2 Action News said it would provide live updates on the audit's findings starting at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
