EPEC Team Newsletter on Substack published some thoughts on Judicial Watch obtaining voter-maintenance records in VA that show thousands of noncitizens removed from rolls.
We are re-publishing the post here on EPEC Team Central:
For years, EPEC Team volunteer data scientists have been reporting on the growing number of noncitizens that are illegally added to Virginia’s and many other state voter rolls. We also track their voting histories, because that is also illegal.
So when the nonprofit Judicial Watch blasted out a press release showing that Virginia removed over 6,500 noncitizens from voter rolls over a two-year span, we were happy to see another entity checking the numbers, especially a big name outfit.
JUDICIAL WATCH: Virginia Removes 6,531 Declared Noncitizen Registrations from Voter Rolls
EPEC Team’s Rick Naigle and Erin Marie Joyce offered some thoughts on the data Judicial Watch received from its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to VA’s Department of Elections:
Erin Marie Joyce:
We found the press release helpful and important for the massive audience that JW reaches. It grabbed the attention of many groups whose work overlaps with ours.
The numbers Judicial Watch received from Virginia’s Department of Elections align with EPEC’s direct analysis of Virginia’s official voting records covering the same, two-year span (June 2024 to June 2026).
However, our overall numbers of noncitizens removed from voter rolls are higher than JW’s numbers because Jon Lareau, EPEC’s volunteer chief technology officer and one of its founders, has been tracking this activity since 2022, rather than since 2024.
As he posted in June of the 8,566 removals of self-declared noncitizens that we have tracked for four years, “we see 1,756 registrations with a corresponding record of ballots cast, according to the statewide Voter History List (VHL) record.”
Virginia’s constitution prohibits anyone but U.S. citizens from voting, as do federal statutes, as Judicial Watch noted:
18 U.S.C. § 1015(f) — makes it a crime to knowingly make a false claim of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote or vote in any federal, state, or local election.
18 U.S.C. § 611 — is the direct prohibition on aliens voting in any election for federal office.
Lareau also goes one step further in his analysis of voter-rolls EPEC qualifies to receive for its nonprofit mission.
He cross-references the noncitizen removals with voting history records to see if they are voting before removal. They are. Repeatedly.
Of those 1,756 noncitizens that show a voting history, Lareau’s analysis has detected 6,111 illegal ballots cast, according to official voting history records going back to 2019. That works out to 6,111 Virginia citizens whose ballots were canceled out by noncitizens voting in different elections, without detection — until they “self-declared” they are ineligible. See his June analysis here.
See the breakdown by Virginia localities here.
According to Judicial Watch founder Tom Fitton’s podcast about the records request, his team did not receive any information about voting histories in the FOIA request.
In his podcast, he muses about obtaining those voting records. We offer some insights on that.
Canceled Noncitizens, Then Vanishing Voter History
One method Judicial Watch might consider to obtain noncitizens’ voting histories would be to order a List of Those Who Voted.
VA’s Department of Elections offers this list of past elections to any group using it for voter-participation and education purposes. The timing of the purchases is key. Why?
Thanks to Lareau’s research on Virginia’s voter rolls, we also know this:
When the Department of Elections removes and/or cancels voter registrations, such as deceased individuals and ineligible noncitizens, it also deletes their voting history.
Therefore, if one orders a LTWV after noncitizens are removed, the voting history may have been deleted by then. The same is true for deceased voters. Once that registration is canceled, the voting history is apparently removed.
We at EPEC have never understood why Virginia’s Dept. of Elections would alter historic election records this way. We think accurate records of voting history are critical to building public trust in elections. EPEC maintain archives of voter history since it launched.
EPEC is documenting all of this to educate the public about the problems in the National Voter Registration Act’s “Motor Voter” system that automates voter registration in for anyone who receives a driver ID, including noncitizens. Many states do this, knowing that noncitizens are rolling onto the voter rolls.
It is illegal to register noncitizens, but they are clearly showing up on the rolls.
We have yet to see any felony charges brought in VA against noncitizens who voted. #
Rick Naigle:
Hats off to Judicial Watch for exposing the tip of the Virginia Registered Voter List iceberg regarding noncitizens on the voter rolls. It’s happening in many states.
The press release on 6,531 noncitizens removed also cited Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones’ letter to the Department of Elections in April. It describes the process followed by the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Elections to identify and remove “all persons who have indicated a noncitizen status” when applying for or renewing a license or identification document.
Virginia Elected Officials Allow Illegal Registrations
Judicial Watch reported that Virginia agreed to pause removal of “Declared Noncitizens” from voter rolls for the so-called 90-day “quiet period” prior to Federal Elections.
Also in April 2026, Virginia entered into a settlement with leftist groups in which Virginia agreed to pause the program to remove declared noncitizens from voting rolls for the 90-day period before federal elections. (The Attorney General letter cited above confirms this new policy.)
Citizens of the Commonwealth might let that sink in. An individual has been identified as ineligible due to noncitizen status.
The individual admits in writing: not eligible.
Instead of accelerating their removal, Virginia now allows those noncitizens to remain on the voter rolls, apparently for “more research,” according to official guidance from Virginia’s Commissioner of Elections.
The policy to hold them on the rolls longer is showing up in maintenance reports.
“We have already seen an order of magnitude difference in the data since June 1, 2026, which covers the May time-period in the new policy,” Lareau noted in June.
The July maintenance numbers came out today, August 1. EPEC Team will update analysis on the noncitizen removals this week.
Noncitizens Are Voting
Between 2023 and 2026, we tally more than 6,000 ballots cast by the noncitizens.
A total of 800 ballots were cast by noncitizens between 2024 and 2026, an average of 267 per year.
It is worth noting that some of these ballots were cast in primary elections, so the number cast in General Elections is less.
PROOF Of Citizenship Is The Answer
The corrective action should be documentary proof of citizenship at the time of registration, which is often integrated into “legal presence codes” that the Department of Motor Vehicles acquires before it issues driver IDs.
EPEC Findings
I analyzed Virginia Department of Elections Monthly Update Status (MUS) files from January 2022 through December 2026.
While the period is from a slightly different period of time than the data provided to Judicial Watch, the numbers are similar, except we have clear evidence of noncitizen voting. We also know that voting history “vanishes” over time as voters are removed from the Voter History List.
EPEC has documented noncitizen voting in Virginia for years. It is not new, but the number of noncitizens voting appears to have increased over time.
For more information about noncitizen voting, see Lareau’s previous updates from March 2024, July 2024, Sept 2024, Oct 2024, Nov 2024, Dec 2024, March 2025, August 2025, and Jan 2026. It is based on data from Virginia’s Dept. of Elections. #
Noted: Judicial Watch also requested the records of Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), the voter roll maintenance organization with a controversial history, now back in a contract with Virginia.
Judicial Watch’s FOIA asked for:
All ERIC reports, data, match lists, or other records received from or related to the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) system concerning potential voter deaths, change-of-address notifications, or other eligibility issues (including any associated processing, verification, or removal actions taken by the Department of Elections in response to such ERIC reports).
EPEC Team members also filed a FOIA to obtain the contract between Virginia and ERIC. Download it in the link below:
Read more: Thank You, Judicial Watch, For Exposing the Problem in VA!On pg. 14, it says: “Under no circumstances shall [Virginia] transmit an individual’s record where the record contains documentation or other information indicating that the individual is a non-citizen of the United States.”
We think that sentence alone may create conditions in which non-citizens are eventually re-registered. More on that in our next report.
Finally, check out this one-pager about our impact on voter-roll accuracy using data analysis, and to consider a donation to EPEC Team.
We are volunteer-driven and appreciate any help in our mission of trusted elections. #