Officials report 160 arrests in noncitizen voting probe

Federal officials say an administration effort to investigate noncitizens suspected of unlawful voting has produced about 1,600 voter-fraud cases and 160 arrests, though the figures do not show how many cases resulted in proven violations or convictions. Matthew Millhollin, a senior official with Homeland Security Investigations, gave the totals at a joint briefing with the Justice Department and the U.S. Postal Service. He did not define what counted as a case or provide details about the arrests’ outcomes. The figures reflect officials’ account of the enforcement effort, rather than an independently documented tally of confirmed illegal votes. At the same briefing, Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the Justice Department had charged 70 people since the administration began with unlawful voting and registration offenses. Officials did not clarify whether those charges overlap with the 1,600 cases or 160 arrests reported by Millhollin, so the totals cannot be combined or directly compared. Election expert David Becker said the numbers were consistent with noncitizen voting being rare.