Maintaining Accurate Voter Rolls

SAVE is an online service for federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local government agencies to verify the immigration status and U.S. citizenship of individuals. The SAVE Program uses immigration record systems from multiple government agencies to confirm citizenship status. SAVE is administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). For more information, go to uscis.gov/save.

Since 2024, as required by state law, the State Board has implemented a program to remove registered voters from the voter rolls who requested to be excused from state jury duty because they are not U.S. citizens. On a regular schedule, clerks of superior court submit lists to the State Board of individuals who requested to be excused from jury duty, citing lack of U.S. citizenship.  

The State Board then determines which individuals are registered voters and checks state and federal databases for information regarding their citizenship status. SAVE is the federal database currently used to check the status of identified voters. The State Board then notifies relevant county boards of elections about any registered voter in that county whom the State Board cannot confirm is currently a U.S. citizen.

Then, within 30 days, the county board must notify the registrant that they will be removed from the voter rolls unless they object within 30 days. If they object, the county board will conduct a voter challenge hearing to take evidence and determine whether the individual is eligible to remain registered to vote under state and federal law. The voter will also be given the opportunity to correct or update their citizenship information before being removed from the voter rolls.

Beginning in 2026, the State Board will run the statewide list of registered voters through the SAVE database to identify potential noncitizens on the rolls. This process will take place at least once a year moving forward.

The State Board will send the following information to USCIS for use in determining citizenship status of N.C. voters:

• Name (last, first, middle)
• Date of birth
• Last four digits of Social Security number

If any registrant is identified as being a noncitizen by SAVE, the State Board will work with SAVE to confirm that no other records available to SAVE show the voter is a U.S. citizen. The State Board will also check the voter’s registration records and other state records and databases to determine whether that voter has provided proof of U.S. citizenship to a government official. For example, this may have occurred if they submitted a copy of a U.S. passport as their photo ID with their absentee ballot or used a U.S. passport as what is known as a HAVA ID when voting in person. A voter may have also shown a citizenship document when obtaining a driver’s license at the NCDMV.

If no records available to the State Board show the voter is currently a U.S. citizen, the voter will be notified and given the opportunity to correct or update their citizenship information before being removed from the voter rolls. The State Board is also adopting administrative rules that will establish procedures to guide county boards of elections in carrying out this process. For more on these rules, see Rulemaking.

Numerous state and federal laws provide the authority for North Carolina election officials to use other government databases for the purpose of ensuring accurate and up-to-date voter rolls. They include Article VI, Section 1 of the North Carolina Constitution, which provides that only U.S. citizens may vote in N.C. elections; N.C.G.S. § 163-82.14(c1), which requires the State Board to conduct list maintenance efforts using information about individuals excused from jury duty because they are not U.S. citizens; and N.C.G.S. § 163-82.14(a1), which states that the State Board and county boards of elections “may use other methods” to remove ineligible voters from the voter rolls.

Election officials do not have evidence to suggest this is a widespread problem. However, there are documented cases of a small number of noncitizens making their way onto the voter rolls, often by mistake. That is one reason that checking the rolls against the SAVE database is a good idea.

An audit conducted by the State Board after the 2016 general election showed 41 ineligible noncitizens with legal status (green card, etc.) voted in that election, in which nearly 4.8 million voters cast ballots. According to that audit report, interviews and evidence showed that some noncitizens were misinformed about the law by individuals conducting voter registration drives or, in at least one documented case, by a local precinct official. One registrant in her 70s had lived in the United States for more than 50 years and believed that she was a citizen because she had been married to a U.S. citizen. Additionally, a Canadian citizen recently pleaded guilty to two counts of making false claims certifying that he was a U.S. citizen on North Carolina voter registration applications in 2022 and 2024 in order to vote in elections in 2022 and 2024.

Registering and voting as a non-U.S. citizen are state and federal felony offenses. Ballots cast by ineligible voters “cancel out,” or dilute ballots cast by eligible voters.  It is the mission of the State Board of Elections to ensure that the vote of every eligible voter counts, and that means not counting ballots cast by ineligible persons.  This applies to any reason why a voter may not be eligible, including due to a felony conviction or not living in the jurisdiction for a contest. North Carolina often has close contests, where outcomes can be decided by very few votes. In a close contest, votes cast by ineligible voters can change the outcome of an election.  Additionally, it is possible that noncitizens are on the voter rolls but either were registered without their knowledge or have been misled to believe that registering and voting by noncitizens is not against the law. 

Auditing the voter rolls with the use of the SAVE database should result in fewer ineligible voters in the state’s voter database. It will also give election officials and the public important data on the problem of noncitizen registering and voting, which can inform future policy decisions and public discussion of the issue.

Yes. See the Memorandum of Agreement.

A number of state and federal agencies already possess the personal data of voters that SAVE uses to determine citizenship. These agencies all take numerous steps to protect the data and ensure it is used only for lawful purposes. 

All SAVE users take mandatory computer security training and privacy awareness training, as well as special, role-based training. The “Verification Information System,” the underlying technology supporting SAVE, has been certified and accredited and is continually monitored for compliance with National Institute of Science and Technology policies. 

The SAVE Program implements access controls for internal and external customers, such as account names and passwords to access the program. Additionally, the program implements the following technical controls, among others: 

• Password data is encrypted within the system.
• The system is located within a multi-layered firewall architecture.
• The system follows a robust set of security controls that meet the U.S. Department of Homeland Security System Security Policy requirements. 
• The system uses secure hypertext transfer protocol protected communications during all data transmissions between the client workstation and the system.
• Procedures are in place to ensure that any potential breaches of information are reported within one hour of being identified.

For more information, see the “Privacy Impact Assessment for the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements “SAVE” Program.”