Utah's year-long audit of its voter registration system found overwhelming compliance with citizenship requirements, even as the state battles the Trump administration in federal court over access to sensitive voter data.
The review, completed in April 2025, examined more than 2 million voter records and confirmed that 99.72% of registered voters are verified US citizens. Only 27 individuals were identified as non-citizens and removed from the rolls, with just 13 of them having cast a ballot. The results, released Wednesday by Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson's office, also flagged 25 probable non-citizens who have been given 30 days to provide proof of citizenship or face removal.
The findings underscore a central point of contention in the escalating dispute between Utah and federal authorities. The Justice Department has pursued access to voter registration data from multiple states, claiming concern over low voter removal rates. But Henderson's office pointed out that Utah county clerks removed more than 109,000 voter registrations between 2022 and 2024 alone, eliminating voters who had died, moved away, registered elsewhere, or failed to vote in consecutive general elections.
The audit also identified 5,007 registered voters whose citizenship status could not be immediately verified through available records. Most registered decades ago, before Utah required driver's license numbers or social security numbers during registration. Under new state law HB 209, these voters will be notified and asked to provide proof of citizenship; those who do not comply will be limited to federal-only ballots rather than removed outright.
Utah already enforces some of the nation's strictest verification protocols. County clerks must verify a registrant's driver's license number or the last four digits of a social security number before approving any voter registration application.
The friction with federal authorities intensified in July 2025 when the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division requested Utah's complete voter registration records, claiming the state had the nation's lowest removal rate. Henderson's office responded within the required timeframe, arguing that federal data was flawed. The state calculated its own removal rate at 5.4%, not the 0.08% federal officials had calculated based on incomplete county reporting, and provided its publicly available voter rolls.
In August, the Justice Department issued a second request under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, seeking more detailed information than previously supplied. After Utah asked for clarification, the department went silent for three months before returning with a proposed agreement requiring the state to hand over private data including dates of birth, social security numbers, and driver's license numbers within a week. Henderson refused.
In February 2026, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sued Utah, alleging that Henderson's refusal violated the Civil Rights Act of 1960. The action was part of a coordinated effort targeting five states. The Trump administration also filed similar lawsuits against Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New Jersey.
The administration has simultaneously pushed for passage of the Save Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections. Voting rights advocates contend the measure could disenfranchise eligible voters, particularly in low-income, rural, and minority communities that may lack convenient access to required documents. The bill remains stalled in the Senate.
Henderson has become one of the Save Act's most prominent opponents. When asked whether the audit's findings justified the federal push for access to private voter data and additional voting requirements, Utah Senator Mike Lee's office responded by claiming that non-citizen registrations and unconfirmed citizenship cases demonstrated the need for federal oversight and passage of the Save Act.
Henderson told the Salt Lake Tribune that the audit showed non-citizens are not voting in significant numbers as the Trump administration has alleged, and that states are fully capable of managing their own voter rolls without federal intervention.
Author James Rodriguez: "Utah's numbers cut through the political noise: nearly perfect citizenship compliance, yet the federal government is still suing for private voter data. That disconnect reveals this is less about election security and more about power over the voter roll process."
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