Three Red States Purge Voter Rolls, Remove Hundreds of Thousands

This month, Republican-led states have been actively removing ineligible voters from their rolls as part of ongoing efforts to maintain election integrity.

Idaho, Missouri, and Iowa have taken steps to clean up their voter rolls by removing thousands of inactive, ineligible, and deceased voters, with Iowa also identifying non-citizen voters on its list.

On March 19, Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane (R) announced that the state had removed 144,121 voter registrations during its biennial voter list review.

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These removals included registrations for inactive voters, ineligible voters, and voters who had moved out of state.

Notices were sent to the affected individuals before their registrations were canceled. McGrane highlighted the importance of maintaining accurate voter rolls to ensure election integrity.

“Ensuring the integrity of our elections starts with maintaining accurate voter rolls,” McGrane stated.

“Thanks to the hard work of our county clerks and our collaboration with state and federal agencies, Idaho continues to lead the way in protecting our elections. We are committed to ensuring that only eligible voters are on our rolls, and we are taking every step necessary to make that happen.”

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In July 2022, Idaho Governor Brad Little (R) issued an executive order to ensure that only U.S. citizens are on the state’s voter rolls, initiating a review and verification of registered voters.

On March 20, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate (R) announced that 277 non-citizens had been found on the state’s voter rolls, following a review using the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program.

Of these non-citizens, 35 had cast ballots in the November election, and five others had attempted to vote, but their ballots were rejected.

Pate sent proposed legislation to the Iowa legislature requiring citizenship verification during voter registration.

He expressed frustration with the federal government’s refusal to share information about non-citizens on Iowa’s voter rolls.

“The federal government reviewed our data and verified the citizenship status but refused to share who the noncitizens were,” Pate said.

“Only eligible Iowa voters should participate in Iowa elections. We are working with the Iowa legislature on solutions to verify citizenship at registration rather than as ballots are cast, and we’re confident both chambers will recognize the importance of this legislation.”

The 277 non-citizens identified on the voter rolls have been referred to the Iowa Attorney General and the Iowa Department of Public Safety for further investigation.

In December, Iowa filed a lawsuit against the DHS, alleging it had failed to inform the state about the non-citizens on its voter rolls. The case is still ongoing.

Pate emphasized the need for cooperation from various agencies, including the federal government, to maintain election integrity.

“Maintaining election integrity is a team sport, and we need cooperation from multiple agencies,” Pate added.

On March 14, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) announced that the state had removed 18,637 deceased voters from its rolls since January 13.

Missouri law mandates that local election officials examine voter rolls for individuals who have died, moved away, or become ineligible to vote.

In addition to the deceased voters, Missouri also removed 75 duplicate registrations, 1,864 disqualified voters (due to incapacity or felony convictions), 133,520 inactive voters, 2,583 voters who had moved, and 282 voters who had requested to be removed.

“By working hand-in-hand with local election officials, we have removed outdated registrations, strengthening confidence in our elections and making sure every vote cast is legitimate,” Hoskins stated.

At the federal level, President Donald Trump issued an executive order last week aimed at assisting states with maintaining voter rolls.

#BREAKING: President Trump just signed a HUGE executive order to secure our elections

The order requires:

✅ Cutting federal funding to states who REFUSE to take steps to secure elections

✅ DHS resources be used to ensure illegals are NOT voting

✅ A citizenship question… pic.twitter.com/GOJpWAoq4e

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 25, 2025

The order directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to ensure that state and local officials have access to appropriate systems for verifying the citizenship and immigration status of individuals registering to vote or already on the voter rolls.

The order also instructs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to review each state’s publicly available voter registration list and compare it with federal immigration databases to ensure compliance with federal requirements.

Additionally, the order mandates that the DHS secretary provide the Attorney General with information on any foreign nationals who have registered or voted in U.S. elections and take appropriate action with regard to states failing to comply with voter list maintenance requirements.

These recent actions by Republican-led states demonstrate ongoing efforts to safeguard the integrity of elections by cleaning up voter rolls and ensuring that only eligible voters are participating in elections.

With the federal government’s support through the executive order, these efforts are expected to continue across states like Idaho, Missouri, and Iowa.

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