The FBI has closed an investigation into allegations that noncitizens voted in Nevada during the 2020 election, according to a report by CBS News citing sources familiar with the case.
The investigation began after Interim U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah provided federal authorities with a thumb drive that she said contained evidence that noncitizens had voted in the election and that people on Native American reservations were accepting cash in exchange for ballots.
Last August, Chattah confirmed that her office was examining an election-related case.
No announcement followed.
The FBI’s review identified as many as 38 possible noncitizens listed in the material provided to investigators. However, sources told the outlet it was unclear whether any of those individuals had actually voted, an act that would constitute a crime. The FBI also informed Chattah that any potential violations were beyond the statute of limitations, according to the report.
During her August interview, Chattah pointed to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which establishes federal guidelines for voter registration. She also referenced allegations of cash-for-ballots activity and argued that Nevada’s voter rolls had not been properly maintained in recent election cycles.
Chattah’s tenure as the state’s top federal prosecutor was itself unusual. President Donald Trump appointed her acting U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada through an uncommon legal maneuver last summer. Chattah resigned from her interim position before a 120-day deadline expired, triggering the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and allowing the president to reappoint her to the role.
Trump has since nominated attorney George Kelesis to serve as U.S. attorney for Nevada. It remains unclear when the U.S. Senate might hold a confirmation hearing.
Questions about noncitizen voting have circulated in Nevada politics since the 2020 presidential election, when the state became a focus of national attention. Democrat Joe Biden carried Nevada by about 33,000 votes, though the race was not called until the Saturday following Election Day.
Ahead of the 2024 election, Trump’s campaign and Republican groups in Nevada and nationally filed a lawsuit against the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office and state Democrats, alleging that thousands of noncitizens were registered to vote.
The lawsuit claimed more than 6,400 noncitizens were registered as voters in 2020 and that nearly 4,000 had cast ballots. The allegations were based on a Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles data file obtained through earlier litigation.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit.
A review comparing the data with Clark County’s voter records found no instances in which a person listed in the DMV file was registered to vote at the time the state issued them driving privileges.
The lawsuit had asserted that 6,136 names and addresses matched a DMV file of individuals who had presented immigration documents within the previous five years. However, a DMV official later stated the agency does not maintain a file identifying noncitizens.
In Nevada, most residents register to vote when obtaining services at the DMV. A 2018 state law established automatic voter registration for individuals who confirm they are U.S. citizens while conducting DMV transactions. Federal courts have ruled that election officials cannot require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote.
State officials have repeatedly said there is little evidence of noncitizens casting ballots in Nevada.
In December 2020, then-Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, claimed her office had found no evidence that noncitizens voted in the election. She reiterated the point in April 2021, noting that nearly 41,000 documented immigrants became naturalized U.S. citizens in Nevada between 2015 and 2020.
Data compiled by the Heritage Foundation and reviewed alongside state records in 2020 identified two known instances of illegal voting in Nevada elections since 2008, out of more than seven million ballots cast. One involved a person who was not legally in the country voting in the 2008 general election and again in 2010.
Although Republicans repeatedly raised concerns about fraud following the 2020 election, similar claims were not widely advanced after the 2022 or 2024 election cycles.
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