Arkansas Secretary of State outlines 240 cases of possible voter fraud

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester outlined his office’s investigations into 240 individuals who possibly committed voter fraud in a Thursday news conference.

Jester said his office had found 240 people on the Arkansas voter rolls who were not United States citizens. He said his office has sent letters to these people, asking for confirmation of U.S. citizenship.

If any of the 240 cannot prove citizenship, his office will reach out to the clerks in their respective counties to have them removed from the rolls, he said, adding that further investigation revealed that 30 to 40 of the 240 in question have voted.

Jester stated that the records were searched using the federal SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) system. Further investigation revealed that 30 to 40 of the 240 in question have voted, he said.

The secretary continued that some of those 240 may be naturalized citizens not yet recorded in the SAVE database. In some cases, he said, some may have voted prior to becoming naturalized.

Anyone who has voted while not a U.S. citizen will be turned over to the attorney general’s election integrity division and to Homeland Security, he said. He clarified that his office was not involved in prosecutions, but rather in ensuring the integrity of voter rolls.

Arkansas has approximately 1.8 million registered voters, Jester said in response to a question. In response to another question, he stated that federal law requires proof of citizenship to vote, something he would change if it were up to him.

Jester said that in Arkansas, a photo ID is the only requirement to vote.