Secretary of State Cord Byrd isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to pointing out the flaws in the system used to check the citizenship status of voters. In a recent interview with the Washington Examiner, Byrd openly criticized the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration database, known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, which he says would be the best tool for ensuring voter eligibility—if it were actually reliable.
Byrd, appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis, has had a front-row seat to the problems with SAVE. This database, originally meant for checking if immigrants qualify for public benefits, is now being used by Florida and a handful of other states to see if voters have been naturalized. But, as Byrd points out, the system is far from perfect. The data is often outdated, it’s costly to query, and it can take weeks to get answers. He also notes the absurdity of needing an alien registration number to get a positive result, even though many of those flagged don’t have one.
Despite Byrd’s requests for DHS to provide updated lists of who has been naturalized, it appears the federal government isn’t exactly rushing to help. Byrd claims the Biden administration has gone “radio silent” on the matter, leaving states to deal with a clunky, unreliable process. Byrd isn’t the only one calling for changes—other states like Texas and Ohio have found noncitizens on their voter rolls and have been working to clean things up. In Florida, Byrd’s office has been flagging potentially ineligible voters weekly, sending those names to local counties to verify and remove if necessary.
Byrd does acknowledge that Florida’s system, which ties voter registration to the driver’s license process, weeds out most noncitizens. However, there’s still a loophole for those registering outside of that process, where they can simply check a box swearing they are citizens without having to provide any proof. Federal law currently prohibits states from asking for documentation of citizenship during registration, a rule that Republicans in Congress are fighting to change.
In the end, Byrd believes that if DHS would cooperate and provide up-to-date information, the process could be a lot more efficient. After all, as he puts it, the federal government is the one that naturalizes citizens, so they should have all the answers. But until then, states like Florida are left playing catch-up, trying to ensure that only eligible voters make it onto the rolls. Despite the occasional finding of noncitizens on voter lists, studies show that cases of noncitizens actually casting votes remain exceedingly rare.
