Washington, August 19: US President Donald Trump has claimed that more than 24,000 non-citizens voted illegally in the 2020 presidential election, saying the figure emerged from an ongoing review of voter records against citizenship data.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the US Census Bureau had checked the records of the first 128 million voters from the 2020 election and claimed that more than 24,000 non-citizens had voted illegally. He said the review of another 32 million voter records would follow.
Trump also repeated his claim that he won the 2020 presidential election and called on Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.
The legislation, introduced in Congress on January 29, would require proof of US citizenship for registration in federal elections and valid identification for voting. It also proposes restrictions on mail-in voting and calls for states to use federal databases to identify and remove non-citizens from voter rolls.
Trump’s remarks followed his reference to comments attributed to India’s Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar regarding voter identification requirements in the United States.
Trump cited India’s 2024 Lok Sabha election, saying more than 642 million voters participated and that less than one per cent voted by mail. He also referred to India’s requirement for voters to present valid photo identification.
The White House has supported the SAVE America Act, saying that only US citizens should participate in federal elections. The administration has also compared US election procedures with those of countries including India and Brazil, arguing that the United States relies more heavily on self-attestation for citizenship.
India’s 2024 Lok Sabha election was held in seven phases and recorded an overall voter turnout of 65.79 per cent.