A Census Bureau report on noncitizen voting has ties to a Trump-aligned think tank

A Trump‑aligned think tank has been linked to an anomalous Census Bureau report that President Donald Trump is citing to revive allegations that non‑U.S. citizens cast large numbers of ballots in the 2020 election, NPR reported. The think tank, identified as the Heritage Foundation, commissioned a study that referenced a little‑known Census Bureau document describing “foreign‑born voting patterns,” a report that has not been released publicly and whose methodology has not been validated by independent experts.

The Heritage Foundation’s analysis extrapolated data from the unpublished Census material to suggest that millions of foreign‑born individuals were eligible to vote, despite the fact that non‑citizens are barred from voting in federal elections. The president’s recent remarks echoed this claim, asserting that the 2020 vote was “stolen” by illegal voters, a narrative that has been repeatedly debunked by election officials and courts. NPR’s investigation found that the Census Bureau’s internal report was intended for internal use only and was not meant to serve as evidence of voter fraud.

The revelation underscores ongoing efforts to leverage questionable data to support unfounded assertions about the 2020 election. Officials from the Census Bureau and the Department of Justice have stated that there is no evidence of widespread non‑citizen voting, and the report in question remains unrelated to any official election statistics.