Hundreds of Non-Citizens Found on Pennsylvania Voter Rolls

Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt uncovers additional cases of ineligible voters, raising concerns over election integrity

Apr. 11, 2026 at 10:40pm

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A quiet, cinematic painting of a solitary voting booth in a dimly lit government office, bathed in warm, diagonal sunlight and deep shadows, conceptually illustrating the issues with voter roll accuracy in Pennsylvania.The discovery of non-citizens on Pennsylvania's voter rolls raises concerns about the integrity of the state's elections, a critical battleground in national races.Philadelphia Today

Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt has confirmed that hundreds of non-citizens were found registered to vote, and in some cases casting ballots, in the Keystone State. This revelation comes on top of a much larger pool of 11,198 voters who were previously flagged for eligibility concerns, triggering renewed scrutiny over how such discrepancies were allowed to persist in this critical swing state.

Why it matters

The discovery of hundreds of non-citizens on Pennsylvania's voter rolls raises serious questions about the state's election integrity and the potential for non-citizen voting to impact close elections. This issue has been a longstanding concern, with previous estimates suggesting over 100,000 potential non-citizen registrations, yet state officials have been slow to address the problem.

The details

Schmidt's own investigation as former Philadelphia City Commissioner uncovered a PennDOT motor-voter glitch that let 168 non-citizens in Philly register through the automatic system, plus another 52 registered by other means. These non-citizens cast a total of 227 votes across multiple elections. Statewide, officials previously sent confirmation letters to 11,198 voters flagged as potential non-citizens, but the state still doesn't have an exact count of how many made it onto the rolls.

  • In 2018, officials sent confirmation letters to 11,198 voters flagged as potential non-citizens.
  • Schmidt's recent investigation uncovered hundreds of additional non-citizens registered to vote in Philadelphia.

The players

Al Schmidt

Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth and former Philadelphia City Commissioner who uncovered hundreds of non-citizens on the state's voter rolls.

PennDOT

Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation, whose motor-voter registration system was found to have allowed 168 non-citizens in Philadelphia to register to vote.

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What they’re saying

“I've always heard my whole life, even though I grew up in Western Pennsylvania, about concerns about voter fraud and voting irregularities in Philadelphia elections. So I wanted to be able to sort out fact from fiction.”

— Al Schmidt, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth

What’s next

The state of Pennsylvania and Secretary Schmidt will need to determine the full scope of non-citizen voter registration and take steps to ensure the integrity of future elections.

The takeaway

This case highlights the ongoing challenges Pennsylvania faces in maintaining accurate voter rolls and preventing non-citizen participation in elections, which could have significant implications for the state's pivotal role in national elections.