The Montana Secretary of State’s Office has identified 23 potential noncitizens on Montana’s voter rolls, most of which appear to have made their way onto the list through administrative errors.

State elections offices pinpointed the potential noncitizens through the systematic alien verification for entitlements or SAVE program, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services database originally designed to verify eligibility for certain state and federal benefits. In the last year, the Trump administration has added functions like the ability to search by Social Security number to reshape the program into a voter verification tool. 

Montana adopted the SAVE program in November 2025, despite warnings from voting rights and data privacy groups about the system’s efficacy. The system relies on point-in-time records that don’t always accurately reflect a person’s current citizenship status, and use of the program in other states has resulted in false positives, especially among naturalized citizens. 

Most of the 23 potential noncitizens identified in Montana have a permanent residency status in the country, according to a Jan. 12 press release from the Secretary of State’s Office.  

In total, the 23 potential noncitizens flagged by the SAVE program represent 0.003% of the 762,959 people registered to vote in Montana in 2022. The Secretary of State’s Office did not respond to an inquiry about how many Montana voters had been verified through the SAVE program. 

At least two of the people flagged as potential noncitizens checked that they were not U.S. citizens on a voter registration form, according to testimony that state Director of Elections Austin James gave to the State Administration and Veterans’ Affairs Interim Committee on Jan. 12. James said another handful of those identified as potential noncitizens were mistakenly registered as voters when applying for an operating license through the Department of Motor Vehicles.  

“As for the rest, we’re continuing to work through,” said James. “We’ve got a lot of voters left to work through, and in the first couple of days we’ve identified 23 and some huge opportunities and reflections as well.”   

Some of those flagged as potential noncitizens cast ballots in recent elections, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. While only U.S. citizens are permitted to vote in elections in Montana, state laws only criminalize willful deception, such as the provision of incorrect information on a voter registration form. It is unclear if the state has recourse to prosecute individuals that were mistakenly registered to vote through administrative errors and subsequently cast ballots. 

James told the legislative committee that state election officials are teeing Montana up to be the first state to use the SAVE program to proactively verify eligibility when voters register. The system has so far been employed as a means to check existing voter registrations, and it is unclear how the implementation of the SAVE program as a voter registration tool would work under the system’s existing guidelines. 

“SAVE prohibits agencies from rejecting voter registration or removing an individual from a voter roll solely based on a SAVE response,” states the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services website. 

Voters flagged as potential noncitizens must be notified and provided with an opportunity to present proof of citizenship and correct federal records. Only then is an agency permitted to rescind a voter’s registration status. 

The Secretary of State’s Office did not respond to a list of questions, including whether potential noncitizens have been notified and what actions the state plans if those identified as potential noncitizens do not provide proof of their citizenship status.   

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 758-4433 or [email protected].