Experts question U.S. Census Bureau report on noncitizen voting
A U.S. Census Bureau report claiming more than 20,000 noncitizens voted in the 2020 presidential election has raised doubts over the impartiality of the influential but normally non-partisan agency.
Unproven allegations of widespread voter fraud — including the casting of ballots by noncitizens, which is illegal in federal elections — have been a cornerstone of U.S. President Donald Trump’s insistence that his loss to Joe Biden six years ago was unlawful.
And the bureau’s analysis stating with “high confidence” that around 24,000 noncitizens voted in 2020 was pounced on by Trump as clear evidence to back his claims.
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However, experts and former Census Bureau officials have raised serious doubts about the accuracy of the document, suggesting the methodology is flawed.
Former Census Bureau senior executive Amy O’Hara called the paper an abuse of the agency’s “sterling reputation for high-quality analysis.”
She pointed to the lack of attribution and other “red flags on methods and research integrity.”
NPR reported that the analysis was not conducted by career civil servants, but rather by a team including individuals affiliated with the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a think tank started by officials from Trump’s first administration.
O’Hara, who is now director of the Massive Data Institute at Georgetown University, said it is “unthinkable that the carefully negotiated, curated and stewarded data could be exposed for political gain instead of statistical purpose.”
The Census Bureau and AFPI did not immediately reply to AFP requests for comment.
The report compared federal administrative records that include immigration information with a nationwide voter file dataset provided by the Virginia-based business Data-Clear under a contract it won related to the 2030 census.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on nationalpost.com — the content belongs to National Post.
