North Carolina State Board of Elections has identified approximately 34,000 deceased individuals on the state’s voter rolls following an extensive check through a federal immigration database. The discovery emerged as part of a citizenship-verification effort and represents a number higher than anticipated by the board’s executive director.
The state board submitted 7,397,734 voter records to the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on April 17. The check uses each voter’s name, date of birth, and last four digits of their Social Security number.
Sam Hayes, the board’s executive director, stated that the number of matches found is “higher than expected.” He noted that the cross-state and federal database checks have revealed issues in the current system and pledged to use all legal tools to maintain accurate voter rolls.
The 34,000 figure does not confirm fraudulent ballot casting but highlights limitations in the state’s existing list-maintenance process. Currently, the board receives weekly death notifications from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services at the county level, which misses individuals who registered in North Carolina, moved away, and died elsewhere.
The new federal cross-check is designed to address this gap. The board will verify each record and work with county boards of elections to remove deceased voters under state and federal law, including additional database checks and due process steps before any name is removed.
This development occurs amid recent statutory changes that now allow State Auditor Dave Boliek to appoint members of the State Board of Elections and chair county boards. In his statement Monday, Boliek described the announcement as “another positive step” toward secure elections.
The findings also contribute to a broader federal debate over voter eligibility. President Donald Trump and House Republicans have pressed the Senate to pass the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship for federal election registration. The House passed the bill earlier this year but it remains stalled in the Senate.
The board must work record by record with county boards to confirm matches, notify affected registrations as required by law, and remove confirmed deceased voters before the next election cycle. Officials also expect the SAVE comparison to flag duplicate registrations and name mismatches during ongoing review.
