{"id":4131,"date":"2026-05-29T18:39:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T18:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/29\/utah-releases-state-voter-roll-audit-amid-trump-administration-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T18:39:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T18:39:40","slug":"utah-releases-state-voter-roll-audit-amid-trump-administration-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=4131","title":{"rendered":"Utah releases state voter roll audit amid Trump administration lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"25c76942-93c9-4596-89a1-931f1cf0d482\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A woman speaks into a microphone.\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/38cfcba0ac2f19b0b24a6d68f5834b951e905f10\/0_0_3600_2400\/master\/3600.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"310\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Deidre Henderson speaks at a funeral service for Mia Love, a former US representative, in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 7 April 2025.<\/span> Photograph: Rick Egan\/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"25c76942-93c9-4596-89a1-931f1cf0d482\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Deidre Henderson speaks at a funeral service for Mia Love, a former US representative, in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 7 April 2025.<\/span> Photograph: Rick Egan\/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">Utah releases state voter roll audit amid Trump administration lawsuit<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Audit finds 99.7% of those registered to vote are US citizens as DoJ presses for access to information citing low removals<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Utah released the results of a <a href=\"https:\/\/ltgovernor.utah.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/CITIZENSHIP-FULL-SUMMARY-2.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">year-long audit of the state\u2019s voter rolls<\/a>, finding that the vast majority of its voters are verifiably US citizens, amid an escalating legal battle with the Trump administration over access to voter registration data.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The audit, launched in April 2025, found that<a href=\"https:\/\/ltgovernor.utah.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/CITIZENSHIP-FULL-SUMMARY-2.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> 99.72% of Utah\u2019s registered<\/a> voters are confirmed US citizens. Of the more than 2 million voter records reviewed, <a href=\"https:\/\/ltgovernor.utah.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/CITIZENSHIP-FULL-SUMMARY-2.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">27 individuals were identified as non-citizens<\/a> and removed from the rolls. Only 13 of those individuals had ever cast a ballot. The review, released on Wednesday by Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson\u2019s office, also flagged <a href=\"https:\/\/ltgovernor.utah.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/CITIZENSHIP-FULL-SUMMARY-2.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">25 probable non-citizens<\/a>, who have been given 30 days to provide proof of citizenship or face removal from the voter rolls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Trump administration has made supposed election integrity a central priority, following Trump\u2019s long-running false claims that the 2020 election was rigged against him. The administration has pursued voter registration information from a wide raft of states, even at times resorting to lawsuits. But states already regularly monitor and <a href=\"https:\/\/electionlab.mit.edu\/research\/voter-list-maintenance\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">maintain their own voter rolls<\/a>. In Utah, Henderson\u2019s office noted in a letter to the justice department that county clerks removed more than <a href=\"https:\/\/ltgovernor.utah.gov\/press\/lt-gov-deidre-henderson-doj-response-letter\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">109,000 registrations <\/a>from the rolls between 2022 and 2024 alone, including voters who had died, moved out of state, registered elsewhere, or failed to vote in two consecutive general elections.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"e2f41188-96d8-4d48-9f33-b06295635e43\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-3 | 3\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1kyw41h\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-ak3j0c\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/08\/voting-rights-activists-louisiana-callais-black-voters\" class=\"dcr-1m887w9\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-ut4tvs\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1h5b6rb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-169d7yv\">\u2018This is not democracy\u2019: voting rights activists shocked by speed of US states moving to stifle Black voters<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-eurq8n\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fkf7vq\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">As part of that maintenance, Henderson\u2019s office, which oversees voter registration in Utah, also identified <a href=\"https:\/\/ltgovernor.utah.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/CITIZENSHIP-FULL-SUMMARY-2.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">5,007 registered voters<\/a> whose citizenship could not be verified through available records. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/ltgovernor.utah.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/CITIZENSHIP-FULL-SUMMARY-2.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Henderson\u2019s office<\/a>, many of those voters registered decades ago, before Utah required driver\u2019s license numbers or social security numbers during registration, and are believed to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sltrib.com\/news\/politics\/2026\/05\/27\/utah-election-audit-fine-no\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">concentrated in rural parts<\/a> of the state. Henderson, a Republican, said those voters will not be removed. Instead, under a new state law, <a href=\"https:\/\/le.utah.gov\/Session\/2026\/bills\/static\/HB0209.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">HB 209<\/a>, they will be <a href=\"https:\/\/ltgovernor.utah.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/CITIZENSHIP-FULL-SUMMARY-2.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">notified and asked<\/a> to provide proof of citizenship or be limited to casting federal-only ballots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Utah already has some of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acluutah.org\/legislation\/hb209-voting-amendments\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">nation\u2019s stricter voter<\/a> verification requirements. County clerks are required to verify a registrant\u2019s driver\u2019s license number or the last four digits of a social security number before approving a voter registration application.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The audit\u2019s release comes as Henderson\u2019s office remains locked in a dispute with the Department of Justice over access to Utah\u2019s voter registration records.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In July 2025, the <a href=\"https:\/\/kutv.com\/news\/local\/voter-review-shows-no-widespread-problem-as-doj-continues-lawsuit-against-utah-lt-gov\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">justice department\u2019s civil rights division<\/a> sent Henderson a letter seeking Utah\u2019s voter registration records, citing concerns that the state had the <a href=\"https:\/\/ltgovernor.utah.gov\/press\/lt-gov-deidre-henderson-doj-response-letter\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">nation\u2019s lowest voter removal rate<\/a>. Henderson\u2019s office responded within the required 14-day window, arguing the justice department had relied on flawed federal data. The state said Utah\u2019s voter removal rate was 5.4%, not the 0.08% calculated by federal officials based on <a href=\"https:\/\/ltgovernor.utah.gov\/press\/lt-gov-deidre-henderson-doj-response-letter\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">incomplete county reporting<\/a>, and provided its publicly available voter rolls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The following month, the justice department issued a second request under the Civil Rights Act of 1960, seeking more detailed voter information than Henderson had already provided. After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/utah\/2026\/03\/18\/utah-asks-federal-court-to-throw-out-dojs-lawsuit-seeking-private-voter-information\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Utah asked for clarification<\/a>, the Department of Justice was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/utah\/2026\/03\/18\/utah-asks-federal-court-to-throw-out-dojs-lawsuit-seeking-private-voter-information\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">silent for three months<\/a>. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/utah\/2026\/03\/18\/utah-asks-federal-court-to-throw-out-dojs-lawsuit-seeking-private-voter-information\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Deseret News<\/a>, it later returned with a proposed agreement requiring the state to turn over private voter data, including dates of birth, social security numbers, and driver\u2019s license numbers, within seven days. Henderson refused.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Then in February 2026, Harmeet Dhillon, an assistant attorney general, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sltrib.com\/news\/politics\/2025\/07\/31\/trumps-doj-wants-utah-voter-data\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">sued Utah<\/a>, alleging Henderson\u2019s refusal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/justice-department-sues-five-additional-states-failure-produce-voter-rolls\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">violated the Civil Rights Act of 1960<\/a>. The lawsuit was part of a broader effort targeting five states over access to un-redacted voter registration records. The Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/justice-department-sues-five-additional-states-failure-produce-voter-rolls\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">administration also filed similar lawsuits<\/a> against Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia and New Jersey.It has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/05\/16\/trump-save-act-fisa-housing-bills-00925332?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=substack\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">pushed for passage of the Save Act<\/a>, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections. Voting rights advocates argue the measure could disenfranchise eligible voters, particularly those in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/the-save-act-an-attempt-to-restrict-voting-rights\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">low-income, rural and minority communities<\/a> who may not have easy access to the required documents. The bill remains stalled in the Senate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Henderson has emerged as one of the Save Act\u2019s most outspoken critics and has repeatedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/utah-lt-governor-criticizes-sen-030010908.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAM36psP2nA7Bt4PqEb6BIatxoC7G6BlfbK-EC8C8EytgOe9uC3ZhxG-cO0lr3Bkf3IyNppuwnw12rp2cvJ8DrTJlZqxJV9PFYgEuUni_dezZofE0sy8vzlCmlxqF5JfIrnqtEhNdVE2ZeNntuMXvqfbrYaRdaAIXEE5dB6bi81AQ\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">sparred with Mike Lee, a Utah senator<\/a>and leading supporter of the legislation. Asked by the Guardian whether the audit\u2019s findings, which confirmed the citizenship of more than 99.7% of registered voters, justified the federal government\u2019s efforts to obtain Utah\u2019s private voter data and impose additional federal voting requirements, Lee\u2019s office responded:<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWhile discovering non-citizen registered voters and over 5,000 whose citizenship could not be confirmed, Utah will never be in the same league of sanctuary cities, fraud, and defiance of federal law as infamous Democrat-run states like California and New York. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important that every state cooperate with the Department of Justice to protect the exclusive right to vote of American citizens. If every vote matters, then every illegal one does as well, and we should stop them by passing the SAVE America Act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Henderson did not respond directly to the Guardian\u2019s request for comment. However, she told the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sltrib.com\/news\/politics\/2026\/05\/27\/utah-election-audit-fine-no\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Salt Lake Tribune<\/a> that the audit demonstrated that<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sltrib.com\/news\/politics\/2026\/05\/27\/utah-election-audit-fine-no\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> non-citizens were not voting<\/a> in significant numbers, as the Trump administration has alleged, and that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sltrib.com\/news\/politics\/2026\/05\/27\/utah-election-audit-fine-no\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">states are capable<\/a> of maintaining and managing their own voter rolls.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/utah\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Utah<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/series\/the-fight-for-democracy\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">The fight for democracy<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/trump-administration\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Trump administration<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-voting-rights\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US voting rights<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=Utah%20releases%20state%20voter%20roll%20audit%20amid%20Trump%20administration%20lawsuit&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/29\/utah-voter-roll-audit-trump-lawsuit?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F29%2Futah-voter-roll-audit-trump-lawsuit&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/29\/utah-voter-roll-audit-trump-lawsuit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deidre Henderson speaks at a funeral service for Mia Love, a former US representative, in Salt Lake City,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}