Did 113 non-citizens vote in Washington, D.C., in the June 2024 primary election that included presidential primary balloting? Yes, but saying they voted in the "2024 Presidential Primary" is misleading, according to a spokesperson for the D.C. elections board who said non-citizen D.C. residents cannot cast ballots for presidential candidates. Their ballots only contained checkboxes for local offices, as is legal in the District of Columbia, and no checkboxes for federal offices.
The story about the 113 non-citizen voters appeared in an article published by Judicial Watch on July 29, 2024, titled "Judicial Watch: 113 Non-Citizens Voted in DC Presidential Primary" (archived here) which opened:
(Washington, DC) - Judicial Watch announced today it received an Excel spreadsheet of names and other data from the District of Columbia Board of Elections revealing that 113 non-citizens voted in the June "2024 Presidential Primary."
The Judicial Watch article (shown below) says "113 non-citizens voted in the June '2024 Presidential Primary.'"
(Source: JudicialWatch.org screenshot taken on Mon Aug 12 23:23:29 2024 UTC)
Sarah Winn Graham (archived here), the director of communications for the DC Board of Elections told Lead Stories via email on August 9, 2024 that the headline for the Judicial Watch article was "misleading":
113 non-citizen DC residents cast ballots in the June 4, 2024 Primary Election for local offices only. None cast votes for any federal office. The ballot used by non-citizen voters only contains local offices.
Told the Bureau of Elections had called Judicial Watch's article "misleading", Judicial Watch President Tom Flitton did not back down:
"You falsely allege we have no evidence that noncitizens cast ballots on the presidential primary when I have pointed out to you such evidence directly from the DC Board of Elections. Incredible dishonesty.
Flitton said he stands by Judicial Watch's headlines and story, which he said are based on a voter spreadsheet election officials shared with Judicial Watch:
"The DC Board of Elections has provided no documents to Judicial Watch showing that non-citizens only vote in local elections."
The Board of Elections' website includes a public document that describes in detail non-citizens' voting rights, which are restricted to local elections.
The DCBOE website (archived here) contains sample ballots and Lead Stories selected the Democratic ballot for Wards 1, 3, 5, 6 and L that shows it does not contain a place to vote for a federal candidate, only an "At large member of the council for the District of Columbia," as this screenshot shows:
(Source: DCBOE screenshot taken on Fri Aug 9 16:38:13 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories selected the Republican ballot for Wards 1, 3, 5, 6 and L that shows it does not contain a place to vote for a federal candidate, only an "At large member of the council for the District of Columbia," as this screenshot shows:
(Source: DCBOE screenshot taken on Fri Aug 9 16:40:21 2024 UTC)
As the Judicial Watch article noted, non-citizens can vote in local elections in the District of Columbia. The DCBOE website (archived here) states:
Starting in 2024, qualified non-citizen District of Columbia residents may vote in local elections, per the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022.
The same Excel spreadsheet that Judicial Watch references obtaining with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was given to Lead Stories by the DCBOE via email on August 9, 2024. The information included name, address, registration date, party, precinct, voter status, citizenship status and a column titled, "2024 Presidential Primary Election (Jun/04/2024)." This "indicates voting status for the June 2024 Primary Election," Graham told Lead Stories, reiterating, "Non-citizen ballots do not contain federal races."
Other Lead Stories fact checks about the 2020 election can be found here.
