You might assume, especially in this day and age, that a Republican and a Democrat would not agree on much. While that may be true in certain political circumstances, we do agree deeply on one thing: Nevadans deserve a full accounting of what happened to their voter rolls this summer.
In July 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent a letter to Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D) claiming that as many as 15,903 noncitizens were on Nevada's voter rolls. The Department of Justice (DOJ) sent letters to election officials in all 50 states the same week, threatening criminal prosecution. The message from Washington was clear: Nevada's elections were compromised and federal action was warranted.
None of it held up.
Within weeks, DHS revised its figure from 15,903 to 185, acknowledging in a call with Nevada officials that the original number was unverified, a maximum estimate that had never been cross-checked against citizenship records. Nevada's deputy attorney general then reviewed every one of the 185 flagged voters individually. All 185 were likely U.S. citizens. The federal government's claim went from 15,903 to 185 to zero.
That result is not a political victory. It is a demonstration of how Nevada's election system is supposed to work — and does.
Nevada was not alone in receiving that letter. The DOJ sent similar correspondence to election officials across the country this cycle. What Nevada's experience demonstrates, and what we believe holds true broadly, is that the officials closest to the process are best positioned to answer questions about it.
Elections in this country are administered at the state and local level, by people who know their voters, know their systems and are accountable to the communities they serve. When a serious question was raised, Nevada's officials answered it. That is exactly how it should work, and it is exactly what happened here.
Precision matters here. We are not saying noncitizen voting is impossible. We are not saying Nevada's election infrastructure is beyond scrutiny. Elected officials and the public have every right to ask hard questions about election security.
What we are saying is that Nevada took an alarming federal claim seriously, conducted a thorough review and published what it found. That is election integrity in practice, not in theory.
Democracy Defense Foundation's polling found 58 percent of Nevada voters were already worried about noncitizen voting before the federal letters arrived. Those voters deserved a factual answer and Nevada's election officials delivered one. The review was thorough, the findings were clear and the result is now on the public record.
Nevada's election infrastructure does not operate on good faith alone. It operates on process. Applicants are cross-checked against state databases before registration is complete. Registering as a noncitizen is a crime. Signatures on mail ballots require bipartisan review, meaning one Democrat and one Republican must sign off on every single one. Chain of custody is documented at every step, from the moment a ballot is issued to the moment it is counted. These safeguards have been in place and working for years, producing results both parties have accepted and benefited from.
The Democracy Defense Foundation exists to make sure Nevadans know their elections are secure and to keep pushing for the transparency that increases the trust and confidence in Nevada's vote-counting practices and procedures.
Elections hold up only when officials follow the rules, courts enforce those same rules and the public has accurate information. All three happened in Nevada over the past few months.
The system worked as it has for decades and Nevadans should cast their ballots this election season with confidence and pride in their state's election integrity.
Brian Sandoval is a former governor of Nevada and Republican co-chair of the Democracy Defense Foundation. Richard Perkins is a former Nevada Assembly speaker and Democratic co-chair of the Democracy Defense Foundation.
