As founder of the Pigpen Project to clean up Nevada’s dirty voter rolls, I know a little something about the subject.
Let’s start with an easy one: ICE is not involved in cleaning up the voter rolls.
That’s why I nearly spit out my coffee when I saw a new campaign mailer from Nevada State Senate candidate Laz Chavez.
The mailer states: “We need ICE to help keep our elections secure.”
Chavez then declares that he “will work directly with ICE to clean up the voter rolls.”
He then claims he’s the guy who will “pass the SAVE Nevada Act and remove all ineligible noncitizens from our voter rolls.”
Um, hold on a second.
That sounds tough. It sounds like someone cracking down on election fraud. But there’s one small problem…
It’s not how the system works. Not even close.
In addition, there is no “SAVE Nevada Act.”
There’s a SAVE America Act currently pending in Congress, but no Nevada version. How do you get something like that wrong?
Chavez and/or his consultants are either confused or intentionally spreading “fake news.”
Who Actually Maintains the Voter Rolls
Under federal law and Nevada law, voter rolls are maintained by state and local election officials. Period.
County clerks and election departments handle the work. They compare voter registration lists with things like DMV records, death records, and change-of-address data.
Sometimes they use multi-state tools that help states share voter data.
But federal immigration agents? They’re not in the process.
The National Voter Registration Act makes it very clear that states handle voter list maintenance. Not ICE. Not federal law enforcement.
The Federal Database People Confuse
Now, there is one federal database that sometimes gets mentioned in this conversation.
It’s called the SAVE system. That stands for Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements.
It’s run by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services inside the Department of Homeland Security.
States can sometimes use SAVE to check immigration status when verifying eligibility for certain programs.
Recently, the federal government expanded the ability for states to run bulk checks of voter data through that system.
But even then, the state still makes the decisions.
Election officials review the information. They decide whether a voter record needs further investigation.
And here’s the key point. SAVE is run by USCIS. Not ICE.
Where ICE Actually Comes In
ICE might become involved later if there is a criminal investigation tied to immigration violations.
For example, if federal authorities believe someone knowingly registered to vote illegally, that information could eventually reach Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of ICE.
But that happens after the fact.
ICE does not log into voter databases. ICE does not scrub voter rolls. ICE does not run election administration.
Even the Department of Homeland Security has warned that claims about ICE operating around polling places are misinformation.
So What’s Going On Here?
There are a few possibilities.
First, Laz Chavez might simply not understand how voter roll maintenance works.
That would be concerning for someone running for the state Senate. Election law is not exactly a minor issue in Nevada politics these days.
Second possibility.
He knows better but is using tough-sounding language because it polls well with voters worried about election integrity.
That would be misleading.
Third possibility.
His consultants told him to say it.
If that’s the case, they either don’t know what they’re talking about or they think Nevada voters won’t notice what amounts to political “stolen valor.”
Election Integrity Deserves Better
Conservatives absolutely should care about clean voter rolls.
I’ve spent years working on the issue through the Pigpen Project.
Nevada’s voter database has had real problems. Dead voters. Duplicate registrations. Out-of-date records.
Those are serious issues.
But fixing them requires real policy, real data, and real understanding of how election systems work. Not campaign slogans.
If you’re running for office and promising to clean up the voter rolls, great. That’s a worthy goal.
But step one should probably be learning who actually does the job.
Because right now, Laz Chavez’s mailer sounds tough. It’s just not accurate. And when it comes to election integrity, accuracy matters.
And as a final note…
If you’re a Republican voter in Senate District 8 who’s interested in election integrity, Chavez’s GOP primary opponent, George Harris, was an early financial supporter of the Pigpen Project three years ago.
Chavez is, at best, a johnny-come-lately on this important issue. And he knows nothing about it. This is just a cheap campaign ploy trying to trick voters into believing he does.
Harris, on the other hand, has walked the election integrity walk. Voters should remember that in the voting booth.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. Digital technology was used in the research, writing, and production of this article. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
