PA’s Top Election Official Responds to Federal Threat Of Charges Over Noncitizen Voters

This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.

By Carter Walker, Votebeat

Pennsylvania’s top election official, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, gave no indication the state would be changing any policies or practices in response to a letter from President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice warning Schmidt could face criminal prosecution.

Last week, the Justice Department sent letters to all 50 states warning that their chief election officials could be criminally charged if they knowingly allow noncitizens to vote or be registered to vote.

In a response sent Monday, Schmidt told the Justice Department that he takes the prospect of ineligible voters seriously. But he gave no indication the Pennsylvania Department of State would make any changes to the administration of the 2026 election and noted that it is actually local officials who are in charge of maintaining the voter rolls.

“Be assured that these dedicated local officials, as well as our employees who serve at the Department of State, work tirelessly to ensure that Pennsylvania’s voter rolls are accurately maintained,” Schmidt’s letter said. “Furthermore, be assured that the Department refers instances of suspected voter fraud to our state and federal law enforcement partners, and we encourage our county election officials to do the same.”

The letter said that Schmidt’s department already works closely with the Justice Department, highlighting its cooperation in the investigation of an accused noncitizen voter who was charged criminally earlier this year. It also referred the Justice Department to the state’s most recent report on voter registration, which shows that, in 2025, the state sent more than 400,000 notifications to voters in an effort to update information on the voter rolls and that more than 300,000 registrations were canceled, including 120 for people who were ineligible to vote.

Schmidt himself also has a personal history with the issue of noncitizen voting. As a city commissioner in Philadelphia in the 2010s, he uncovered hundreds of noncitizens who had registered to vote and cast ballots in Philadelphia due to an issue in the state’s motor voter registration system, which was fixed after the discovery.

The Pennsylvania Department of State and Trump administration were already at odds prior to the latest round of letters. Since last year, the Justice Department has been seeking a copy of Pennsylvania’s voter roll that contains driver’s license and partial Social Security numbers, which it says it needs to ensure Pennsylvania is complying with federal law.

The Department of State declined to provide that information, citing privacy concerns, and the Justice Department sued. A federal judge recently ruled that the Trump administration didn’t have grounds to seek the information, though it is appealing that ruling.

Gov. Josh Shapiro also recently joined a coalition of states suing the administration over Trump’s March executive order on mail voting, which would have required the state to submit lists of voters who requested a mail ballot to the U.S. Postal Service and then only allow the Postal Service to send ballots to those voters. A federal judge recently paused that order from going into effect.

Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at cwalker@votebeat.org.