Maricopa County Recorder Exposes 60 Non-Citizen Voters Amid DHS Secretary Noem’s Scathing Rebuke of Arizona’s Election Failures

Following DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s scathing rebuke of Arizona’s election security and failures, Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap announced Friday that his office has identified 60 non-U.S. citizens who illegally cast ballots in prior county elections, using a newly expanded federal database to verify voter eligibility. The findings, part of a broader citizenship audit prompted by ongoing disputes over voter registration processes, come on the heels of a fiery press conference by Secretary Noem, who lambasted Arizona’s election infrastructure as an “absolute disaster” and the nation’s worst offender in securing the ballot box. 

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Heap’s office, tasked with maintaining voter rolls for Arizona’s most populous county, conducted the review of 61,681 registrations flagged under the state’s “MVD-DPOC” protocol—a contentious system requiring documentary proof of citizenship for those registering via the Motor Vehicle Division. Leveraging the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, recently bolstered by DHS under Noem’s leadership, officials confirmed U.S. citizenship for 58,782 individuals, swiftly updating their records to restore full ballot access for upcoming elections.

Yet the audit unearthed a troubling reality: 137 registered voters lacking citizenship status, including the 60 who had previously voted—potentially tipping the scales in razor-thin races. “Our office extends its appreciation to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem for expanding access to the SAVE database,” Heap’s team stated in a release. “We look forward to continued collaboration to ensure election integrity and that only eligible citizens participate in Maricopa County elections.”  The non-citizen voters have been referred to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell for investigation and prosecution, marking a stark departure from previous dismissals of such concerns as “bogus” by former Recorder Stephen Richer. 

🚨 NON-CITIZENS VOTING IN ARIZONA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Using the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE database the Maricopa County Recorder's Office has identified 60 non-citizens who previously voted in Maricopa County elections.

As part of an effort to confirm full… pic.twitter.com/OhPSoh60Pr

— Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap (@azjustinheap) February 14, 2026

Just hours before Heap’s disclosure, Noem unleashed a torrent of criticism during a press event billed as a clarion call for federal intervention in state-level election woes. “I hope that you do recognize in the past that your state has been an absolute disaster on elections. Your leaders have failed you dramatically by not having systems that work, by disenfranchising Americans who wanted to vote that stood in lines for hours because machines failed or software failed.” 

Noem reserved her sharpest barbs for Arizona’s track record, positioning it as ground zero for national scrutiny. “No state could use more improvement than Arizona,” she asserted, echoing long-standing criticism over the state’s 2020 and 2022 election controversies, including machine malfunctions, ballot mishandling, and unverified registrations amid surging border crossings and Democrat-aligned “nonprofit” voter registration drives.

At the heart of Noem’s remarks was a pitch for the SAVE America Act (H.B. 22), a House-passed bill now languishing in the Senate that would mandate documentary proof of citizenship for federal voter registration, sealing loopholes in the National Voter Registration Act. “The Save America Act would fix this,” Noem explained. “It would make sure that we close those loopholes and that we ensure in American elections, only Americans vote.” Polling, she noted, shows 84 percent public support for such commonsense reforms—yet critics, including Democratic officials like Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, decry them as “absurd” barriers to participation. 

Arizona already requires DPOC and Voter ID, responsibly uses the SAVE system and we clean our voter rolls with ERIC.

Secretary Noem’s grandstanding about the integrity of Arizona’s elections is spreading misinformation. In fact, legislative Republican efforts to limit early… pic.twitter.com/h6JDZ2y8vB

— Arizona Secretary of State (@AZSecretary) February 13, 2026

Secretary Noem framed elections as “critical infrastructure” under federal purview—a nod to why her agency is wading into state affairs. “For 250 years, it’s been our American duty to maintain our Republic, and to make sure that our elections are secure,” she stated. “Republics depend on the confidence of their citizens—that when they vote, that their vote matters.”  No formal announcements related to investigations have emerged from the event, but the subtext was clear: a warning shot to “corrupt” officials that federal scrutiny is ramping up. The day before, Kari Lake maintained that “Arizona is at the root of the corruption.”

Arizona is at the root of the corruption.
Arizona is the deepest of the deep state.
Arizona has a puppet government in place.
Cartels, CIA, mafia—all of it is present in our beautiful State 48. https://t.co/72vmXoO54T

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) February 13, 2026

Heap’s findings and Noem’s critiques amplify ongoing election concerns: Non-citizen voting, fueled by lax border policies and outdated registration rules, erodes the public’s trust. In Maricopa—home to the 2022 midterm’s infamous attorney general race—that ushered in the first Democrat Attorney General in Arizona in nearly two decades.

Final certified tally of the 2022 midterm election for Attorney General (after automatic recount, announced December 29, 2022):

• Kris Mayes (D): 1,254,613 votes (50.01%)
• Abraham Hamadeh (R): 1,254,102 votes (49.99%)

Mayes won by a razor-thin margin of 280 votes (0.01%), making it the closest statewide election in the U.S. in 2022 and one of the narrowest in Arizona history.

Heap’s office vows ongoing SAVE audits to clean state voter rolls, while Noem’s team eyes Senate passage of the SAVE Act before midterms. In the words of the secretary: These measures “build trust into the system.”