I’ve got a question for you this morning.
And it’s a pretty simple one.
What happens when the government spends more time trying to find people who shouldn’t be voting than encouraging people who should be voting?
Think about that for a minute.
Because that’s exactly the conversation we need to be having in America right now.
President Donald Trump has been telling us for years that our elections are being corrupted by millions of illegal voters.
Millions!
People crossing the border, registering to vote, showing up at polling places, and somehow determining the outcome of American elections.
It’s a pretty frightening story.
There’s just one little problem.
Where’s the evidence?
Because somebody finally went looking.
And what they found is absolutely fascinating.
The New York Times examined records of noncitizen voting prosecutions across America, going back to 2020.
And here’s what they discovered.
In recent elections, no state had more than 25 people charged with noncitizen voting in a single election.
Twenty-five!
Not 25,000.
Not 250,000.
Twenty-five.
Now, don’t misunderstand me.
If somebody votes illegally, they should be held accountable.
Absolutely.
But there’s an enormous difference between enforcing election laws and convincing 330 million Americans that their entire democracy is being stolen.
And that’s where this story gets interesting.
Let me give you a few examples.
In Nevada, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it had identified nearly 16,000 noncitizens registered to vote.
Sixteen thousand!
That sounds pretty serious, doesn’t it?
Well, eventually, federal officials provided the state with a list of 185 names.
And Nevada investigated.
Guess what?
Every single one of those 185 people was an American citizen.
Every one!
Now, how does that happen?
How do you go from announcing 16,000 suspected noncitizens to providing 185 names that turn out to be citizens?
That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of your investigative techniques.
That’s like calling the fire department because you think your house is burning down, and discovering somebody left the porch light on.
And then there’s Georgia.
Federal officials claimed they had identified more than 2,500 noncitizen voters.
The state investigated and determined that no more than 150 of those individuals had voted.
Now, that doesn’t establish that those 150 votes were illegal.
But it does demonstrate something important.
An accusation is not evidence.
And a name on a government spreadsheet is not proof of a crime.
Then we get to New Jersey.
Now, New Jersey actually had a problem.
A software error at the motor vehicle department improperly registered as many as 6,600 noncitizens.
Approximately 340 of those individuals reportedly voted.
That’s serious.
And it needs to be investigated, corrected, and prevented from happening again.
But here’s the interesting part.
The Department of Homeland Security had claimed to identify more than 35,000 noncitizens in New Jersey.
Thirty-five thousand!
And the documented registration error involved a much smaller number.
You see the pattern?
Big announcement.
Big scary number.
Investigation.
Much smaller number.
Sometimes practically nothing.
And yet the original accusation gets repeated over and over again.
Now, here’s another fascinating statistic.
Since President Trump returned to office in 2025, federal prosecutors have charged 131 people with illegally registering or voting as noncitizens.
Of those, 25 have been found guilty or pleaded guilty.
Most of the remaining cases are still pending.
Now, let’s put that into perspective.
More than 150 million Americans voted in the 2024 presidential election.
And we’re talking about federal charges against 131 individuals across multiple elections and jurisdictions since 2025.
Those aren’t directly comparable numbers, and prosecutions don’t capture every illegal vote.
But they certainly don’t support claims of millions of fraudulent ballots.
And here’s something else.
The conservative Heritage Foundation identified 71 criminal convictions for noncitizen voting nationwide over a 25-year period ending in 2025.
Seventy-one.
In 25 years!
Now, I’m 69 years old.
I’ve been around long enough to recognize when somebody is trying to sell me something.
And what we’re being sold here is fear.
Fear that our elections aren’t legitimate.
Fear that our neighbors are cheating.
Fear that democracy itself can’t be trusted.
And fear is a powerful political tool.
Because when people are afraid, they’re more willing to accept extraordinary measures.
More investigations.
More government surveillance.
More restrictions.
And potentially more obstacles between eligible Americans and the ballot box.
Now, let me tell you something.
I’ve been traveling around Greensboro talking to people.
I’m in the middle of a project to interview a thousand residents.
And I’ve learned something remarkable.
Most people aren’t sitting around worrying about noncitizens voting.
They’re worried about paying their rent.
They’re worried about buying groceries.
They’re worried about healthcare.
They’re worried about whether their children can afford a home.
They’re worried about whether their neighborhoods are safe.
And they’re worried about whether anybody in government is actually listening to them.
Those are the conversations I’m having.
Every single day.
And it brings me back to something I’ve been talking about through the Truth Party.
Voter participation.
We have millions of Americans who are legally entitled to vote but don’t participate.
Millions!
Some are disengaged.
Some don’t trust politicians.
Some don’t understand the process.
Some have trouble getting transportation to the polls.
And some simply believe their vote doesn’t matter.
Now, imagine something for a moment.
Imagine if we took the energy we’re spending chasing exaggerated claims of voter fraud and devoted an equal amount of energy to getting eligible Americans involved in democracy.
Imagine helping every eligible 18-year-old register to vote.
Imagine making sure every senior citizen who needs transportation can get to a polling place.
Imagine teaching young people how local government actually works.
Imagine neighborhoods organizing to make sure everybody understands the issues and knows when and where to vote.
Imagine making civic participation something we celebrate instead of something we fear.
And here’s the beautiful thing.
We don’t have to sacrifice election security to accomplish any of that.
We can have both.
Accurate voter rolls.
Secure elections.
Accountability for actual fraud.
And maximum participation by eligible citizens.
Those aren’t competing goals.
They’re complementary goals.
And they ought to be supported by Republicans, Democrats, independents, and everybody else.
Because democracy doesn’t belong to a political party.
It belongs to the American people.
Now, I’m going to say something that might surprise you.
I don’t care whether you vote Republican.
I don’t care whether you vote Democrat.
I don’t care whether you’re conservative, liberal, or somewhere in between.
I want you to participate.
I want you to understand what’s happening.
I want you to ask questions.
And most importantly, I want you to demand evidence when politicians make extraordinary claims.
Because that’s how democracy is supposed to work.
Not through fear.
Not through conspiracy theories.
Not through accusations that fall apart when somebody checks the facts.
Through participation.
Through accountability.
Through truth.
And here’s my final thought.
If we really want to protect American elections, maybe we should spend a little less time convincing Americans that their votes are being stolen and a little more time convincing them that their votes matter.
Because they do.
Every legitimate vote matters.
Every eligible citizen matters.
And every American deserves a government that tells them the truth.
You know what the greatest threat to democracy might be?
Not the handful of people who vote illegally.
But the millions of eligible Americans who have stopped believing their participation makes a difference.
And that’s something we can actually do something about.
Register.
Get informed.
Get involved.
Help somebody else participate.
And vote.
Because democracy isn’t a spectator sport.
It’s time to turn spectators into citizens.
I’m John Eagleton.
And that’s what the Truth Party is all about.
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