Fact Check: Were 30K Colorado Non-Citizens Told to Vote in Coming Midterms?

With under a month left until the November midterms, the contest is already haunted by the fear of voter fraud, a product of false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.

Recent polls suggest that this Trump-fueled conspiracy theory is still in the mind of many Americans despite the absence of credible evidence to refute President Joe Biden's victory, and efforts to combat the false narrative.

Still, it appears that these types of voter fraud claims are sprouting early roots in the midterms, weeks before voters make their way to the ballot box.

The Claim

A number of tweets posted on October 11, 2022, imply a voter fraud conspiracy was behind recent news that 30,000 non-citizens in Colorado were sent marketing material encouraging them to vote.

The tweets were accompanied by articles in The Federalist and Fox News.

One tweet stated: "This is totally illegal !!

"Definitely done under the guise of a mistake!

"Democrats aren't fooling anyone this time around!"

Actor James Woods wrote in response to the Fox News article: "And here we go again!"

The Facts

With the November midterms—a contest that could switch control of Congress and dramatically influence the shape of the 2024 presidential election—only weeks away, the stakes for American voters are high.

Registration promotions ran right up until the September 30 deadline, with voters set to cast their ballot on Tuesday, November 8.

As the largest set of American elections since the 2020 race for the White House draws nearer, the specter of baseless voter fraud claims and "stop the steal" conspiracy theories is looming large over the contest and threatening to spill beyond the results.

Such knee-jerk skepticism is evidenced by the reaction to this story, in which marketing material encouraging people to vote was sent out to many people, including those ineligible to do so.

As stated in an article by the Associated Press, while the Colorado Secretary of State's office sent 30,000 non-citizens postcards encouraging them to register to vote, none of those people would have been legally allowed to participate, even if they were guided by the postcard to do so.

The "postcard mailers" were sent due to a "database glitch", the AP reported, related to the state's list of residents with driving licenses.

However, coverage by the AP, Fox News, and The Federalist, all mention voting integrity despite the fact that the postcards were simply adverts with no legal weight.

AP points out that the penalties for voting as a non-citizen are severe, and include deportation.

Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Voting Rights Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, who spoke to AP, stated there were very few incidents of non-citizens attempting to register.

The postcards also specified basic eligibility requirements (a U.S. citizen who is at least 18 years old) to register.

In any case, the comments on social media perpetuate the false notion that the postcards had some significance or legal weight beyond being marketing material (which they don't), or that there was a conspiratorial plot behind it.

The latter narrative does not hold much water either, as the mistake was very public, was recognized by the Colorado Secretary of State, and then corrected.

Newsweek has contacted the Colorado Secretary of State for comment.

The Ruling

Misleading Material.

The tweets are based on a news story about marketing material encouraging voter registration and mistakenly distributed among people unable to vote.

The material, reportedly sent because of a computer glitch, was simply an advert. The ad reportedly specified eligibility conditions, but did not give non-voters rights to legally cast a ballot.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team