A recent state audit has discovered that there are fewer than one noncitizen for every 400,000 registered voters in Georgia. This finding was announced on Wednesday by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during a press briefing. The audit revealed only 20 noncitizens among over 8.2 million registered voters.

Raffensperger stated, “This represents the most extensive citizenship verification conducted in Georgia’s history, if not in the entire United States.”

According to Raffensperger, the registrations of all 20 noncitizens have been canceled, and they are now under review for possible criminal charges.

These individuals were identified through affidavits they filed to excuse themselves from jury duty, as noted by Gabriel Sterling, who is the chief operating officer in Raffensperger’s office and also spoke at the press conference.

Sterling added that the audit indicates that noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare, countering claims from some Republicans who have suggested that noncitizens could fraudulently participate in the elections on November 5.

“If just 1 out of 100 undocumented individuals voted, it could lead to potentially hundreds of thousands of votes in an election,” commented House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson alongside former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in April.

The results of the Georgia audit align with previous research that has consistently shown only a minuscule number of instances where noncitizen voting has occurred. A study by the Brennan Center for Justice analyzing 42 jurisdictions during the 2016 general election found merely 30 suspected cases of noncitizen voting referred for inquiry or prosecution out of 23.5 million votes cast.

“The reason the Secretary mandated this noncitizenship audit is to demonstrate to people that, although there are means by which some could theoretically register, it is exceedingly uncommon,” said Sterling.

Raffensperger, who notably resisted former President Donald Trump’s request to “find” nearly 12,000 votes to reverse President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020, indicated his intention to carry out a detailed citizenship audit annually.

As a key battleground state, Georgia is facing another tight race this year, with Raffensperger again opposing some fellow Republicans regarding election procedures.

He has voiced concerns about a series of last-minute changes in election rules made by the GOP-led Georgia State Election Board, which have occasionally proceeded despite warnings from Georgia’s Republican Attorney General Chris Carr regarding their legality. This month, state judges have paused or overturned several of these rules.