A US Census Report on Noncitizen Voting Used Bad Data to Reach Faulty Conclusions

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Published: 2026-09-09T10:10:25.772Z • Permanent link

US Census Bureau Director, Jason A. Furman, has been touting a recent report on noncitizen voting, claiming that it reveals a significant number of noncitizens cast ballots in the 2020 US presidential election. However, a thorough examination of the report's methodology and data reveals substantial flaws in its analysis. WIRED's investigation has uncovered the identity of several of the authors, including a one-time affiliate of the popular cryptocurrency DOGE.

One of the key contributors to the report was a data scientist at the US Census Bureau, who has since left the organization. According to internal documents, this scientist had previously worked on a data analysis project for the cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, and had also invested in DOGE. This raises serious questions about the objectivity of the report and the potential for bias in the data used to inform its conclusions.

The report itself relies heavily on data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS), which is a survey of the US population conducted every year. However, WIRED has found that the ACS data used in the report contains errors and inconsistencies, which were not properly accounted for in the analysis. For example, the survey incorrectly classifies some individuals as noncitizens when they are actually US-born citizens of immigrant parents.

The report's flaws have significant implications for the Data Sources domain, which relies on accurate and reliable data to inform its conclusions. Companies that provide data analytics services to the Census Bureau, such as the market research firm, Nielsen, could be affected by the report's errors. Research communities that rely on the ACS data to inform their studies may also be impacted, as the report's findings could be used to support or challenge existing research.

Furthermore, the report's errors could have real-world consequences for policy environments that rely on data-driven decision making. For example, the report's claims about noncitizen voting could be used to inform policies aimed at reducing voter fraud, which could have unintended consequences for legitimate voters. In contrast, accurate data on noncitizen voting could be used to inform more targeted and effective policies aimed at reducing voter suppression.

The report's flaws are not an isolated incident, but rather part of a larger pattern of errors and inconsistencies in the data used to inform policy decisions. For example, the ACS data has been criticized for its sampling methodology, which can result in biased and inaccurate estimates of demographic characteristics. Additionally, the Census Bureau's data has been used to inform policies aimed at reducing immigration, despite evidence that immigration has a positive impact on the US economy.