Conservative organizations recently accessed the unredacted voter registration records of an undocumented immigrant who previously served as the superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district.
Tom Jones, Director of the American Accountability Foundation, stated that “The record shows what we all know: Maryland is not taking the issue of noncitizens on its voter rolls seriously. Unfortunately, there are likely many more noncitizens registered to vote in Maryland.”
The Prince George’s County, Maryland, Board of Elections shared Ian Andre Roberts’ complete voter registration documents with the conservative legal organization Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections and the American Accountability Foundation. This followed the earlier release of documents with redactions concerning Roberts’ citizenship status.
According to RITE, the documents “show that Mr. Roberts claimed his American citizenship on his voter registration application and that Maryland election officials accepted that claim.”
Reports indicate that Roberts, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1994, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement while serving as the superintendent of the Des Moines Public School District. Previous coverage noted that he lacked a valid work permit, which had expired in 2020.
The revelation of an undocumented individual in such a prominent educational role surprised many, especially as further scrutiny revealed his lengthy criminal history in the U.S. Investigations also uncovered that Roberts was registered as a Democratic voter in Maryland, where he had resided before.
However, the Maryland State Board of Elections asserted that Roberts did not participate in any elections.
“This situation highlights precisely why Congress established the NVRA’s disclosure requirements,” remarked Justin Reamer, CEO and Chairman of RITE. “Once these records were released, it became evident just how inadequate Maryland’s protections are. Sadly, this issue is prevalent across the nation, and federal regulations do little to stop noncitizens from registering to vote.”
