Maryland dodges specifics in illegal immigrant voter-roll case as Congress vows to keep digging

EXCLUSIVE: Maryland's top election officials are facing renewed scrutiny from Congressional Republicans after the state's administrator of elections declined to provide definitive answers concerning the state's voter rolls after it was discovered an illegal immigrant serving as a superintendent of a massive school system in Iowa was allegedly fraudulently registered to vote in Maryland, Fox News Digital learned. 

"Maryland's chief elections official failed to provide complete answers, leaving serious concerns unresolved - chiefly whether Ian Roberts ever received a live ballot and whether the State has implemented new protocols to verify citizenship after this bombshell report," Republican Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil exclusively told Fox News Digital Wednesday. 

"This case underscores the urgent need for stronger citizenship verification requirements when registering to vote - which was reaffirmed by President Trump just yesterday in his meeting with House lawmakers," he continued. "The Committee's investigation will continue."

Steil is the chair of the House Committee on House Administration. He and Vice Chair Laurel Lee, R-Fla., sent a letter to Maryland State Board of Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis in December 2025, demanding answers regarding illegal immigrant Ian Andre Roberts' registration to vote in the state despite not holding U.S. citizenship. Roberts is originally from Guyana with ties to the U.S. going back to the 1990s. 

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The House Administration Committee oversees House operations and oversight and also is charged with considering proposals to amend federal election law. 

The committee pressed for answers to questions such as: "Is Roberts still a registered voter in Maryland?;" "Has Mr. Roberts ever voted in Maryland? If yes, what election(s) did he participate in?;" "Was Mr. Roberts ever mailed an absentee ballot? If yes, for which election(s)?" and "How does the State Board of Elections fulfill their obligations under 52 U.S.C. §20507 to conduct a general program to remove ineligible voters from the rolls?"

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained DeMarinis' response letter to the House Committee on House Administration, which defended the state's voter registration system but stopped short of confirming whether Roberts, an illegal immigrant later arrested by ICE, was ever mailed an absentee ballot or remains registered to vote. 

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"While no voter should be on the Maryland voter rolls if they are not a citizen of the United States, being on the voter rolls does not equate to having voted in an election. This is an important distinction as we investigate potential illegalities and potential prosecution," DeMarinis wrote in the response letter dated Monday. 

The Maryland State Administrator of Elections did acknowledge the House Administration Committee's questions specifically as they relate to Roberts but could not offer definitive information. 

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"Regarding the Committee's questions concerning Ian Andre Roberts, SBE does not and cannot confirm that the identity of a voter matches that of another voter record in another state, based merely on the public facing information available," he wrote. "Even in other states, as in Maryland, public information on those voter lookups is limited in order to protect personal identifying information (PII) from disclosure. Public voter lookup tools are not designed to perform voter list maintenance procedures. Therefore, SBE will not confirm whether the individual in question is or is not or was or was not a registered voter in Maryland."

He added that public voting history in Maryland did not yield results that "any individual with the name Ian Andre Roberts in Maryland" had a voting history in the blue state. 

Maryland Republican Delegate Matt Morgan, chairman of the Maryland Freedom Caucus, told Fox Digital Wednesday that, "The Maryland State Board of Elections is dropping the ball."

"By failing to comply with a basic data request, they are fueling suspicion," he said. "Their primary job is to prove our elections are secure and restricted to citizens, yet they've chosen secrecy over transparency. If there's nothing to conceal, why withhold the data? It's time for the SBE to stop dodging questions and start providing answers."

Roberts' voter registration documents have faced intense scrutiny from conservatives, including when a Maryland county board of elections released redacted versions of the files in November that blacked out how Roberts answered the citizenship question. 

DeMarinis said the redactions of "the original production of the voter record was made with redactions applying to general requests for information under Maryland's Public information Act, rather than requests specifically for a voter record."

"Once realized, a corrected record was produced. The information redacted was redacted pursuant to State and federal laws that permit withholding of certain voter information. Federal law requires the redaction of source of voter registration," he said, referring to an updated release of the documents that showed Roberts reported he was a U.S. citizen on his voter application. 

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Roberts served as superintendent of the Des Moines school district, the largest school district in Iowa, at the time of his arrest in October. The state revoked Roberts' education license following his arrest, and he is no longer serving as the district's top leader. 

He initially attempted to flee law enforcement officers, according to the Department of Homeland Security, and was found to be in possession of $3,000 in cash, a Glock 9 mm pistol and a hunting knife at the time of his arrest. 

The charges are his latest in a lengthy rap sheet that goes back to 1996, federal officials previously said. 

"In the end, it is important to remember as our guiding principle that as the Maryland Declaration of Rights states, 'the right of the People to participate in the Legislature is the best security of liberty and the foundation of all free Government; . . . and every citizen having the qualifications prescribed by the Constitution, ought to have the right of suffrage,'" DeMarinis concluded his letter. 

Fox News Digital reached out to DeMarinis' office Wednesday regarding Steil's comment but did not immediately receive a reply.