Maryland officials face Congressional scrutiny over voter fraud case

Exclusive: Maryland’s top elections officials are facing renewed scrutiny from Republicans in congress after the state’s elections director refused to provide specific answers about the state’s voter rolls after it was discovered that an illegal immigrant working as a superintendent of a massive school system in Iowa was fraudulently registered to vote in Maryland, Fox News Digital has learned.

“Maryland’s chief elections official failed to provide complete answers, leaving serious concerns unresolved — chief among them whether Ian Roberts received a live ballot at all and whether the state implemented new citizenship verification protocols after this shocking report,” Wisconsin Republican Rep. Brian Steele exclusively told Fox News Digital Wednesday.

He continued: “This case underscores the urgent need for stronger citizenship verification requirements when registering to vote — something President Trump emphasized just yesterday in his meeting with House lawmakers.” “The committee’s investigation will continue.”

Steele is chairman of the House Committee on House Administration. He and Vice President Laurel Lee, Republican of Florida, sent a letter to Maryland State Board of Elections Director Jared Demarinis in December 2025, demanding answers regarding illegal immigrant Ian Andre Roberts registering to vote in the state despite not having U.S. citizenship. Roberts is originally from Guyana with ties to the United States dating back to the 1990s.

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The House Administration Committee oversees the operations and oversight of the House of Representatives and 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 voted in Maryland before? If so, what elections has he participated in?” “Did Mr. Roberts mail in an absentee ballot? If so, in what election?” and “How does the State Board of Elections fulfill its obligations under 52 USC §20507 to conduct a public 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 undocumented immigrant who was later arrested by ICE, was mailed an absentee ballot or remained registered to vote.

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“While no voter should be on Maryland’s voter rolls if he or she is not a U.S. citizen, being on the voter rolls does not constitute a vote in the election. This is an important distinction as we investigate potential irregularities and potential prosecution,” DeMarinis wrote in the response letter dated Monday.

House Administration Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Steele, R-Wisconsin, speaks at a news conference surrounded by fellow Reps. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., and Stephanie Pace, R-Oklahoma, in Marietta, Georgia on Monday, July 10, 2023. (House Management Committee)

Maryland’s elections director acknowledged the House Administration Committee’s questions specifically regarding Roberts, but was unable to provide definitive information.

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“With respect to the committee’s questions regarding Ian Andre Roberts, SBE does not and cannot confirm that a voter’s identity matches another voter’s record in another state, based solely on publicly available information,” he wrote. “Even in other states, such as in Maryland, public information regarding these voter searches is limited in order to protect personally identifiable information (PII) from disclosure. Public voter search tools are not designed to perform voter list maintenance procedures. Therefore, SBE will not confirm whether or not the individual in question is a registered voter or has been or has been a registered voter.”

He added that Maryland’s public voting history had not yielded findings that “any individual named Ian Andre Roberts in Maryland” had a voting history in the blue state.

“The Maryland State Board of Elections dropped the ball,” Matt Morgan, a Republican state delegate from Maryland and president of the Maryland Freedom Caucus, told Fox Digital on Wednesday.

“By failing to comply with the basic data request, they are raising suspicions,” he added. “Their primary mission is to prove that our elections are secure and accessible to citizens, yet they have chosen secrecy over transparency. If there was nothing to hide, why did they withhold the data? It is time for SBE to stop dodging questions and start providing answers.”

Roberts’ own voter registration documents have faced intense scrutiny from conservatives, including when the Maryland County Board of Registration elections It released redacted versions of the files in November that redacted how Roberts answered the citizenship question.

The photo appears at the polls on Election Day. (Paul Richards/AFP via Getty Images)

The revisions “to the original release of the voter register were made through redactions applied to general requests for information under the Maryland Public Information Law, rather than to requests specifically for the voter register,” Demarinis said.

“Once this was achieved, a corrected record was produced. The redacted information was redacted in accordance with state and federal laws that allow certain voter information to be redacted. Federal law requires the source of voter registration to be redacted,” he said, referring to an updated version of documents that showed Roberts reported being a US citizen on his voter application.

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Roberts was 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’ teaching license after his arrest and he no longer serves as the district’s commander-in-chief.

Republicans say that registering illegal immigrant Ian Andre Roberts to vote in Maryland raises serious concerns about voting operations in the state. (Keith Srakoch/AP Photo and ICE)

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

Federal officials previously said that these charges are the latest in a long list of accusations dating back to 1996.

“Finally, 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 provided for by the Constitution, shall have the right to vote,’” DeMarinis concluded his letter.

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