CRANBERRY TWP — There are more than 11,000 foreign noncitizens illegally registered to vote in Pennsylvania, according to Pennsylvania Department of State data demanded in a legal action by state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, who says the real number of ineligible voters might be much higher.

“Approximately 11,198 illegally registered to vote foreign nationals were confirmed when the Pennsylvania Department of State and the Wolf administration finally decided to withdraw its obstructive appeal against disclosing this information in December 2018,” said Metcalfe in a news release issued Tuesday.

Information from the Department of State confirmed that about 11,198 noncitizens had been registered to vote in Pennsylvania, according to Metcalfe's release.

Metcalfe, R-12th, was chairman of the House State Government Committee when he filed the request in 2017 after revelations that an issue with software at PennDOT was offering noncitizens the option to register to vote. Secretary of State Pedro Cortes resigned shortly afterward. A subsequent Freedom of Information Act request by the Philadelphia Inquirer prompted the release of documents by the Wolf administration which indicated that Cortes was fired.

Metcalfe's request was at first partially granted by the Office of Open Records, but the Department of State appealed that decision in February 2018.

Last month, the department informed Metcalfe that it would withdraw the appeal. In early January, the department sent Metcalfe a letter with data “which is responsive to the 11,198 record matches indicating the possible total of non-citizen voter registrations” and promised to deliver the rest of the requested records within 30 days of the court's receipt of the appeal's withdrawal.

Before Metcalfe's official legislative inquiries, J. Christian Adams and the Public Interest Legal Foundation filed a complaint in federal district court, Middle District of Pennsylvania, seeking to compel the Department of State to permit inspection and duplication of records concerning programs and activities to ensure the accuracy and currency of voter registration lists.

In the complaint, Adams and the foundation cited testimony from Philadelphia City election Commissioner Al Schmidt indicating that a record match involving PennDOT records and voter registration records revealed more than 100,000 matches, meaning that more than 100,000 noncitizens were illegally registered to vote through the PennDOT loophole, according to Metcalfe's release.

Attempts to reach the governor's office and Department of State on Tuesday night were not successful.