Republicans are pushing legislation to crack down on voting by noncitizens, an extremely rare occurrence that is already illegal in federal elections. This move reinforces former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to delegitimize the 2024 election results if he loses. They plan to vote on a bill that would roll back a District of Columbia law allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections and are proposing another measure that would require states to obtain proof of citizenship when registering someone to vote. Despite having virtually no chance of becoming law, these bills amplify the groundless narrative that Democrats are purposely allowing migrants to stream into the United States to dilute the voting power of American citizens and secure electoral victories for themselves.
Recent claims made by Speaker Mike Johnson about the threat of noncitizens and illegal aliens voting in American elections have been challenged due to lack of evidence. Estimates of noncitizens voting in federal elections are known to be exceedingly low, with nationwide surveys showing only about 30 suspected cases in the 2016 election. Fears of noncitizens voting have existed since the 1800s, but have heightened during the Trump era. Following the 2020 election, Trump and his allies largely avoided the topic of noncitizen voting as they pushed to overturn election results through other means, including conspiracy theories regarding mail-in voting and voting machines.
Republicans argue that the likelihood of illegal voting by noncitizens has increased due to a surge in undocumented immigrants and that even a small number of illegal votes could influence a presidential election. Legislation proposed by Representative August Pfluger would repeal a D.C. law allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections, and another bill by Representative Chip Roy would require proof of citizenship in person when registering to vote. Democrats argue that these requirements would make it harder for citizens to vote and would serve as a form of voter suppression.
Democrats contend that the proposed legislation by Republicans, requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote, would disproportionately impact Americans who may not readily have access to documents such as birth certificates or passports. Nearly 40% of the adult voting population did not cast a ballot in the last presidential election, and Democrats argue that adding more roadblocks to the voting process would further suppress voter turnout. Despite claims by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger supporting a ban on noncitizen voting, experts suggest that cases of noncitizens voting in federal elections are extremely rare and that the current policies in place are effective in preventing it.
David Becker, the director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, believes that Republican efforts to crack down on noncitizen voting may have ulterior motives, such as preparing the public for claims of election theft if their preferred candidate loses. Becker notes that the likelihood of noncitizens risking their status to cast a single ballot in a national election is implausible, and that existing federal and state policies are already effective in preventing such occurrences. Despite these claims and challenges, Republicans continue to press forward with legislation aimed at addressing noncitizen voting in American elections.
