United States – On Wednesday the Republican controlled U. S. House of Representatives is likely to vote on a bill that outlaws non-citizens voting in federal elections. This practice is already unlawful but has been taken to the next level by the then US President Donald Trump’s fraud claims.
Support from House Republicans for the Bill
In less than four months before Trump’s November 5 election face off with Democratic President Joe Biden, some of the House Republicans, including the Speaker Mike Johnson, have supported the bill. They opine that voters, who sneak through the Mexican border, could influence the outcome of the presidential and the congressional elections of the current year, according to Reuters.
False Claims from Speaker Mike Johnson
On Tuesday, Johnson falsely stated that Democrats support non-citizens voting. “Many of the Democrats want all of these illegals to participate in our federal elections. They want them to vote,” he said at a news conference.
The bill is viewed as dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate and has been condemned by Democrats as a publicity stunt meant to sow confusion and distrust, and voter suppression. As one can presume it, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N. Y. ) stated, Republicans want to undermine people’s trust in the election system. Democratic legislator Teresa Leger Fernandez wrote the bill would erode the voting rights of U. S. citizen, servicemen and women, Indigenous peoples, people of color, and rural persons.
Trump’s Support for the Legislation
The legislation was introduced in April by Johnson, together with the support of Trump at a joint press conference in Florida. The bill is being backed by Trump, who insisted on the handing of the 2020 presidential election.
Republican Justifications and Cited Data
Republicans argue the legislation would protect voting integrity by requiring states to verify U.S. citizenship before voter registration and cleaning voter lists demographically. They cite data indicating some states have registered non-citizens to vote and point to municipalities like New York City, Washington, D.C., and Montpelier, Vermont, which allow resident aliens to vote in certain elections. They also reference a discredited 2014 survey suggesting noncitizen voting could flip elections, as reported by Reuters.
Expert Opinion on Non-Citizen Voting
“This is a scare tactic,” said Wendy Weiser, director of democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. She emphasized that non-citizens do not have the right to vote in U.S. elections and measures are in place to prevent it. The Brennan Center study of the 2016 presidential election found only 30 possible cases of non-citizen voting out of 23.5 million votes, representing 0.0001% of the votes cast.