House Republicans orchestrated a clash with the D.C. City Council when they voted to overturn a new law allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections that even 52 Democrats supported.
The bill, which passed 262-143, would ban non-citizens from voting in Washington, D.C., with nearly 500 people signing the bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a press conference Wednesday that failure to pass the voting bill “certainly proves” that there are “some Democratic members of Congress who want to let illegal aliens decide elections.” I warned you that something would happen.
“It’s clear, they don’t want Americans deciding American elections,” he continued.
The bill is almost certain to fail in the Democratic-controlled Senate. This comes as Republicans continue to push for stricter restrictions on non-citizen voting at the federal level.
Gary Thompson, chairman of the D.C. Board of Elections, revealed earlier this month that there are 489 non-citizen registered voters in the district.
House Republicans are scheduled to vote on a bill Thursday that would ban non-citizens from voting in the nation’s capital after it was revealed that about 500 people are registered on Washington, D.C.’s voter rolls.
The D.C. City Council amended its code in 2023 to allow non-citizens to vote. It goes a step further than other jurisdictions by allowing illegal aliens, not just noncitizens, to participate in local elections.
Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
Residents of Washington, D.C., were already allowed to vote while incarcerated, as were felons imprisoned in Maine and Vermont.
Republicans questioned how election officials would distinguish between non-citizen voters and other voters and ensure that non-citizen voters could only get votes in local elections.
“Our system also easily generates unique ballots for noncitizens, excluding the existence of federal contests. “It’s very similar to guaranteeing that it’s not included, and vice versa,” Thompson asserted.
“You know, why would someone from the Russian embassy be able to vote in an election here in the United States? But that’s what we’re allowed to do today,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise said at a press conference Wednesday. said.
“As Chinese citizens, they shouldn’t be able to vote in American elections, mind you.”
Foreigners can only vote in local elections if they have renounced their right to vote in their home country.
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a nonvoting delegate from Washington, D.C., denounced the bill before the vote, saying, “DC law is a matter for the duly elected D.C. Legislature and Mayor, representing the people of D.C.” “This is not a problem of irresponsible members of Congress who did not do so.” Approximately 700,000 DC residents deserve and are capable of governing their local affairs. ”
In recent weeks, Republicans have become increasingly vocal in their belief in the Great Replacement Theory, which holds that Democrats are accepting illegal immigrants to weaken Americans’ voting power and help with the census.
“Democrats here in Washington want aliens in our country illegally. Why? So they can become voters and influence security that affects census results and Congressional reapportionment.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters this week.
The bill comes amid a growing push by Republicans to enact legislation that would impose restrictions on voting by non-citizens at the federal level.
Federal law prohibits requiring documentation of citizenship in elections. Arizona requires it in state elections.
The SAVE Act, authored by Rep. Chip Roy and promoted by Johnson and former President Donald Trump, aims to force election officials to verify citizenship at elections. It is not yet clear when the vote will take place.
Speaking last week with Trump mogul Stephen Miller, Hogan Gidley and Roy, Johnson did not fully explain the number of noncitizens who voted in the election, but said the number was “dangerously high.” He warned that there could be many.
In recent days, Republicans have become more vocal in their belief in the Great Replacement Theory that Democrats are accepting illegal immigrants to weaken Americans’ voting power and help with the census.
“Everyone intuitively knows that many illegal aliens vote in federal elections. But that’s not something that can be easily proven. We don’t have that number. This law… , it allows you to do just that.”
Noncitizens who vote in federal and state elections are already breaking the law and putting themselves at risk of imprisonment and deportation.
A small number of municipalities in California, Maryland, and Vermont allow undocumented immigrants to vote in local elections.
“If nefarious actors want to interfere in our elections, all they have to do is check a box on a form and sign their name. And that’s it. That’s all they need to do.” said Johnson.
Miller, the architect of President Trump’s immigration policy, said the bill is “the most important vote that most members of Congress will make in their lifetime.”
“If this bill does not pass, it will be one of the largest interferences in a democracy in the history of the world, orchestrated by Joe Biden and the Democrats.”
The bill would close loopholes that allow people to register to vote without proof of U.S. citizenship or a photo ID, require all 50 states to remove illegal immigrants from voter rolls, and require election officials to It is intended to add a five-year prison sentence. Those who register non-citizens to vote and require proof of citizenship from those voting overseas.
There is little evidence that noncitizen votes influence election results, and undocumented immigrants often avoid providing personal information out of fear or fear of arrest by immigration authorities.
However, as illegal immigrants, they may vote illegally.
Most ballots require some form of identification, such as a driver’s license, to register to vote. Not all of these IDs require citizenship. The bill would require, among other things, requirements for identification documents such as passports and birth certificates.
We sampled more than 1 billion ballots from 2002 to 2022 and found fewer than 100 fraudulent votes.
