House probes noncitizen voting; here are four big takeaways

(The Daily Signal) – Tens of thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote and have voted, House members and testifying experts asserted Tuesday. 

A House subcommittee held a hearing Tuesday, titled “The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Noncitizen Voting,” that examined noncitizen voting and the nation’s porous border. 

The hearing comes as House Republicans push to include safeguards to ensure that only U.S. citizens vote as part of a continuing resolution to keep funding the government. 

The Justice Department announced Sept. 5 that an illegal immigrant from Guatemala would plead guilty after being charged with falsely assuming the identity of a U.S. citizen in 2011 and illegally voting in multiple Alabama elections over the years. 

My book “The Myth of Suppression” details past instances where noncitizen voting affected the outcome of local elections. 

Here are four big moments from the hearing held by the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution and limited government. 

1. ‘What If It’s Your Vote?’

The 1993 National Voter Registration Act and the 2002 Help America Vote Act make it “virtually impossible to prevent noncitizens from registering to vote either accidentally or intentionally,” testified Rosemary Jenks, policy director of the Immigration Accountability Project.

“Neither a driver’s license nor a Social Security number provides proof of U.S. citizenship,” Jenks said. “All 50 states and the District of Columbia issue driver’s licenses—including Real IDs—to lawfully present noncitizens, while 19 states also issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. Every alien authorized to work in the United States is eligible for an SSN. The Biden-Harris administration has been handing out work authorizations like candy to inadmissible aliens, with SSN issuances following close behind.”

Noting the ease with which illegal immigrants may register to vote, she turned the questions to the House panel.

“Why is it OK if even one American citizen’s vote is canceled by an illegal vote? What if it’s your vote?” Jenks asked lawmakers. 

 2. ‘Stoke Anti-Immigrant Fear’

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, insisted that noncitizen voting isn’t a “widespread” problem.

“Republicans rely on the false premise that there is widespread noncitizen voting in order to advance dangerous legislation like the SAVE Act and other burdensome, unnecessary measures requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections,” Nadler said. 

The SAVE Act is short for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. If enacted and signed into law, the Republican-sponsored bill would amend the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, also known as the “motor voter law,” to require that states obtain documentary proof of U.S. citizenship before anyone can register to vote.

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., accused Republican lawmakers of a “propaganda campaign.”

“Bills combating noncitizen voting are really about politics, not policy,” Scanlon said. “These bills are not rooted in reality, but are widely used to stoke anti-immigrant fear.”

House Republicans’ proposed amendment to the spending bill would accomplish the same objective as the measure that passed that GOP-controlled chamber in July. Senate Democrats, who control the upper chamber, opposed the bill. 

If the two sides can’t agree now, it could lead to a partial shutdown of the government. 

Election lawyer Cleta Mitchell, founder and chair of the Foundation for Accountability and Integrity in Elections Fund, questioned Democrats’ continued rationale for opposing the SAVE Act. 

“Democrats oppose the SAVE Act, ostensibly because it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in a federal election,” Mitchell testified. “And it is illegal for millions of people to swarm across our borders without documentation, but nonetheless, this administration under border czar Kamala Harris has adopted just such a policy of opening the door and letting anyone and everyone into the country. Illegally. Already against federal law.”

She added that Democrats’ goal is to “change the electorate.”

“If they can’t persuade the American people to want their Marxist policies for America, just import voters who don’t speak the language, don’t have a shared commitment to our country and our national principles, get them into the very porous voter registration system, and collect their votes,” Mitchell said. 

3. ‘Only Take a Few Thousand’

Subcommittee Chairman Chip Roy, R-Texas, referred to a 2014 study by Old Dominion University and George Mason University. It estimated that 6.4% of noncitizens—or 1.2 million at the time—illegally voted in the 2008 election. That number might have tipped a U.S. Senate race in Minnesota that year, as well as the presidential vote in North Carolina. 

“It would only take a few thousand noncitizens voting—much less than the 1.2 million estimated—to impact the outcome of razor thin elections,” Roy said.

In the 2020 election, Joe Biden carried Arizona over Donald Trump by 10,000 votes, Georgia by 12,000 votes, Wisconsin by 20,000 votes, and Pennsylvania by 81,000 votes. 

“The other side likes to point out it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote. That is technically true. They fail to mention that the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 literally prohibits states from verifying citizenship during the voter registration process,” Roy said. “This means it is impossible to enforce the law on the front end. Consequently, the primary defense against noncitizens registering to vote is a literal box-checking exercise on a voter registration form.”

The Texas Republican noted that since 2021 Texas has removed about 6,500 noncitizens from voter rolls, 1,900 of whom had voting histories. Since 2022, Virginia has removed 6,300 noncitizens from its rolls, Alabama removed 3,251 noncitizens, and Ohio 597, Roy added. 

4. Federal Government ‘Only Impediment’ 

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd reminded the House subcommittee of the close 2000 presidential election decided in Florida by just 537 votes. 

“Miami-Dade County alone, Florida’s largest county, has over 715 precincts. A single illegal noncitizen vote in each precinct can change the outcome of a presidential election,” Byrd said.

Byrd, a Republican, cited the 2006 bipartisan election reform report led by former President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, and former Secretary of State James Baker, a Republican, that called for preventing noncitizen voting. 

“Every illegitimate vote of a noncitizen negates the legitimate vote of a citizen,” Byrd said. “Nationally, preventing noncitizens from registering to vote and voting is the number one priority of states committed to election integrity.”

He said Florida has prosecuted noncitizens who attempt to fraudulently vote in an election. 

“Floridians have changed our state Constiution. We have strengthened our laws. We have engaged in litigation. And we have an office dedicated to investigating election crimes,” Byrd said. “The only impediment to doing more is the federal government. That’s why states need action from our congressional leaders.”

Mitchell, head of the Foundation for Accountability and Integrity in Elections Fund, added that Republicans’ SAVE Act would be important in the 22 states that allow same-day voter registration.

“This requirement will interrupt one of the biggest threats to the integrity of the 2024 election: the organized roundup by left-wing advocacy groups of scores of illegals to register and vote them on the same day, before anyone can determine if the individuals were eligible to vote in the election,” Mitchell said.