Noncitizens on election voting rolls, Republicans demand answers on election integrity

Dozens of lawmakers in the House and Senate are calling for more information from the Justice Department about efforts to stop noncitizen voting in federal elections, which they call a "serious threat" to election integrity, citing officials in multiple states who have identified noncitizens on their voter rolls.

A letter from 73 lawmakers, led by Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland said they were "deeply concerned" by reports of noncitizens registering to vote and voting in federal elections and had not received a response from an inquiry in July on the matter.

"As of today, there has been no response from you or your Department regarding the inquiry on July 12, 2024, seeking information on efforts undertaken by your Department to enforce laws prohibiting non-citizen voting. Given that the 2024 Presidential Election is in less than 34 days, your Department’s inaction and refusal to provide any information regarding its efforts to promote public trust and confidence in our elections is especially alarming," they wrote.

Specifically, they asked how many aliens have been prosecuted under laws related to noncitizen voting, how the DOJ handles allegations of noncitizen voting or registration and the steps it takes to prevent such practices.

Noncitizens are not allowed to vote, and top Republicans, including former President Trump, have repeatedly expressed concern that noncitizens may attempt to vote in federal elections, particularly given the influx of immigrants across the southern border in recent years.

In August, Republican lawmakers pushed for the SAVE Act, which aimed to require states to obtain proof of citizenship in person when registering an individual to vote and require states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls, to be attached to a spending bill extension to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.

The lawmakers in the letter cited an announcement by the Virginia attorney general that it had identified 6,303 noncitizens on its voter rolls in 2022 and 2023, while Texas had removed 6,500 noncitizens from its voter rolls. Of those, 1,930 had a history of voting.

The DOJ itself announced last month that it had charged an illegal immigrant with stealing a U.S. citizen’s identity to vote in multiple elections and fraudulently obtain a U.S. passport.

"Clearly, there is a non-negligible amount of voter participation by non-citizens in federal elections, which is not only a serious threat to the integrity of our elections and the democratic process they represent, but also has the potential to reduce Americans’ trust and confidence in election results," they wrote.

This week, the DOJ sued Alabama, alleging the state removed voters who had been issued noncitizen identification numbers from its election rolls too close to Election Day. The agency argued that officials violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which requires states to complete any changes to the voter registration lists no later than 90 days before federal elections.

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