WASHINGTON – U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced a bill Wednesday that would require states to verify proof of citizenship to prevent noncitizens from voting in federal elections, something already prohibited by law.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who played a key role in defending the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election through legal challenges, said at a news conference that voting by non-citizens “poses a clear and present danger to the United States.” “Integrity of our electoral system”. ”
Johnson was joined outside the US Capitol by former Trump aides Stephen Miller and Ken Cuccinelli, Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin and Cleta Mitchell. a key figure who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election and is now leading a grassroots organization to aggressively monitor the November election.
The bill would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections Invoice text provided by the office of the sponsor, Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas.
“For any method of voter registration in a State, the State shall not accept or process an application to register to vote in an election for federal office unless the applicant submits proof of United States citizenship with the application,” it says it in the bill.
It would also allow states to verify citizenship through federal databases at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. The bill prohibits DHS from charging a fee to the State for fulfilling a citizenship verification request.
Proof of citizenship would also be required for absentee voting, and registration agencies would also be required to verify proof of citizenship when registering a person to vote.
The bill would also allow states to remove noncitizen voters from voter rolls.
Johnson meeting with Trump
The press conference took place after Johnson met with former President Donald J. Trump Last monthand Johnson announced plans to pass legislation regulating non-citizen voting in federal elections.
The April event doubled as a show of support for the former president as Johnson faced increasing pressure from far-right members who threatened to oust him from office.
The threat to oust Johnson as speaker continues by Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Johnson gave no indication Wednesday of when he would schedule the bill for a vote in the House of Representatives.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah will introduce the companion bill in the Senate.
“If federal law is interpreted in a way that in many ways prohibits voter registration officers in various states from even asking about a person’s citizenship when answering voter roll questions, then we have a problem,” Lee said.
Because Democrats hold a narrow majority in the Senate, the measure is unlikely to come to a vote.
Researchers and studies have disproven that non-citizens vote in federal elections. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, conducted an analysis of voting behavior from 2003 to 2023 and found 29 cases in which non-citizens voted.
Some cities and towns allow non-citizens to vote in local elections, a move that has implicationspurred a backlash from Republicans, sparking a conservative nationwide rallying cry about voting by non-citizens.
Since 2020, five states – Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Ohio and Louisiana – have amended their constitutions to clarify that only citizens can vote in elections at any level.
Trump centered his re-election campaign on immigration, and so do the former president and Republicans They propagate the false narrative that non-citizens often vote in federal elections.
The executive director of a policy think tank, Sam Oliker-Friedland of the Institute for Responsive Government Action, said in a statement that the bill does not improve election security.
“It is nothing more than a messaging bill designed to incite fear and undermine trust in our democracy,” Oliker-Friedland said. “There is no evidence to support the claim that there are waves of non-citizens voting.”
The top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, Joseph Morelle of New York, criticized the bill as an attempt to solve a “non-existent problem.”
“Voting non-citizens in federal elections is already a federal crime,” Morelle said in a statement. “States already have multiple systems in place to prevent noncitizens from voting, and people who violate the law face prison time and deportation.”
