With less than six months to go until Election Day, Americans have ample reason to be concerned that a wave of non-citizens casting ballots could undermine the integrity of our elections. Urgent federal action is needed to address this threat before it is too late.
Many in the corporate media and the political establishment have assured Americans that they need not worry because non-citizens voting, or even registering to vote in federal elections is already illegal – and indeed, this is the case. But this prohibition has been effectively neutralized by caveats and special carve-outs in dozens of states’ laws which create ample opportunity to violate federal election law.
One of the biggest glaring weak points in U.S. election law is the voter registration process itself. Under the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, every state must use a common voter registration form which only asks applicants to check a box stating that they are an American citizen.
In other words, states must take someone’s word for it that they are eligible to vote in federal elections – effectively eliminating all structural barriers to non-citizens registering to vote.
Making matters worse, 14 states, including the swing states of Nevada and Pennsylvania, don’t even require any sort of identification to cast a ballot. This is also the case in populous states like California and New York, which in 2022 determined control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
To help guard against non-citizens voting, many states have wisely implemented Voter ID laws. But even these safeguards might not be enough.
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For instance, in 28 states, including the swing states of Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina, a student ID counts as a valid form of identification for voting. But student IDs do not distinguish between citizens and noncitizens.
Moreover, at least 19 other states and the District of Columbia have passed bills allowing noncitizens to obtain driver’s licenses which also do not distinguish between citizens and noncitizens. According to Judicial Watch, roughly 80,000 illegal aliens in Minnesota alone became eligible to obtain driver’s licenses when Democrats there passed the “Driver’s Licenses for All” Act last year.
These problems have, of course, been made exponentially more severe by the more than seven million foreign nationals who have illegally poured across our southern border over the past four years. Even if only a very small fraction of these individuals illegally cast ballots this fall, it could prove decisive in states that have been won or lost by just a few thousand votes in recent elections.
Instead of addressing this problem, the Biden administration has actively made it worse. Under the provisions of a 2021 Biden Executive Order, the U.S. Marshals Service is now required to provide everyone in its custody information on how to register to vote. This apparently includes illegal aliens who are ineligible to vote under federal law.
Earlier this year, AMAC’s advocacy arm, AMAC Action, launched an ongoing grassroots campaign demanding Congress take action to ensure only eligible American citizens cast ballots in federal elections. Within the first 24 hours after that campaign went live, AMAC members sent 21,000 messages to members of Congress, a clear sign of how important this issue is to the American people.
One simple step Congress could take right now is to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, a common-sense bill introduced this month which gives state officials important new tools to crack down on non-citizens voting.
Specifically, this bill would fix the shortcomings of the 1993 Voter Registration Act by requiring voters to provide documentary evidence – in person – that they are a U.S. citizen and an eligible voter.The SAVE Act would also require states to work to remove non-citizens from voter rolls and require the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security administration to provide states with no-cost access to their databases. Currently, federal agencies can provide this information to states, but are not obligated to do so.
Importantly, the bill would also empower citizens to initiate legal action against election officials who fail to enforce proof of citizenship requirements, creating an important new tool to ensure accountability.
While federal legislation is urgently needed, the American people must also take action at the local level to secure their elections and ensure existing laws are being followed. That’s one reason why AMAC is hosting a series of Bootcamp for Boomers events to empower citizens to get involved in local elections, advocate for legislative reforms, and mobilize their friends and neighbors to turn out in overwhelming numbers in November.
The American people deserve the confidence of knowing that their elections are secure. For too long, loopholes in state laws and unaccountability from elected officials have undermined the integrity of the American electoral system, and changes are overdue.
AMAC members and millions of other Americans have sent this message loud and clear to our representatives in Washington. It is time for them to listen.
Rebecca Weber is the CEO of the Association of Mature American Citizens.
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