U.S. House Republicans are promoting a bill to curb voting by noncitizens. Though noncitizens can vote in some local elections, it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)
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Voting rights advocates say a GOP push for legislation prohibiting noncitizens from voting is not about creating laws — that’s already prohibited.
Yet the U.S. House could vote this week on a Republican bill outlawing noncitizens from voting in federal elections. Critics of the measure say it would aggravate racial disparities and is meant to chill voter turnout among the immigrant community.
The bill would require people to provide “documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections,” according to the bill summary.
Claiming a need for increased election integrity, the GOP has pushed in recent years to highlight the issue. Florida voters took action on the matter, passing an amendment barring voting by noncitizens in 2020. Florida law requires voters to present an ID or cast a provisional ballot to be compared against a voter’s signature on record.
Cosponsorship of the bill awaiting a vote from Congress is partisan in both chambers. Both U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott representing Florida have signed on, as have 12 of 20 Florida GOP representatives. No Democrats, from Florida or otherwise, have signed on to the measure.
Given that partisan breakdown, the bill is not expected to become law, but that’s not the intent, according a panel of immigration advocates hosted by America’s Voice, an immigration reform organization, during a Zoom call on Tuesday.
“It’s chilling voting. And it’s chilling voting specifically in communities of color,” said Juan Espinoza, an adviser at UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights advocacy organization.
“The noncitizen nonsense is a broad and orchestrated attack on the legitimacy of Latino voters and other communities who are constantly villainized and weaponized in this country,” Espinoza said.
Harmful rhetoric
He voiced concern that rhetoric about noncitizens taking to the ballot box could result in Latino citizens being wrongfully removed from voter rolls, over-represented in the signature-verification process, being less likely to volunteer at the polls, or being targeted for violence.
People who are naturalized citizens may stray away from exercising their right to vote because they are afraid of making mistakes, he added.
For noncitizens who might consider violating laws already in place to prevent them from voting, it’s often not worth it, said Sean Morales-Doyle, a director at the Brennan Center for Justice.
“There are severe penalties for those who violate these laws. They face prison time, they face deportation,” he said.
“And so, I think it helps sometimes to take a step back and think about why those serious consequences mean that the reality is that we don’t see this happening in significant numbers at all; noncitizens are not voting in our state and federal elections in any kind of significant numbers.”
‘Plan B’
Douglas Rivlin, director of communications for America’s Voice, sees a scheme to undermine fair elections. Zachary Mueller, research director for America’s Voice, agreed, saying talk like this constitutes a GOP “Plan B” against another Donald Trump loss.
“This is Plan B, if Republicans do not win in November, is to again create lies and fictions that immigrants are stealing our elections,” Mueller said.
In announcing the bill, supporters said it would “save our democratic process,” “end the practice of noncitizens voting in our elections,” and “ensure that people who aren’t even citizens don’t cancel out Louisianans’ and Americans’ voices at the ballot box.”
The allegations the bill is based on, Espinosa said, are not true. Morales-Doyle stressed that noncitizen voting is “an infinitesimally rare phenomenon.”
A 2023 study first reported by the Washington Post found that, in Arizona, fewer than 0.5% of noncitizens were registered to vote. In many instances, the advocates said, are situations in which a noncitizen does not know they are breaking the law due to unclear registration information.
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