A slew of congressional and state legislation aimed at preventing noncitizen voting at all levels is being pushed across the country as the migrant crisis has mired cities and towns deeper into tribulation.
Americans For Citizens Voting (ACV), a group launched in 2021 that advocates for states to pass “only citizen” state constitutional amendments, says the violence from criminal migrants has sped up the process of passing “Citizens Only Voting” (COV) amendments.
The U.S. Constitution requires Americans to be citizens to vote in a federal election, but if a state’s constitution does not specifically declare that only citizens can vote, the potential of noncitizens legally voting in state and municipal elections exists.
“In the last few cycles, these amendments have passed in Alabama, Colorado, Florida, North Dakota, Louisiana, Ohio by an average margin of victory of 76%,” said ACV’s Paul Jacob in an interview with The Washington Times.
“This year, we’ve got two states on the ballot already for November — Wisconsin and Iowa. And this week, we’re expecting tomorrow for Georgia’s “Citizens Only Voting” amendment to hit the House floor,” he said.
He added, “It passed through the Judiciary Committee unanimously, which is interesting, because in the past, this has been brought up in the Senate in Georgia. And it was split along party lines, this time.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called for the COV amendment in December, citing the surge of illegal immigrants at the southern border.
“Organizations like the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda are currently suing to end critical citizenship verification in our registration process, potentially exposing our elections to foreign interference and diluting the power of legally registered voters,” he said.
“I’m calling on the General Assembly to take immediate action and pass a constitutional amendment ensuring that no liberal group can leverage the courts to add noncitizens to our voter rolls.”
The vote is taking place just days after the arrest of a migrant who allegedly murdered a UGA student when she was jogging on campus.
Other COV amendment resolutions are currently making their way through the legislatures of West Virginia and Kentucky.
On Capitol Hill, GOP congressional lawmakers have introduced seven pieces of legislation, recently passed out of the House Administration Committee, intended to prevent non-citizen voting or foreign interference in state and municipal elections.
The No Vote for Non-Citizens Act, proposed by Rep. Morgan Griffith of Virginia, is legislation that financially penalizes any state that allows for noncitizen voting.
The Safeguarding Electoral Integrity Act, proposed by Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, aims to repeal President Biden’s Executive Order 14019, which called for federal agencies to partner with private “voter advocacy groups” and develop “strategic plans.”
The bill also requires every plan made under the executive order to be submitted to Congress for review.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas authored the Protecting American Voters Act, which requires the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to provide, at no cost, the information necessary to determine the U.S. citizenship status of applicants registering to vote or those already listed on the State’s voter rolls.
Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois authored legislation that repeals recently passed D.C. voter law that allows foreign nationals who claim to have lived in the District for at least 30 days to vote in the city’s municipal elections.
The Washington Times recently reported that jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., that allow for noncitizen voting struggle to register and turn out voters within this demographic.
The Stop Foreign Funds in Election Act, authored by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, bans foreign nationals from making different kinds of contributions to a state, local ballot initiative, or referendum or recall election.