Several States Approve Amendments Banning Noncitizen Voting
Voters in eight states Tuesday approved Republican-backed constitutional amendments explicitly prohibiting noncitizens from voting in elections....
Facts
- Voters in eight states Tuesday approved Republican-backed constitutional amendments explicitly prohibiting noncitizens from voting in elections.[1]
- Lawmakers in GOP-controlled legislatures in Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Wisconsin put the amendments on the ballot despite the fact that it's already illegal for noncitizens to vote in those states' elections and at the federal level.[2]
- Amendments in Idaho and Kentucky will insert into those states' constitutions the words 'no person who is not a citizen of the United States' can vote. The other states' amendments adjust the language of their constitutions to say 'only' citizens can vote.[2]
- At least 17 cities in the US allow noncitizens to vote in some local elections, but none of them are in the states that just passed amendments.[3]
- In 1996, Congress penalized noncitizen voting in federal elections with the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. Illegally registering to vote can lead to five years in federal prison and deportation.[4]
Sources: [1]FOX News, [2]NBC, [3]UPI and [4]NewsNation.
Narratives
- Democratic narrative, as provided by NPR Online News. For years, President-elect Donald Trump and the Republicans have been promoting the false narrative about noncitizens voting in an effort to rattle up their base and suppress the vote. Although there's no evidence to support their claims, clearly they've been able to convince a significant portion of the electorate that this is an important issue.
- Republican narrative, as provided by FOX News and FOX News. Democrats, including the Biden administration, for years have been promoting amnesty for those who've entered the US illegally. It should be further explored if these migrants were offered a path to citizenship in an effort to get them to vote Democratic. If this wasn't a genuine issue, eight states wouldn't have passed constitutional amendments.
