A new explainer from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) looks at the evidence regarding noncitizen voting, offering useful information in an accessible way. The explainer also examines the voter registration process and how election officials verify eligibility to vote.
Claims that migrants are being allowed into the United States so they can vote rest on the unfounded assumption that immigrants can quickly become voters. But to become U.S. citizens and thus be eligible to vote, immigrants must first receive legal permanent residence (aka getting a green card) and typically spend five years in that status (three if married to a U.S. citizen) before becoming eligible to naturalize. In the case of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, they face a complicated path of a decade or longer to U.S. citizenship and may not ever have any pathway at all.
MPI will be issuing explainers on other topics of public interest over the coming weeks. We invite you to read them and share them with your networks.
You can find the voting explainer here: www.migrationpolicy.org/content/noncitizen-voting-us-elections.
Comments
Very useful explainer. This nonsense about how we have to require proof of citizenship to vote (and this close to the election), actually hurts lower-income folks the most. Not everybody happens to have or have easy access to proof of citizenship, including vulnerable Americans born here. . .
The immigration penalties for "false claim to American citizenship" (which can be triggered by voting in a federal election if you are not a citizen) are stiff, so logically it would seem that few noncitizens would vote.
In fact, the stats show a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the percentage of noncitizens voting.
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In short, the premise about the need for this proof of citizenship is false, so the conclusion-- we need to require this-- is also false.
Further, doing so predictably leads to harm to a certain class of voters , SO DON'T DO IT. No need to require proof of citizenship beyond whatever a state's existing voting requirements are.
As the explainer says, "There is no evidence that unauthorized immigrants, green-card holders, or immigrants on temporary visas are voting in significant numbers, despite some claims that 'millions' of noncitizens are voting in U.S. elections. In fact, audits by election officials and numerous studies reflect that voter fraud by noncitizens is extremely rare. "
Certain politicians use this false claim of voter fraud in order to strike fear in people's hearts to serve their political ends. Everyone would be better off if these claims were ruthlessly fact checked. Thanks for providing an accurate source to refute these claims.
We appreciate your hard work in this community,
Steve Schmidt, Moderator
LINCS Reading and Writing Group