How non-citizens are getting voter registration forms across the US — and how Republicans are trying to stop it
Welfare offices and other agencies in 49 US states are providing voter registration forms to migrants without requiring proof of citizenship, leading Republicans and conservatives to call for swift federal action to stop the handouts.
Every state but Arizona — which recently passed a law barring the practice on state but not federal forms — gives applicants for either welfare benefits, driver’s licenses, or in some cases, mail-in ballots voter registration forms without demanding proof of citizenship.
There is currently no requirement on federal voting forms to provide proof of US citizenship, though it is illegal to falsely claim one is a citizen or for a non-citizen to cast a ballot in a federal election.
But millions of migrants with humanitarian parole, refugee or asylum status are eligible for benefits that would bring them to the offices where voter registration takes place.
The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 ordered states to register voters at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and agencies where Americans apply for public benefits — and those offices are required by federal law to hand over the registration forms along with the application papers.
If an applicant attests that they are a US citizen, that is considered valid on its face and the person is registered to vote.
The House Administration Committee last month approved the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to require states to receive proof of citizenship when anyone registers to vote by mail, at a DMV or a welfare agency office.
“While Biden and radical progressive Democrats give ISIS and criminals an app to literally schedule their illegal entry, Republicans must fight any chance of illegal voter registration until we can mass deport,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who introduced the measure, told The Post.
“As President Biden has welcomed millions of illegal aliens through our borders, including sophisticated criminal syndicates and foreign adversaries, it is incumbent upon Congress to implement greater enforcement measures that secure the voter registration process and ensure only American citizens decide the outcome of American elections,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a statement following its approval.
“It is undeniable that the current structure makes it possible for illegal immigrants and non-citizens to vote — and the American people have no way of knowing how widespread the problem may be,” Ryan Walker, executive vice president at the conservative Heritage Foundation’s sister group, Heritage Action, told The Post.
“The SAVE Act puts all of these issues to rest and gives Americans confidence that our elections are decided on a more even playing field,” Walker said.
House Republican leaders have yet to schedule a floor vote for the measure, though one Hill source suggested to The Post it could come up before the August recess.
The left-leaning Campaign Legal Center has opposed the SAVE Act as a “shameful” measure that will “undermine trust in the electoral process,” dismissing concerns over non-citizen voting and declaring it has not taken place “at any meaningful level.”
“It’s a fabrication being peddled, for personal and political gain, by leaders who should know better,” said Campaign Legal Center executive director Adav Noti in a statement as the House Administration Committee prepared to consider the SAVE Act.
“Shameful bills like the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act often result in eligible US citizens being incorrectly prevented from voting or being forced to jump through additional hoops to exercise their freedom to vote. Campaign Legal Center opposes this bill,” Noti added.
But federal prosecutions, state investigations and audits have shown in recent years that thousands of non-citizens are being registered.
In Georgia, one of several battleground states that delivered Biden his victory in the 2020 election, left-wing voter groups sued Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger earlier this year for trying to implement citizenship verification methods.
Hundreds of non-Americans have since been caught after casting ballots in races ranging from the local to the presidential, and subsequently purged from voter rolls.
Hans von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative at the Heritage Foundation, presented many such examples in testimony to the House committee ahead of the panel’s May 23 approval of the SAVE Act.
“It’s a real problem, not an imaginary problem,” von Spakovsky told The Post.
The numbers are not enough to change election results — even in critical swing states like Pennsylvania — but they are enough to cause consternation as a record-breaking number of migrants have entered the US every year since 2021.
That figure is expected to rise to 8 million by October of this year.
At the same time, the Biden administration has expanded access to health care and other benefits, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, putting many migrants within reach of voter registration.
At least 19 states and Washington, DC, also allow non-citizens to obtain driver’s licenses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a move that Biden supported during his 2020 presidential campaign.
In March, a federal judge upheld the Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship on state registration forms — with federal forms only requiring a signed statement confirming US citizenship to comply with the NVRA.
Carveouts in the SAVE Act also still allow for reasonable accommodations to be made for disabled people who may have a different name on their identity documents, or those who are US citizens but lack documentation and may make a signed attestation.
The bill would also force states to kick non-citizens off voter rolls, which can be verified through access to federal databases at the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.
“What I’ve seen over the years is [federal agencies] put up all kinds of red tape to make it difficult for state election officials to access their databases,” von Spakovsky noted. “This bill tries to override that too.”
“Congress has the authority to deal with this issue,” he added, pointing out that the Constitution empowers US lawmakers to sort out questions about naturalization at both the state and federal level.
Von Spakovsky believes that if the SAVE Act successfully amends the NVRA, proof-of-citizenship laws would “get passed in a lot of states” — such as New Hampshire, where such a bill is under consideration.
The SAVE Act would further allow Americans to bring civil lawsuits against election officials who don’t have their agencies demand proof-of-citizenship documents.
A spokesperson for Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), the lone Democrat who opposed the bill in committee proceedings, did not respond to a request for comment.
Even if it passes the House, the SAVE Act will face an uphill battle for consideration by the Democrat-controlled Senate, though several Republican members of the upper chamber have already signaled their support.
“Preventing non-citizens and illegal aliens from registering and voting in American elections should be a 100% issue in Congress,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told The Post.
“Unfortunately, Democrats have taken the stance that it never happens — which is false — so we shouldn’t give states the tools to ensure it doesn’t happen — which is absurd,” Lee said.
“The SAVE Act would defend election integrity and preserve public trust in the voting process,” he added, “something we need now more than ever.”
