The issue of non-citizens voting in U.S. elections has become so serious that it may result in a government shutdown.
The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1996 prohibiting noncitizens from voting in federal elections. However, the law does not apply to state and local elections.
Funding for the federal government runs out on September 30. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) intends to pair a temporary funding bill with a bill that would require proof of citizenship for every American to register to vote. Democrats have consistently demonstrated that they oppose such a measure.
“We have a number of states who have done audits of their voter rolls and found thousands of noncitizens on their voter rolls. And it’s in some of the swing states — Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia — states that could determine the outcome of the election,” Johnson told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “There are a number of states who have shown they have noncitizens on their voter rolls. That is enough to create chaos in the election. And we have to stop it.”
Two weeks ago, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced that over one million ineligible voters had been removed from the state’s rolls since 2021.
“Election integrity is essential to our democracy,” said Abbott in a press release. “I have signed the strongest election laws in the nation to protect the right to vote and to crack down on illegal voting. These reforms have led to the removal of over one million ineligible people from our voter rolls in the last three years, including noncitizens, deceased voters, and people who moved to another state.”
Fox News reports on the Oregon DMV’s recent acknowledgment of having erroneously registered at least 306 non-citizens to vote in the upcoming U.S. elections. Here’s the start of the story:
The Oregon DMV admitted on Friday to wrongfully registering at least 306 non-citizens to vote in U.S. elections.
The DMV says the wrongful registrations have occurred since 2021 and were the result of a program that automatically registered anyone who obtained a driver’s license or state ID. State officials say they expect to find more wrongful registrations ahead of Election Day.
Oregon has allowed non-citizens to obtain diver’s licenses since 2019. Of the 306 people identified, just two have cast ballots in an election since 2021.
Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade says the 306 people “will be notified by mail that they will not receive a ballot unless they demonstrate that they are eligible to vote.”
Griffin-Valade defended the state’s automatic voter registration program despite the lapse. Gov. Tina Kotek also argued the discovery will “not impact” the 2024 election.
“While this error is regrettable, the secretary and the Elections Division stand by automatic voter registration and its many benefits,” Griffin-Valade said.