{"id":2339390,"date":"2024-09-10T19:49:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T23:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-hearing-witnesses-raise-alarm-over-noncitizen-voting-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-10T19:51:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T23:51:46","slug":"house-hearing-witnesses-raise-alarm-over-noncitizen-voting-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-hearing-witnesses-raise-alarm-over-noncitizen-voting-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"House hearing witnesses raise alarm over noncitizen voting &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-hearing-witnesses-raise-alarm-over-noncitizen-voting-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2339390&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A \u200brecent House hearing, led by Republicans, addressed \u200dconcerns over noncitizen voting in critical\u200c states as they prepare\u200b for the 2024 elections. The panel featured three witnesses, all echoing fears\u200d that noncitizens may illegally vote. Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd highlighted\u200b the state&#8217;s efforts to purge \u2064about one million individuals from\u200c voter rolls, including noncitizens. Witness \u2062Rosemary Jenks from the Immigration \u2063Accountability Project \u200cpointed out vulnerabilities in federal \u200dlaws, stemming from acts \u2063like the National Voter Registration Act and\u200d the Help America Vote\u200c Act, that make \u200cit challenging to prevent \u2062noncitizen voter registration.<\/p>\n<p>Critics, including Democrat Representative\u200d Mary Scanlon, dismissed the noncitizen voting issue as \u2064misinformation, arguing that\u2062 documented instances of noncitizens voting are exceedingly rare. \u200bShe suggested that \u2063Republican claims \u2062may be a \u2062strategy to\u2063 contest potential outcomes of the 2024 election. Studies support her view, \u200bshowing that while states \u2062have removed noncitizen \u2063voters, the actual voting\u200c by \u2062noncitizens is not widespread.\u200c The hearing reflects ongoing partisan divisions \u2064over \u2064election integrity and the implications \u200dfor future electoral processes.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">House hearing witnesses raise alarm over noncitizen voting<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1738480\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A Republican-led <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">House<\/a> panel elevated growing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3135646\/republicans-more-than-100-election-lawsuits-before-november\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">concerns<\/a> on Tuesday about noncitizens registering to vote in battleground states and advocated stricter laws to prevent that from happening.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Republicans invited three witnesses to testify during a hearing on the matter, and all of them validated worries from the Right that noncitizens will find ways to vote illegally in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2024-elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2024 election<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd appeared before the House Judiciary Committee&rsquo;s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government and said his state has purged about a million people from its voter rolls since 2022. Byrd said a portion of those people were noncitizens.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t a fake or contrived issue,&rdquo; Byrd said.<\/p>\n<p>Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting, but another witness during the hearing, the Immigration Accountability Project&rsquo;s Rosemary Jenks, identified holes in the federal legal system that she said could be exploited by noncitizens or those hoping to register them.<\/p>\n<p>Jenks pointed to two pieces of legislation, the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, also known as the &ldquo;Motor Voter Act,&rdquo; and the 2002 Help America Vote Act.<\/p>\n<p>Passage of these two bills made it &ldquo;virtually impossible to prevent noncitizens from registering to vote, either accidentally or intentionally,&rdquo; Jenks said.<\/p>\n<p>All 50 states have mechanisms for issuing driver&rsquo;s licenses to noncitizens who are living in the United States legally, and noncitizens who live in the U.S. with some form of government-issued work authorization can, at times, eventually obtain Social Security numbers.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Biden-Harris administration has been handing out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-top-destinations-for-immigrants-released-at-the-border\/\" title=\"Top border release destinations for immigrants.\">work authorization documents<\/a> like candy to inadmissible aliens with SSN issuances following close behind,&rdquo; Jenks said. &ldquo;So, we have federal voter laws that do not require proof of citizenship to register to vote combined with a massive population of noncitizens with valid driver&rsquo;s licenses and SSNs.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Ranking member Mary Scanlon (D-PA) was the lone Democrat of the six on the subcommittee to participate in the hearing. She repeatedly bashed the topic of noncitizens voting as a &ldquo;propaganda campaign&rdquo; and a &ldquo;lie&rdquo; and noted that known instances of noncitizens actually voting are &ldquo;extremely rare.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are raising alarm over noncitizen participation in elections &ldquo;to set the stage to challenge the 2024 election results&rdquo; if Trump loses, Scanlon said.<\/p>\n<p>There are several well-documented instances of states, including not just Florida but also Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, and others, purging thousands of noncitizens from their voter rolls in recent years. Studies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/blog\/shedding-light-incidence-illegal-noncitizen-voting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">indicate<\/a> that these noncitizens&rsquo; registrations materializing into votes is rare.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) questioned why a lack of proof of a widespread occurrence of noncitizens voting should be a &ldquo;reason not to guard against it.&rdquo; Bishop&rsquo;s question comes as a majority of House Republicans push to address the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-triple-threat-facing-ukraine-aid-when-lawmakers-return-to-washington\/\" title=\"Ukraine aid faces triple threat upon lawmakers&#039; return to Washington\">looming government funding deadline<\/a> by attaching to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukraine-covid-and-monkeypox-biden-asks-congress-for-another-47-billion-to-address-critical-needs-for-the-american-people\/\" title=\"Ukraine, COVID, And Monkeypox: Biden Asks Congress For Another  Billion To Address \u2018Critical Needs For The American People\u2019\">short-term spending bill<\/a> the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE, Act to require documented proof of citizenship to register to vote. Such documentation is currently not required to register to participate in federal elections using a federal form.<\/p>\n<p>Cleta Mitchell, a veteran conservative lawyer and senior legal fellow at the Conservative Partnership Institute, presented a counterpoint to Democrats who frequently point to noncitizen voting being illegal and the rare nature of it.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Yes it is [illegal], and it is also illegal for millions of people to swarm across our borders without documentation,&rdquo; Mitchell said, blasting the Biden administration for failing to prevent millions of migrants from entering the country illegally.<\/p>\n<p>She also speculated that some Democrats could lack an appetite for preventing noncitizens from voting because, &ldquo;for Democrats, noncitizens are their future political base.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1738480\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1738480\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During a House hearing on Tuesday, a Republican-led panel expressed increasing concerns regarding noncitizens registering to vote in key states and pushed for stricter regulations to prevent this. Three witnesses were invited by Republicans to testify, all of whom supported the Right&#8217;s fears that noncitizens might find ways to vote illegally in the upcoming 2024 election. Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd informed the House Judiciary Committee\u2019s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government that his state has removed approximately one million individuals from its voter rolls since 2022, including some noncitizens. Byrd emphasized that this is not a fabricated issue.<\/p>\n<p>While federal law prohibits noncitizen voting, Rosemary Jenks from the Immigration Accountability Project pointed out vulnerabilities in federal laws that could be exploited by noncitizens or those assisting them in registering. She highlighted two significant pieces of legislation\u2014the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter Act) and the 2002 Help America Vote Act\u2014arguing that their passage has made it nearly impossible to stop both accidental and intentional registration of noncitizens.<\/p>\n<p>All states allow legal residents who are noncitizens to obtain driver\u2019s licenses, and some may eventually acquire Social Security numbers if they have government-issued work authorization. Jenks criticized the Biden-Harris administration for issuing work authorization documents liberally, leading to an increase in valid driver\u2019s licenses and Social Security numbers among noncitizens.<\/p>\n<p>Democratic subcommittee member Mary Scanlon (D-PA) was critical of discussions surrounding noncitizen voting, labeling it as a &#8220;propaganda campaign&#8221; with known instances being &#8220;extremely rare.&#8221; She suggested that former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are raising concerns about this issue as groundwork for contesting potential losses in the 2024 election.<\/p>\n<p>Several states\u2014including Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas\u2014have documented purges of thousands of suspected noncitizen voters recently; however, studies show these registrations rarely translate into actual votes. Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) questioned why a lack of evidence for widespread illegal voting should deter efforts to prevent it.<\/p>\n<p>A majority of House Republicans are advocating for attaching the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act\u2014which would require proof of citizenship for voter registration\u2014to an upcoming short-term spending bill. Currently, such documentation is not mandated when using federal forms for voter registration.<\/p>\n<p>Cleta Mitchell, a conservative attorney at the Conservative Partnership Institute countered Democratic claims about illegal voting being rare by asserting both illegal voting and unauthorized border crossings are serious issues needing attention. She speculated that some Democrats may resist measures against noncitizen voting because they view these individuals as potential future supporters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2339391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/register-to-vote-clipboard.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[32722,36987,4209],"class_list":["post-2339390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-house-hearing","tag-noncitizen-voting","tag-witnesses"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/register-to-vote-clipboard.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2339390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2339391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2339390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2339390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2339390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}