Newly released documents about a training program in Washington, DC for illegal immigrants to vote in local elections demonstrate the need for the SAVE Act, according to Rep. Chip Roy.
‘The radical progressive Democrats in DC city government couldn’t be prouder of the fact that they are going to have illegal aliens voting in their elections; However, they want us to believe that it will stop there and that none of them will attempt (or be encouraged) to vote illegally in federal elections? Give me a break,” Roy, R-Texas, told DailyMail.com.
‘Without the SAVE Act’s screening measures, we are basically asking people who are already breaking the law by coming to the United States illegally to respect the honor system. No way; American elections should belong to American citizens, period.’
Roy is the lead sponsor of new legislation soon to reach the House of Representatives to prevent illegal immigrants from voting in federal elections, a practice that is already illegal and considered rare.
Newly released documents about a training program in Washington, DC for illegal immigrants to vote in local elections demonstrate the need for the SAVE Act, according to Rep. Chip Roy.
But documents obtained by Judicial Watch detail a PowerPoint shown at a DC Board of Elections event titled ‘Virtual Non-Citizen Voter Education Training.’
The DC City Council amended its code in 2023 to allow non-citizens to vote. It went a step further than other jurisdictions by allowing not only non-citizens but also those here illegally to participate in local elections.
The PowerPoint explains:
‘Non-U.S. citizen residents of the District of Columbia may vote in local elections under the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022. Non-U.S. citizen residents may vote in district elections for offices of mayor, attorney general, president or member(s) of the DC Council, members of the State Board of Education (sic) or Neighborhood Advisory Commissioners who are not US citizens may not vote for federal offices.’
‘To register to vote in the District of Columbia as a non-citizen, you must: Be at least 17 years old and 18 years old before the next General Election; Maintain residence in the District of Columbia for at least 30 days prior to the election in which you intend to vote; Not claim residence to vote or the right to vote in any state, territory or country; Not have been declared legally incompetent to vote by a court.
“You must provide proof of your District of Columbia address at an early voting center before Election Day or at the polling location assigned to your address on Election Day.”
Federal law only allows citizens to vote in federal elections, but prohibits requiring documentary proof of citizenship in elections. Arizona requires it for state elections.
The SAVE Act aims to force election officials to verify citizenship in elections. It is not yet clear when it will be put to a vote.
Johnson, speaking alongside Trump global heavyweights Stephen Miller and Hogan Gidley and Roy last week, did not give a full accounting of how many non-citizens have voted in the election, but warned the number could be “dangerously high.” “.
‘We all know, intuitively, that many illegals vote in federal elections. But it has not been something that is easily demonstrable. We don’t have that number. “This legislation will allow us to do exactly that.”
Noncitizens who vote in federal and state elections are already breaking the law and risking jail or deportation. A small handful of municipalities in California, Maryland and Vermont allow illegal immigrants to vote in local elections.
‘If a nefarious actor wants to intervene in our elections, all they have to do is check a box on a form and sign their name. That’s all. That’s all it takes,” Johnson said.
Miller, the architect of Trump’s immigration policy, called the bill “the most important vote most members of Congress make in their entire careers.”
“If this bill does not become law, then Joe Biden and the Democrats will have engineered one of the largest interferences in any democratic nation in the history of the world.”
The bill would aim to close any loophole that allows people to register to vote without proof of U.S. citizenship or photo identification, require all 50 states to remove illegal immigrants from their voter rolls, and add penalties of up to five years in prison for electoral officials. that register non-citizens to vote and require proof of citizenship for those who vote abroad.
President Mike Johnson, flanked by Rep. Chip Roy, insisted that legislation to make voters prove their citizenship could be one of the “most important” bills to pass Congress in their lifetime.
Miller, the architect of Trump’s immigration policy, called the bill “the most important vote most members of Congress make in their entire careers.”
There is little evidence that noncitizen voting is impacting election results, and illegal immigrants often avoid giving out personal information for fear of being caught by immigration authorities.
However, it is possible to vote illegally as an undocumented immigrant.
Most ballots require some type of proof of identity to register to vote, such as a driver’s license. Not all such identification proofs require citizenship: the bill would specifically require identification requirements such as passports or birth certificates.
A sample of more than one billion ballots taken between 2002 and 2022 found fewer than 100 cases of voter fraud.
Still, former President Donald Trump is likely pushing the bill hard. Johnson and Trump held a joint news conference on the issue last month.