Regardless of Trump's Claims, Giant Numbers of Noncitizens Do not Vote in US Elections

All through his political profession, former U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the nation’s electoral system is “rigged” towards him. Within the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, Trump and his allies unfold rumors questioning the election’s integrity even earlier than votes had been forged, with the obvious purpose of persuading folks {that a} Trump loss to Vice President Kamala Harris couldn’t occur in a good and simply election.

Particularly, Trump has claimed that if he loses, it might be as a result of a large variety of undocumented immigrants broke federal regulation and voted for his political opponents. (Trump makes use of the time period “unlawful immigrants” or “illegals” to seek advice from this group of individuals.)

We boiled Trump’s claims right down to the next chain of occasions:

1. The Democratic Social gathering, underneath the management of President Joe Biden, is transporting a large variety of undocumented immigrants into america.
2. These immigrants are then instructed (or bribed) to vote for Harris.
3. The variety of undocumented immigrants that may supposedly vote within the election is massive sufficient to vary the results of the election. With out these supposed “unlawful” votes, Trump would win.

Trump makes use of the rhetoric not simply to problem the integrity of the election, but in addition to not directly assault the Democratic Social gathering’s pro-immigration stance and its insurance policies relating to the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Nonetheless, Trump’s claims are contradicted by the next info:

1. The Democratic Social gathering shouldn’t be transporting a large variety of immigrants into america. Though there was a big give attention to the U.S.-Mexico border throughout Biden’s presidency, Snopes has repeatedly disproved claims that the Democratic Social gathering is “importing immigrants” and providing them with benefits.
2. It’s unlawful for any noncitizen, undocumented immigrant or in any other case, to vote in U.S. federal elections. The punishments for doing so are extreme and embody deportation.
3. There are numerous protections in place that forestall noncitizens from voting. Due to these protections, noncitizen voting not often occurs — definitely not on the frequency required to sway the outcomes of a presidential election.

Trump Has Made Comparable Claims for 10 Years

Snopes discovered that Trump has publicly acknowledged or implied that undocumented immigrants had been voting in elections for no less than a decade. In a tweet from October 2014, even earlier than he introduced his run for president in 2015, Trump claimed “election officers” stated there have been no protections stopping undocumented immigrants from voting in elections, which he stated was “very dangerous (unfair) for Republicans.” He didn’t cite any sources. 

In the course of the 2016 presidential race, Trump made comparable feedback. As an illustration, he questioned the security of same-day voter registration and cited a extremely criticized set of information to assert that 14% of noncitizens in the United States were registered to vote.

In 2020, Trump famously claimed there was a large quantity of voter fraud and refused to concede the election to Biden. Though his allegations of fraud throughout that election cycle didn’t give attention to immigration, his efforts to sow seeds of doubt in regards to the integrity of the U.S. electoral course of took maintain.

In the course of the 2022 midterm elections, some Trump supporters who believed he received the 2020 election turned ballot watchers who intensely scrutinized the election course of. In accordance with reporting from Reuters, a number of states recorded incidents of ballot watchers intimidating voters and election employees, which is against the law. Moreover, the Republican Nationwide Committee (RNC) established a voter integrity program to make sure that the 2022 midterm outcomes had been truthful. 

By December 2023, Trump was telling supporters at an Iowa rally to “guard the vote.” In April 2024, Trump’s marketing campaign introduced it might accomplice with the RNC to proceed its voter integrity program within the 2024 election, with the specific intent, within the marketing campaign’s phrases, to “cease Democrat attempts to circumvent rules.” The allegation that undocumented immigrants are illegally registering to vote is just one thought the Trump marketing campaign has used to justify these efforts.

The claims unfold shortly, nevertheless, and had been shared by distinguished figures like X owner Elon Musk. In September 2024, Reuters reported that Trump’s authorized crew had already filed lawsuits that may very well be used to problem the election on the grounds of noncitizen voting in 4 of the seven swing states anticipated to determine the election.

The Reality

The actual fact of the matter is just that noncitizens not often vote in U.S. elections, one thing the Cato Institute, a conservative assume tank, reported on in 2020.

A 2015 analysis of the survey Trump later used to assert that 14% of noncitizens in america had been registered to vote discovered that the consequence was merely resulting from human error — that’s, all of the “noncitizens” who marked themselves as registered to vote had been virtually definitely U.S. residents who by accident recorded themselves as noncitizens when taking the survey. 

In 2016 and 2017, the Brennan Institute for Justice, a liberal nonprofit group, investigated 42 jurisdictions throughout 12 states to search out out whether or not there was any reality to the claims of voter fraud. Of the ten jurisdictions throughout the nation with the very best inhabitants of noncitizens, the survey checked out eight of them. 

In accordance with the institute’s report, voters forged 23.5 million votes in these jurisdictions within the election. The institute counted 30 circumstances of suspected noncitizen voting that required additional investigation. That is an incidence charge of 0.0001% — lower than the percentages of being struck by lightning in your life.

Below federal regulation, states are required to take care of and audit voter rolls repeatedly to make sure an election’s integrity. For instance, the state of Georgia, anticipated to play a important function within the 2024 election, audited its voter rolls in 2022. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, introduced that the state discovered 1,634 circumstances through which a noncitizen tried to register to vote between 1997 to 2022, about 65 per yr. However in line with the report, not one of the people in these circumstances ever formally voted, due to the prevailing protections that safeguard the voter registration course of.

Registration Protections

So as to illustrate the quite a few protections in place to stop noncitizens from voting in U.S. federal elections, let’s undergo the steps an immigrant residing within the nation illegally must take with the intention to forged only one poll and have it counted.

First, this particular person must enter america with out paperwork and apply for political asylum. Throughout this course of, the person’s title and different figuring out info can be added to a federal database that marked them as a noncitizen.

Second, this particular person would want to use to register to vote (besides in North Dakota, which verifies voter eligibility utilizing a strict voter ID regulation). All 49 states with voter registration require the voter to attest underneath penalty of regulation that they’re a U.S. citizen, that they’re over the age of 18 and that they’re a resident of the state they want to vote in. 

These registration kinds require candidates to supply a considerable amount of private info. That is a problem for immigrants dwelling within the nation illegally, who could also be afraid the federal government may use that figuring out info to arrest or deport them. On this case, these fears are legitimate: Any noncitizen discovered responsible of such against the law would face jail time or deportation. 

In the course of the voter registration course of, the immigrant must show they’re a resident of the state they reside in, mostly utilizing a driver’s license or Social Safety quantity. So as to apply for that documentation, the immigrant must present extra figuring out info to the federal government alongside immigration paperwork that confirms their standing as a noncitizen. At this level within the course of, there would now be a number of governmental databases that listing this particular person as a noncitizen. 

Then, every voter registration software is reviewed and cross-checked towards driver’s license and federal immigration databases from the Division of Homeland Safety to scan for any discrepancies. If election officers have any suspicions, they’ll flag the applying for additional evaluate. That course of requires much more private info from the voter. If there are nonetheless questions, election officers can all the time deny the applying.

There are a number of jurisdictions in america, together with San Francisco and Washington, D.C., the place noncitizens are allowed to vote, however solely in some native elections, not federal elections. In San Francisco, as an example, noncitizens are allowed to vote at school board elections solely. Nonetheless, noncitizens in these jurisdictions should register to vote utilizing a selected type in a selected approach. Because of this such noncitizens are added to the voter rolls with the specific information that they’re noncitizen voters, and their ballots could be tracked as such.

All of those are extremely efficient — once more, Georgia’s 2022 audit discovered that out of the 1,634 circumstances through which a noncitizen was suspected of making an attempt to register to vote, not one vote was ever forged. As Gerry Cohen, a member of the Board of Elections in Wake County, North Carolina, informed Snopes: “There is a massive distinction between registering to vote and really voting.” 

Protections on the Polling Place

Taylor Kinnerup, communications director for the Maricopa County recorder’s workplace in Arizona, added an extra distinction: “There’s additionally a giant distinction between casting a vote and that vote being counted.”

In October 2024, posts on X surfaced alleging that the Texas secretary of state had instructed ballot employees to permit voters who offered an ID indicating they had been a noncitizen to vote as ordinary. The declare shortly morphed into the final concept that Texas was permitting noncitizens to vote. That is unfaithful, due to the protections in place after a poll is forged.

In a directive “to all election officers,” Texas Director of Elections Christina Adkins informed ballot employees to acknowledge the noncitizen ID when checking for a sound voter registration, however identified that these voters may simply be new U.S. residents who had not but up to date their driver’s licenses to mirror their citizenship standing. Denying such eligible voters the precise to forged a poll can be a transparent instance of unlawful voter suppression. The directive really useful that these voters current a special type of photograph ID if attainable to keep away from the difficulty. Regardless, the work completed to make sure that these voters are eligible is carried out earlier than the poll is counted.

After arriving at a polling place, voters are required to supply their title (and relying on the jurisdiction, their ID). These names are then checked towards registration information (once more, besides in North Dakota). If there is a match, a poll is printed for the voter. The voter then indicators, affirming underneath penalty of regulation that they perceive the penalties of casting a fraudulent poll. 

The voter’s signature is part of the verification course of. Kinnerup stated that Maricopa County ballot employees examine the signature to the voter’s different recorded signatures earlier than the poll is opened and counted. Similar to with voter registration, an election official can flag the poll for additional inspection if they’ve any doubts in regards to the validity of the voter’s signature.

Below Part 302 of the Help America Vote Act, signed into regulation by then-President George W. Bush in 2002, voters who usually are not on a voter roll however attest that they’re an eligible voter can nonetheless forged a provisional poll in a federal election, one thing that may initially appear regarding. However even on this case, there are nonetheless protections. A provisional ballot is counted provided that the voter’s id, citizenship and residency could be confirmed within the days following the election. Kinnerup defined the method utilizing an instance she stated Arizona repeatedly offers with.

“California is a deep blue state, and a few Republicans in Southern California may need the concept to forged a poll in Arizona as a result of it is a extra aggressive election,” she stated. “So there are Republicans in Southern California who drive throughout the border to Yuma County, Arizona, stroll right into a polling place and ask for a poll.” 

By regulation, election employees are required to supply them with one. Nonetheless, to ensure that these ballots to rely, these voters would want to supply identification to verify their citizenship and residency. Their California driver’s licenses can be a crimson flag for ballot employees, indicating that these voters weren’t Arizona residents, and the ballots wouldn’t be counted after investigating the voters’ credentials.

The SAVE Act

Some Republicans have claimed these precautions are nonetheless not sufficient. In April 2024, Republican Speaker of the Home Mike Johnson met with Trump to debate considerations of voter fraud and noncitizen voting. The invoice ensuing from that dialog, the SAVE Act, would have mandated that these wishing to register to vote present documented proof of U.S. citizenship. Because of this with the intention to register to vote, voters must submit their delivery certificates — a doc that 9% of People do not have quick entry to, in line with analysis from the Brennan Center. Though the SAVE Act handed the Republican-controlled Home of Representatives, the Senate refused to carry a vote on the invoice.

In September 2024, dealing with the specter of a government shutdown, Trump posted on his social media platform, Reality Social, calling for Republicans to reject any stopgap spending invoice that didn’t embody “absolute assurances on election safety,” as a result of Democrats had been supposedly making an attempt to “stuff” voter registrations with undocumented immigrants. The SAVE Act was briefly resurrected at that time, however Democrats objected to its inclusion within the spending invoice. Ultimately, Johnson partnered with Democrats to go a invoice that didn’t embody the SAVE Act with the intention to keep away from a authorities shutdown.

It’s unclear whether or not Republicans will proceed to pursue additional laws on the federal degree to require proof of citizenship to register to vote. On the state degree, in line with the Brennan Center and the Voting Rights Lab, Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire and North Dakota have handed legal guidelines because the 2020 election that aimed to deal with nonexistent noncitizen voting utilizing documented proof of citizenship.

A Temporary Observe on the Democratic Social gathering’s Immigration Platform

A part of what made Trump’s declare of noncitizen voting stick is that it mixed two of his favourite targets: election integrity and the U.S.-Mexico border. A lot of this story has centered on disproving Trump’s claims about election integrity. Nonetheless, it’s also necessary to look at what precisely Trump and his allies declare when criticizing or attacking Kamala Harris in that regard.

The next post on X is an effective instance:

The publish claims that in a city corridor with Latino voters, Harris stated she wished to permit “unlawful immigrants to grow to be residents who will then have the ability to vote.”

That is an evidence of the Democratic Social gathering’s immigration platform and a press release in regards to the privileges of United States citizenship, not an admission that Harris goes to rig the election. Harris is stating a fact: that undocumented immigrants in america presently shouldn’t have a path to citizenship. Though it’s true that giving undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship would finally enable them, as naturalized residents, to vote in U.S. federal elections, going via that course of would doubtless take a very long time. In accordance with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, lawful everlasting residents are required to reside in america for 5 years earlier than they’re eligible to use for naturalized citizenship.

Conclusion

Snopes discovered no proof {that a} important variety of noncitizens try to register to vote within the 2024 election. After explaining the massive variety of precautions in place to cease noncitizens from voting, each the election officers we spoke to stated it’s extremely unlikely {that a} noncitizen would have the ability to efficiently forged a vote in the event that they tried, opposite to Trump’s claims

Cohen, the Wake County Board of Elections member, stated he felt baffled by the size of the claims. “The thought that a big physique of persons are doing that is silly,” he stated. “It is arduous sufficient to get folks to vote as is.”

Kinnerup, from the Maricopa County recorder’s workplace, stated she thought folks had been believing Trump’s claims due to a latest change in Arizonan politics. The demographics of Arizona have modified dramatically lately, and the media’s wrestle to foretell the winner of Arizona within the final election in all probability made some voters really feel like one thing had gone incorrect. 

However she additionally wished to remind voters that the ballot employees weren’t the enemy. “Everybody, Democrat and Republican, desires the election to be truthful,” she stated. “There is no such factor as an ideal election. However 2020 taught us so much — to arrange for the sudden.”

Sources