House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) insisted that illegal immigrants are voting in federal elections, but admitted that he can’t prove it.
House Republicans unveiled a bill Wednesday to ban noncitizens from voting in federal elections, which is already illegal and rarely occurs.
At a press conference, Johnson was asked to give an estimate of the number of noncitizens he claims are voting in federal elections.
“The answer is that it’s unanswerable. States are not allowed right now to prove, if somebody claims on that simple form that they’re a citizen, they can vote,” Johnson answered.
“We all know, intuitively, that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections, but it’s not been something that is easily provable,” Johnson continued. “We don’t have that number. This legislation will allow us to do exactly that. It will prevent that from happening.”
But studies show that instances of noncitizens voting are extremely rare.
A study by Brennan Center for Justice at New York University looked at 42 jurisdictions, accounting for 23.5 million votes in the 2016 presidential election, and found only 30 incidents of possible noncitizen voting, or 0.0001% of votes cast, according to Reuters
But immigration is a top issue for voters heading into the 2024 presidential election which also means misinformation will center around the topic.
A bizarre claim is that President Joe Biden is allowing migrants to enter the country illegally at the border for political gain.
One expert told NPR that by introducing a bill to make it illegal for noncitizens to vote, Republicans are indicating to their voters that this issue is something to be concerned about, even though there’s no evidence to support their claim.
“Perception is 9/10 of reality,” Ron Hayduk, an expert on noncitizen voting at San Francisco State University said. “Putting the solution on the table suggests there was a problem. And I think that’s part of the point. [These laws] create a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.”
The bill will be dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled senate. Democrats in the upper chamber have already called the bill “redundant” and a “stunt” aimed at sowing “confusion and distrust” ahead of the November election.
