Top election officials Letters were sent to all 50 states on Monday, encouraging them to ask the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security for the information needed to properly crosscheck state voter rolls and ensure that noncitizens are not registered to vote in federal elections before November.
America First Legal (AFL)A conservative nonprofit said it has sent a letter to every state’s top elections official and a copy to every governor and state attorney general, advising them about “two important tools” that exist under existing federal law “that Congress has provided to verify the citizenship status of individuals registered to vote in your state.” The letters specifically cited federal statutes 8 USC § 1373 and 8 USC § 1644.
“These tools, codified in federal law for decades, allow you to submit a request for information about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for any lawful purpose. This includes an investigation where you have reason to believe that someone who is registered to vote may not be a citizen of the United States,” wrote Jean Hamilton, executive director, America First Legal Foundation, in a seven-page letter sent to every state. “Given the unprecedented levels of illegal immigration since January 20, 2021, the need for action could not be greater, and the stakes could not be higher. If you act now, there is still time to perform legally correct voter list maintenance and remove ineligible foreign nationals from your state’s voter rolls before the autumn elections.”
Under federal law, foreign citizens are prohibited from voting or registering to vote in federal elections, but states have an obligation to maintain voter rolls and ensure that ineligible people are removed.
A voter casts his ballot at a polling station in Rye, New York, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The nonprofit pointed out that the federal voter registration form created by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) does not require applicants to show documentary proof of citizenship. The form only requires voter registrants to sign an oath “under penalty of perjury” swearing or affirming that “I am a United States citizen.”
US Supreme CourtAs America First Legal explains, it was previously held that because the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) requires states to “accept and use” the EAC form, “the NVRA prohibits states from requiring that applicants submit additional information beyond that required by the federal form.”
DHS U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provides states with a system for verifying the immigration status of foreign nationals known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. But America First Legal asserts that “SAVE has a design flaw and does not fully solve the serious problem of foreign nationals voting in federal elections.”
Most notably, SAVE requires users to submit an alien registration number or another DHS identifier to run a query through the system — something that states and local areas do not have when registering someone to vote. In addition, SAVE does not process Social Security or driver license numbers, which are the identification numbers that state and local officials are most likely to have.
“Thus, in practice, SAVE is virtually useless for verifying the citizenship of voter registrants,” the letter states. “It can only be useful if a state has unique numeric identifiers that are searchable variables in SAVE. Most states will not have access to these identifiers, in part because none of these identifiers are required under the current version of the EAC federal voter registration form. States cannot use the most readily available identifiers they have, including Social Security and driver’s license numbers.”
The letter proposed a solution: “States should submit requests to DHS to verify the citizenship or immigration status of voters registered on the voter rolls — and DHS has a legal obligation to provide such information.”
A sign directing people to a polling place at the Bronx County Supreme Courthouse during the Democratic primary on June 25, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The nonprofit argues that the request, citing federal statutes 1373 and 1644 that “require DHS to search for specific individuals using any available information, such as name and date of birth.”
“Based on the information you receive, you may take further steps consistent with applicable law to ensure that only U.S. citizens remain on your voter rolls. Congress has imposed a mandatory obligation on DHS to respond to lawful inquiries about an individual’s citizenship or immigration status. If DHS refuses or fails to provide this information, you may initiate legal action to obtain it,” the letter states.
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Last month, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which, if passed, would require states to obtain proof of citizenship — in person — when registering someone to vote, and would require states to remove noncitizens from existing voter rolls. America First Legal said that while such bills aimed at reforming the NVRA “are essential to protecting the integrity of our elections,” Monday’s letter “offers something states can do right now until legislation like the SAVE Act becomes law.”
Fox News Digital has partnered with the White House and Department of Homeland Security was contacted for comment on Tuesday.
A man goes to vote in Santa Ana, California, on “Super Tuesday,” March 5, 2024. (FREDERICK J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
Stephen Miller, President of America First Legal He said the letters came “in response to this extraordinary threat to our elections,” and provided elections officials in all 50 states with an “emergency action plan” outlining “what immediate steps they can take to protect our democracy by removing illegal aliens and noncitizens from their voter rolls.”
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“States have the supreme authority, obligation, and expectation from the American people to prevent noncitizens from voting in elections,” Hamilton said in a statement. “Congress has provided states with the tools necessary to verify the citizenship status of registered voters and remove ineligible foreign nationals — but states must act swiftly to ensure that only citizens vote in this fall’s elections. Failure to use these available tools is an abdication of responsibility to ensure that our elections are decided solely by and for the American people.”
