Senate Democrats are currently blocking the SAVE America Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID to cast a ballot. They insist the legislation is unnecessary, arguing noncitizen voting is already illegal.
Sen. Alex Padilla said noncitizen voting in federal elections “is already a felony” and that the legislation is a “misguided ‘solution’ in search of a problem that does not exist.”
It’s the same rhetoric the ACLU of Illinois uses that Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) shared as part of an official statement.
The SAVE America Act is a “solution in search of a problem,” the statement, shared by Durbin, read.
But look no further than Democrat-led cities to find the “problem,” where Democrats have been fighting to let noncitizens vote in local elections.
New York City Democrats fought to permit 800,000 noncitizens to vote in municipal elections, which includes the races for mayor, council member, borough president, comptroller, and public advocate. Noncitizens who were a “lawful permanent resident or authorized to work in the United States,” had been living in Manhattan for at least 30 consecutive days by the time of the election, and satisfied “all qualifications for registering or pre-registering to vote under the election law, except for possessing United States citizenship” would have been eligible to vote under the law.
The law was first struck down by the Second Judicial Department, which aptly noted that “noncitizens could potentially make up 15% or more of the electorate in future elections … which is greater than the margin of victory in many municipal elections.”
The New York State Court of Appeals shot down the law in a 6-1 decision, finding it unconstitutional.
But New York wasn’t alone in trying to let noncitizens vote.
Just last year, Washington, D.C.’s Board of Elections were tied up in court fighting to preserve a district law that permitted noncitizens to vote in local elections. The law, the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022, permitted noncitizens 18 and older who lived in Washington, D.C., for at least 30 days prior to an election to vote in local elections and on ballot initiatives.
Oakland, California voters approved a charter amendment in 2022 permitting noncitizens who have children to vote for the Office of Oakland School Board Director, though the law has not been implemented yet, according to Ballotpedia. Meanwhile, 16 towns in Maryland permit noncitizens to vote and three Vermont municipalities permit noncitizen voting, according to Ballotpedia.
Democrats and their allies can keep claiming that the SAVE America Act is a “solution in search of a problem” that does not exist. But it’s a claim that is hard to square with the agenda of countless Democrats nationwide who have gone out of their way to normalize and let noncitizens vote.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
