(PartiallyPolitics.com) – Former President Donald Trump and Representative Mike Johnson (R-La.) are working together to promote legislation aimed at preventing noncitizens from participating in federal elections, as reported by USA Today. Johnson plans to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate this Friday to discuss the proposal. This collaboration comes during a period of strained relations between Johnson and the Trump-supporting conservatives in the House, particularly after a recent bipartisan push that didn’t sit well with them.
The partnership between Trump and Johnson on this issue could potentially mend the divisions within their party, especially after Johnson faced a notable setback regarding surveillance legislation earlier this week. However, the focus of their discussion at Mar-a-Lago—preventing noncitizen voting in federal elections—addresses a problem that is both infrequent and already unlawful.
An analysis of the Heritage Foundation’s database, which tracks instances of voter fraud, shows that out of 1,499 verified cases, fewer than 50 involve noncitizen voting or related fraud. It’s important to note that under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, noncitizens are already prohibited from voting in federal elections. Some localities do allow noncitizens to vote in local matters, such as city council or school board elections, with the District of Columbia recently permitting noncitizen voting in all local elections. This decision was upheld by a federal judge who dismissed a lawsuit challenging it in March.
The issue of noncitizen voting has been a key element of Trump’s stance on immigration, suggesting that it’s part of a broader narrative that migrants aim to influence U.S. elections. This narrative was highlighted in a recent post by Trump on Truth Social, where he responded to rumors of President Biden’s potential asylum policy changes. In his post, Trump inaccurately claimed that Biden’s administration intends to convert undocumented immigrants into voting citizens.
Despite such claims, most undocumented immigrants lack a legal pathway to citizenship, and those legally in the U.S. often wait many years before they can vote. The Bipartisan Policy Center has found no evidence that noncitizen voting has ever affected the outcome of U.S. elections. Therefore, while the efforts of Trump and Johnson may resonate with certain political bases, they largely address an issue that is already well-regulated and limited in scope.
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