The House passed a bill on Thursday to reverse a District of Columbia law that permits noncitizens to vote in local elections. This move is part of a broader Republican effort to push false claims made by former President Donald J. Trump regarding widespread illegal voting by immigrants, which is already illegal in federal elections.
Although the bill is unlikely to be considered by the Democratic-controlled Senate or signed into law by President Biden, Republicans are using it to sow doubt about the country’s election laws and infrastructure ahead of the upcoming general election in November. This tactic aligns with Mr. Trump’s strategy to preemptively accuse Democrats of cheating him out of the presidency.
Despite lacking evidence, the former president has persistently alleged that federal elections are vulnerable to widespread voter fraud and illegal voting by undocumented immigrants, which he claims has skewed election outcomes in favor of Democrats. Congressional Republicans have echoed these claims.
Washington, D.C., along with more than a dozen other municipalities in states like California, Maryland, and Vermont, allows noncitizen residents to vote in local elections. However, very few eligible voters under these local laws actually exercise this right.
The vote to overturn the District’s voting law was 262-143, with 52 Democrats and all Republicans in support. Republicans argue that the D.C. law is part of a larger effort across the country to grant voting rights to individuals who should not be allowed to vote.
Representative Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey called the D.C. law a dangerous and un-American attempt to gain power, emphasizing the need to stop it. He and other Republicans who have raised concerns about noncitizens gaining voting rights pointed to the D.C. law as evidence of a legitimate fear.
While there is no evidence of noncitizens voting in the 2020 presidential election, Mr. Trump and other Republicans have suggested that it could happen this year. They attribute this possibility to the increase in migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and argue that even a small number of illegal votes could sway a presidential election.
Representative August Pfluger of Texas, the bill’s author, emphasized the importance of barring noncitizens from voting in any election, including in Washington, D.C. However, Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting delegate, criticized Congress’s interference in local affairs and questioned the timing of the effort, given that primary voting was already underway for some elections.
Under the Constitution, Congress has authority over D.C. affairs. Last year, the House passed two measures to overturn D.C. laws, including the noncitizen voting law. While one of the measures was signed into law by President Biden, the Senate declined to repeal the noncitizen voting law, allowing it to remain in effect. It is expected to do the same this year, preserving the voting law as is.
This article includes reporting from Luke Broadwater.
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