by WorldTribune Staff, May 14, 2024 Contract With Our Readers
Between 10 and 27 percent of non-citizen adults in the United States are illegally registered to vote, a new study found.
Just Facts reported on May 13 that it based its study "on the latest available data and an enhanced version of a stress-tested methodology from a scholarly journal."
The data show that the U.S. Census recorded more than 19 million adult non-citizens living in the U.S. during 2022.
"Given their voter registration rates, this means that about two million to five million of them are illegally registered to vote," Just Facts noted. "These figures are potentially high enough to overturn the will of the American people in major elections, including congressional seats and the presidency."
Just Facts said it used the methodology behind a groundbreaking 2014 study by Electoral Studies in which three scholars estimated how frequently non-citizens were illegally voting. Based on data for the 2008 presidential and congressional elections, the 2014 study found that:
• Roughly one quarter of non-citizens in the U.S. were likely registered to vote.
• 6.4% of non-citizens actually voted.
• 81.8% of them reported voting for Barack Obama.
• Illegal votes cast by non-citizens likely changed important election outcomes in favor of Democrats, including Electoral College votes and a pivotal U.S. Senate race that enabled Democrats to pass Obamacare.
Just Facts noted: "So-called fact checkers and certain scholars have repeatedly tried to dispute the Electoral Studies paper and Just Facts’ study. However, their criticisms were mathematically illiterate and laced with unrealistic assumptions, empty arguments, half-truths, and outright falsehoods."
One of those so-called "fact checkers," Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post, "also misreports the results of Just Facts’ study."
Kessler claimed the Just Facts study found non-citizens gave Biden “almost an additional 18,000 votes” in Arizona in 2020.
"In reality, the study plainly states that non-citizens gave Biden an 'extra' 51,081 ± 17,689 votes in Arizona. This equals 33,000 to 69,000—not 18,000," Just Facts noted. "Ironically, Donald Trump was indicted by a D.C. grand jury for accurately citing the lower bound of those figures."
All 50 states require people to be U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in federal elections, and federal law forbids non-citizens from falsely claiming citizenship to register to vote.
"However, enforcement mechanisms for such laws are limited, and opportunities to get around them are ample," Just Facts noted.
"For a prime example, federal law requires all states to register voters for federal elections via a form developed by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The form requires people to declare that they are U.S. citizens, but it doesn’t require them to prove it."
Several states, including Arizona and Georgia, tried to require people who register with the federal form to provide “documentary evidence” of citizenship, but they were blocked by court rulings supported by the Obama administration.
"So instead of proof of citizenship, the federal form allows people to register and vote with assorted forms of 'identification' like a utility bill or bank statement," Just Facts noted.
Earlier this month, Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy led a group of 49 GOP House members in introducing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require states to obtain proof of citizenship – in person – when registering an individual to vote. It would also require states to remove non-citizens from existing voter rolls.
"Secure elections are a key cornerstone for any representative government; without them, we won't have a country," Rep. Roy said. "Radical progressive Democrats know this and are using open border policies while also attacking election integrity laws to fundamentally remake America. That's why I am proud to introduce the SAVE Act with Speaker Johnson and my Republican colleagues, along with the invaluable support of citizens and organizations that recognize we must end the practice of non-citizens voting in our elections."
