Savannah Hulsey Pointer, FISM News
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has presented a new bill that would block the District of Columbia from using federal funding to permit illegal aliens to cast ballots in elections.
A law allowing non-citizens to cast ballots in municipal elections was approved by D.C. City Council by a vote of 12 to 1 last month, as Fox News reported. According to the measure, noncitizens who are otherwise eligible to vote may do so in municipal elections provided they have lived in Washington, D.C., for at least 30 days.
Should the measure receive Mayor Muriel Bowser’s approval it would be forwarded to Congress in accordance with the D.C. Home Rule Act. If she vetoes the proposal, it could still be overridden with the support of two-thirds of the council.
The District of Columbia would not be permitted to use any federal funding to carry out its decision to allow non-citizens to vote under Cruz’s proposed legislation.
The issue of illegal immigrants voting in elections has been a troubling one for many conservatives who believe casting a ballot is a right of citizens only.
Hans A. von Spakovsky, an Election Law Reform Initiative Manager, Senior Legal Fellow for the Heritage Foundation, and Jessica Anderson, the Executive Director of Heritage Action for America, offered analysis about the issue of illegal aliens voting.
“There is no way of knowing how many of these illegal immigrants may have become registered because California, as both a state that provides people with driver’s licenses and a sanctuary jurisdiction, has gone to extraordinary lengths to shield the information in its DMV files on the citizenship status of its licensees (and thus voter registrants),” the pair’s commentary on illegal immigrants voting.
“The truth is, that America already has a problem with illegal immigrants registering and voting, as demonstrated by numerous reports and cases. Given the vulnerabilities and security weaknesses in the U.S. registration system … this problem [could get] much, much worse.”
Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo brought Congressman-elect John James on her show in the aftermath of the recent midterm election, asking the Michigan Republican how many undocumented immigrants voted in Arizona and other parts of the country.
“People are really disenfranchised by the fact that Election Day is no longer Election Day. I mean, here we are, five days and the ballots are still being counted in Arizona. What’s going on? Is there anything that you can do to get us back to where we were? And by the way, how many illegals voted in this election?” Bartiromo said according to Mediaite.
In his response, James argued in favor of the requirement for voter identification: “We need to make sure that our elections are free and fair, but we also need to make sure that only folks who are legally able to vote can vote,” he said. “I think that the government owes the people secure elections, and frankly, it is our job to make sure that folks have trust in their election. I am looking forward to making sure we do everything we can to make sure everyone legally able to vote can vote; those who are not, can’t.”
Bartiromo thanked James for his time and asked him to “tell the officials in Washington D.C. that, because right now they’re trying to get illegals to vote in local elections.”