[[link removed]]

TRUMP CLAIMS “ILLEGAL ALIEN” VOTING IS RAMPANT. HIS OWN PARTY
DISAGREES.  
[[link removed]]


 

Andy Kroll
November 4, 2024
ProPublica
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed].]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ In a private video training session, a top Pennsylvania Republican
National Committee official reassured a new poll watcher that
undocumented people could not possibly vote in the state. _

,

 

In public remarks, former President Donald Trump has repeatedly made
unfounded claims about the threat of widespread voting by “illegal
aliens” and noncitizens in the 2024 election.

Away from the spotlight, though, at least one Republican National
Committee official is telling volunteer poll watchers a completely
different story: that such voting is close to impossible.

In a private Oct. 29 training session for poll watchers in
Pennsylvania, an RNC election-integrity specialist told volunteers not
to worry about noncitizen voting in the 2024 election because the
electoral system had safeguards in place to prevent illegal votes.

ProPublica obtained a recording of the training session. The RNC
official’s comments have not been previously reported.

Watch Footage From an RNC Election Training Session using this link: 
 [link removed]

The RNC official’s assurance contradicts statements made by Trump
and his Republican allies warning about “illegal aliens” casting
ballots this year and potentially swinging the election in favor of
Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

“It is good to see the RNC official recognizing the truth, in
contrast to the many lies about noncitizen voting coming from Trump
and his allies,” said Rick Hasen, a professor and election-law
expert at the UCLA School of Law. “It would be even better for the
officials to say it publicly.”

The RNC official who led the training session and a spokesperson for
the RNC did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Trump
campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to
ProPublica that Democrats were “pushing for non-citizens to vote and
influence the future of our country,” adding, “President Trump and
the RNC will continue the fight to secure tomorrow’s election so
that every American vote is protected.”

Voting by noncitizens is illegal under federal law and it almost
never happens
[[link removed]].
State and federal elections require voters to be U.S. citizens
[[link removed]]. Government election officials from
both parties have emphasized that there are protections in place
across the country to prevent noncitizens from casting a ballot.

Yet that hasn’t stopped Trump and some of his most high-profile
supporters from making unfounded claims that noncitizens are
registering and voting in large numbers this year. “THE DEMOCRATS
ARE TRYING TO ‘STUFF’ VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS,”
Trump posted on Truth Social
[[link removed]] in
September. Other prominent Trump supporters, including billionaire
tech investor Elon Musk and House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana,
have also amplified unfounded claims
[[link removed]] about
Democrats seeking to “import” such voters.

But on the ground, Trump’s own party, at least in the important
battleground state of Pennsylvania, is undercutting those dark visions
of illegal voting. During the Oct. 29 training session, Joe Neild, a
member of RNC’s election integrity team in the state, said such a
scenario is nearly impossible.

A participant in the training session asked Neild about the potential
for noncitizens to cast votes in the election and what poll watchers
could do to stop them.

Neild replied that, in Pennsylvania, undocumented people can’t
legally register to vote and so they would not be included in the list
of eligible voters used at voting precincts, known as poll books.

Here is the exchange:

Training participant: “I have two questions. The first one is: How
do you know if they are illegal aliens or not, like, when they’re
voting, as far as what you were explaining with the ID? And if
they’re from another country it was OK as long as they had an ID.
How do you know if they’re illegal aliens? How can you stop that?”

Neild: “Well, if they’re illegal aliens, they’re not going to be
inside the poll book. Because if they’re illegal aliens, they’re
not going to be able to register to vote, because they’ll need a
driver’s license number or a Social Security number.

“And since the recent litigation in the years past, you do have —
to be able to get a driver’s license here in Pennsylvania, you have
to show proof of citizenship. So that is one way that they will not be
able to get a driver’s license.

“And then you have to be — since they’re illegal, they’re not
going to be able to get a Social Security number either.”

Three election-law experts reviewed the exchange between Neild and the
poll-watcher trainee. All of them said that Neild’s description of
the law and the safeguards in place against noncitizen voting were
accurate.

Adam Bonin, a lawyer in Philadelphia who practices election law, said
Neild gave an accurate description of Pennsylvania law and the
safeguards against noncitizen voting there. Bonin said Neild’s
comments were “absolutely consistent” with what Pennsylvania’s
secretary of the commonwealth, Al Schmidt, a Republican, has said
about preventing noncitizen voting.

"As has been the case before, Trump has local experts on his team who
know what the law is here in Pennsylvania and who understand the
reality of how our elections work,” Bonin said.

Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School and an expert on
voting rights who worked in the Obama and Biden administrations, said
he applauded Neild for using factual information in his training
session. Levitt added that he was not surprised to hear Republican
volunteers raising fears of noncitizen voting given Trump’s campaign
rhetoric.

“There’s been a very effective effort to misinform,” Levitt
said. “But I’m glad that when push comes to shove and it comes
time to really get training, they’re being set straight.”

In addition to the registration hurdles Neild pointed out, Levitt
explained that there are clear incentives to discourage noncitizens
from voting in U.S. elections. Criminal penalties
[[link removed]] can
include a hefty fine and prison time as well as deportation and losing
the ability to become a U.S. citizen in the future. What’s more,
Levitt added, the very act of voting creates a clear and obvious paper
trail, making it that much easier for law enforcement to bring
criminal charges for illegal voting.

“Every once in a blue moon you see noncitizens showing up on the
rolls,” he said. “It’s usually by mistake because it’s just
not worth it, and they’re gonna get caught, guaranteed.”

Levitt said that he only wished the factual information given out by
the RNC at the grassroots level was also reaching the party’s
presidential nominee. “It sounds like the former president should be
sitting in on some sessions with the people training his poll
watchers,” Levitt said.

_Andy Kroll is a ProPublica reporter covering voting, elections and
democracy._

* 2024 Elections
[[link removed]]
* voting
[[link removed]]
* Donald Trump
[[link removed]]
* voter fraud
[[link removed]]
* anti-immigrant
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed].]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]