The law would require states to obtain proof of citizenship from anyone registering to vote. For the first time, the federal government would provide states with access to all its databases so they can clean up their voter registration rolls and remove noncitizens.
There is ample evidence that noncitizens are voting in U.S. elections: A 2014 study by two Old Dominion University professors, based on survey data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, indicated that 6.4% of all non-citizens voted illegally in the 2008 presidential election, and 2.2% in the 2010 midterms. Their votes likely determined the outcome in several close races.
Meanwhile, several states are pursuing their own voter integrity measures. Last week, Kansas passed a law requiring absentee ballots arrive at election offices by the end of Election Day to be counted. Texas and Iowa moved closer to specifying how to require proof of citizenship to vote.
Congress should also pass a bill to bar any president from politicizing federal agencies to partner with outside groups for targeted "get out the vote" efforts that favor one party over another. This was done during the Biden administration.
Progressives continue to claim that any changes in election laws will disenfranchise voters and lower voter turnout. But the reason they never present any real evidence showing that is simple: as more voter ID laws and efforts to clean up voter rolls have been implemented, voter turnout actually goes up, not down. This is because people are more confident in the honesty of elections.
