The House Administration Committee Chairman has expressed concerns about Washington D.C.'s new law allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections, alleging that the law is being actively encouraged and may extend to foreign nationals.
House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil has sent a letter to the D.C. Board of Elections expressing concern about the 2022 legislation that allows non-citizens to vote in local elections. Steil's committee oversees how elections are conducted and believes that allowing non-citizens to vote undermines confidence in the electoral process.
"American elections are for American citizens only," Steil stated in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Every American deserves to have confidence in their elections, and it does not instill confidence when we see our nation's capital encourage non-citizen voting in local elections. I'm working to hold the D.C. Board of Elections accountable and stop non-citizen voting."
The Local Resident Voting Rights Act, passed by the D.C. Council in October 2022, allows non-citizens who have resided in Washington, D.C., for at least 30 days to vote in local elections. It also permits non-citizen residents to run for local government offices and serve on the city's Board of Elections. However, it excludes illegal immigrants from voting.
The law has sparked outrage from Republicans and led to an unsuccessful effort in Congress to overturn it. Steil's letter alleges that the Board of Elections is actively encouraging non-citizen voting by hosting virtual town halls and sending postcards to residential customers advocating for non-citizens to register to vote.
Steil's letter raises a series of questions, including how election workers will differentiate between those qualified to vote and those not, and whether foreign nationals representing their capitals as embassy personnel will be able to vote. He also asks why a form for non-citizen registration allegedly does not have the requirement that an applicant not be in jail for a felony conviction.
In response to concerns raised by Steil and other Republicans, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, introduced a bill to require proof of citizenship in any municipal election in D.C.
The issue of non-citizen voting has also arisen in New York City, where a similar bill was passed in December 2021. However, a New York judge ruled in June that the bill violated the state's constitution and was therefore illegal.
The debate over non-citizen voting is likely to continue as states and municipalities consider measures to expand or restrict voting rights. Republicans have generally opposed allowing non-citizens to vote, while Democrats have supported such measures as a way to increase voter participation and representation of immigrant communities.
