(LibertySons.org) – Two current hot-button topics politically are election security and immigration. Those topics collide when state and local governments consider allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections. One GOP governor is now making sure that can’t happen in his state.
According to federal law, among other restrictions, only citizens are allowed to vote in national elections like the one in November when we elect the next president. However, those laws don’t apply to state and municipal elections, and requirements for voting vary by location. As long as the local laws don’t contradict the federal minimums, states, counties, cities, and even school boards can make their own rules.
Increasingly, these local requirements are allowing legal non-citizens to participate in elections. Proponents say this allows legal residents, as long as they meet all other criteria, to have a say in how they are governed and how their children are educated.
Opponents of these relaxed restrictions worry that legal immigrants will impact voter confidence in the election process.
In Idaho, it is not legal for non-citizens to vote in any election. However, that didn’t stop Governor Brad Little (R) from reinforcing the laws with a new executive order. The Only Citizens Will Vote Act directs county clerks to scrub voter rolls of non-citizens who might be registered.
In the governor’s announcement accompanying the order, Little said, “Idaho already has the most secure elections in the nation, and we’re going to keep it that way.”
A similar bill at the national level faced a vote in the House on Wednesday, July 10. All Republicans and five Democrats joined forces to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act in a 221-198 vote. If passed, the measure would require people to provide proof of US citizenship when registering.
The SAVE act now heads to the Senate where, due to the Democratic majority, it will likely die before a vote is called. Biden has promised to veto the measure if it did happen to make it to his desk.
~Here’s to Our Liberty!
Copyright 2024, LibertySons.org
