During Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Hearing on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, no witnesses brought forward by Democrats agreed that only citizens should vote in federal elections.
Seeking clarity on this issue, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) asked each witness to provide “yes” or “no” answers to several questions.
The Federalist published an exchange between Lee and Democrat witness, executive director of The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Damon T. Hewitt.
“Do you believe that only citizens of the United States should be able to vote in federal elections?” Lee asked.
Hewitt replied: “We don’t have a position about non-citizens voting in federal elections, we believe that’s what the current laws are, and so we’re certainly fighting for everyone who is eligible under current law to vote.”
Similar answers were provided by the president of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, Lydia Camarillo, and the Director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, Sophia Lin Laken.
Laken boldly testified: “Federal law prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections and our focus is on enabling all eligible voters to be able to vote and cast their ballot.”
Republican witnesses took the opposite view. Maureen Riordan, the counsel at the Public Interest Legal Foundation, and Hans von Spakovsky, the Manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative at the Heritage Foundation, testified that only citizens should be permitted to vote in federal elections.
Lee received similar responses when he asked witnesses if they believed voters should provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
Those who testified that residence, not citizenship, should determine voter eligibility also argued against regulations requiring individuals to show documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
It is illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections.
The vast majority of Americans agree that photo ID should be required to vote.
Why do some people in Washington oppose this simple measure to secure our elections? pic.twitter.com/oj0vkXHqIf
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) March 12, 2024
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) refuted Democrat claims that requiring proof of citizenship was a form of racism. A video of his passionate presentation garnered more than 137,000 views in one day.
Several Republican lawmakers have announced their desire to address election integrity concerns by strengthening voter registration rules. Current federal law requires voters to indicate on the voter registration form that they are citizens. However, individuals are not required to provide proof of citizenship.
Lee posted: “If voter fraud can’t be proven, it’s as though it didn’t happen. Photo ID laws make it possible to prove voter fraud.”
He also reposted Elon Musk’s comment, which read: “Failure to require photo ID to vote obviously makes it impossible to prove voter fraud. That is why the far left refuses to require photo ID to vote.”
If voter fraud can’t be proven, it’s as though it didn’t happen.
Photo ID laws make it possible to prove voter fraud.
Are Democrats really so bold as to oppose voter ID laws BECAUSE they want to facilitate voter fraud? https://t.co/9yRUOfPG9T
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) March 13, 2024
In 2013, the Supreme Court overturned an Arizona law requiring voters to provide proof of citizenship before registering to vote in national elections. MSN reported that Justice Anthony Scalia wrote the majority opinion, affirming that states could not require documentation the voter form itself does not require.
