Conservative group spotlights law to clamp down on illegal voter registration – Washington Examiner
A conservative organization, America First Legal, is actively working to educate state election officials about a law designed to prevent illegal voter registration, particularly concerning individuals who have recently entered the U.S. Gene Hamilton, the group’s Executive Director, highlights the potential impact of illegal immigration on election outcomes, especially in pivotal swing states like Arizona and Georgia. He points to a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows states to access information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to verify an individual’s citizenship status.
During a conversation on The Megyn Kelly Show, Hamilton noted that although states have the legal right to obtain this information, there have been concerns about the DHS potentially delaying responses to these requests. He suggested that states could enforce deadlines and threaten legal action if necessary. In anticipation of the 2024 election, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has issued an executive order aimed at improving election security, including measures for voter list maintenance. the discussion emphasizes the importance of ensuring that illegal voters do not influence election results.
Conservative group spotlights law to clamp down on illegal voter registration
Ahead of the presidential election, one organization is working to educate state election officials on the law when it comes to people who recently entered the country trying to cast a ballot.
America First Legal Executive Director Gene Hamilton says there is a law, which is regulated by the Department of Homeland Security, that can be used to keep illegal immigrants off of voter rolls.
Hamilton told journalist Megyn Kelly how there are “millions upon millions of illegal aliens” who have entered the United States over the last few years and that it only takes a couple of thousand of these people to get registered to vote and change the election outcome in swing states like Arizona or Georgia. As such, he discussed a section in the Immigration and Nationality Act that states can use to secure their elections, as states or local governments can receive information from DHS “to verify or ascertain the citizenship states of any individual in their jurisdiction” under this law.
“And so what the DHS is doing is that they’ve been telling the states and local governments, ‘Hey, you have to use the SAVE database and you have to use this alien registration number as the query. Oh, and by the way, DHS charges the states and localities to use it,’” Hamilton said on Thursday’s episode of The Megyn Kelly Show. “But there is a separate provision of law that no one was using up until recently that says that, actually, the states are entitled to receive this information as a matter of law, and it’s about any individual, and it’s to ascertain or to verify their citizenship or immigration status for any purpose authorized under law.”
Kelly questioned if state leadership would be willing to look into using this, arguing that only Democratic states would be willing to seriously take this action. Hamilton acknowledged this is “a real conundrum” but argued that “everyone should be doing this.”
Hamilton was then asked what states who use this law can do if the DHS chooses to “slow-roll” with their requests, with Kelly suggesting that DHS could hypothetically provide the information requested from states after the election. To remedy this, Hamilton said states can give DHS “hard and fast deadlines” and threaten to sue if this information is not provided in a timely manner.
Ahead of the 2024 election, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) issued an executive order to “protect legal voters and accurate counts,” which included “stringent ballot security, complete and thorough counting machine testing,” and “best-in-the-nation voter list maintenance.” Between January 2022 and July 2024, 6,303 noncitizens were removed from the voter rolls, according to the executive order.
Kelly argued that Youngkin is “trying to set things right” with this order, prompting Hamilton to agree and argue “his efforts should be commended.”
On Thursday, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to put back into effect an Arizona law requiring those registering to vote to provide documentary proof of citizenship. However, the court left on hold separate provisions that would prevent people without proof of citizenship from voting in presidential elections or by mail if they registered to vote using a federal registration form.
Earlier this month, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley revealed that the RNC has 157,000 volunteers for its Protect the Vote program, exceeding the 100,000 goal originally set. Whatley ensured that the RNC will continue to work so it has “the biggest, most robust national election integrity program in the history of the country.”
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