Iowa AG Charges Noncitizen For Voting

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird just brought voter fraud charges against a noncitizen for voting.

Bird charged Jorge Oscar Sanchez-Vasquez with two counts of election misconduct last week — “registering to vote and illegally voting on the same day, July 16, 2024, in a special election for the Marshalltown City Council,” as outlined in a Friday press release. Bird’s office says Sanchez-Vasquez legally resides in the United States.

The charges come after Republicans and election integrity advocates have been sounding the alarm about noncitizen voting — one of the primary drivers behind the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act recently killed by both parties in the House, along with the government funding measure to which it was attached. There have also been statewide efforts to strengthen election integrity safeguards, such as the New Hampshire no-excuse voter ID and citizenship law recently enacted — though, that will not take effect until after this year’s election.

The Federalist has also reported on the growing threat of noncitizen voting, particularly in light of the border crisis. Earlier this month, for example, The Federalist reported that the federal government only prosecuted 35 cases of illegal aliens voting in U.S. elections in 21 years, despite the fact that untold millions have poured across the southern border at the same time — and that at least tens-of-thousands had been illegally registered to vote.

Sanchez-Vasquez allegedly signed a voter registration form swearing under oath he is a U.S. citizen, the Des Moines Register reported.

While corporate media maintains that noncitizen voting is not a real issue, that it is already illegal, and that, even if noncitizens vote, it is probably because they were accidentally registered, Marshall County Sheriff Joel Phillips said that the investigation indicates Sanchez-Vasquez “knew what he was doing,” according to the Times-Republican.

“He had full knowledge (that) he was not valid to vote,” Phillips reportedly said, adding that “[t]his typically does not happen.”

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, discussed noncitizen voting in a Friday episode of Iowa Press, “a few hours before the charges against the Marshalltown man were announced,” according to the outlet Radio Iowa. “[T]he law says pretty clearly you have to be a U.S. citizen to vote,” he said. “We have voter ID. So, we are establishing a baseline of you have to prove who you are. We also are working with our partners, we work with the court system, there are various partners who help us identify those folks who are here legally but not U.S. citizens.”

“[O]ur role is to make sure only eligible voters vote. Even one, two, five, a hundred, whatever the number might be is not acceptable. So, we’ll keep trying to make sure we’re protecting and keeping that away,” he continued. “I don’t believe in Iowa we have any of those types of massive voter fraud.”

In Marshall County, registered voters must present a valid photo identification card, and “[v]oter information which the county has will confirm a person’s eligibility,” as detailed in the Times-Republican.

An unregistered voter can register to vote on election day but must additionally provide proof of residency and answer questions about whether they are a U.S. citizen and at least 18 years old by election day, according to the outlet. The signature line of the document warns those registering that they are affirming that they are telling the truth under penalty of perjury.

According to the Times-Republican, the Marshall County auditor’s office is set to include more security measures to prevent voter fraud.

“On election day, we will have an extra step in the process,” County Auditor Nan Benson said, according to the outlet. “We will be adding another set of eyes to look over registration forms. That will include absentee voting, which begins Oct. 16.”

“If someone is voting when they are not supposed to be, it will be investigated and turned over to law enforcement,” she reportedly added. “We are not going to ignore it. It will not be set aside. Anything suspicious will be given to law enforcement.”

For more election news and updates, visit electionbriefing.com.

Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.