Proof of Citizenship
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution stipulates that the right to vote in federal elections for the Senate, House of Representatives and presidency is limited to U.S. citizens.
With few exceptions, most state constitutions explicitly authorize only resident citizens to vote in state and local elections.
Currently, there is no state or national database or system to verify the citizenship of voters. Many states utilize self-reported citizenship information from non-citizen residents, but some use the national Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements Program database at the Department of Homeland Security to assist in verifying citizenship status. Several states attempting to prevent non-citizen voting have enacted laws requiring proof of U.S. citizenship of registrants when registering to vote.
Our current honor system on the part of registrants under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 includes a provision that created a federal voter registration form that requires applicants under penalty of perjury to check a “yes” or “no” box as to whether they are U.S. citizens. However, the federal form does not require any proof of citizenship, and its use has been shown to be ineffective in deterring non-citizens from registering to vote.
This issue has been hotly contested in the courts with advocates for this sensible safeguard against fraudulent voter registration up against a solid flank of left-wing groups such as Common Cause, Project Vote, the League of Women Voters and the American Civil Liberties Union.
In April 2015, the ACRU filed an amicus brief in Kobach v. United States Election Assistance Commission at the U.S. Supreme Court that included evidence that non-citizens in Texas were registering to vote using the federal form. On June 29, 2015, the Supreme Court denied Kansas’s and Arizona’s writ of certiorari petition, thus letting stand a 10th Circuit ruling that the states may not require applicants using the federal voter registration form to show documents proving citizenship when registering to vote in federal races.
ACRU Commentary
News
Kansas Sec. State: Election Showed Voter ID Did Not Suppress Turnout
HUTCHINSON -- Secretary of State Kris Kobach boasted that 51 percent voter turnout in November 2014 showed that requirements to prevent voter fraud actually can improve turnout. Speaking Dec. 2 at the Patriot Freedom Alliance meeting in Hutchinson, Kobach pointed out that participation in the midterm general election in November 2010 - prior to the new voter rules - was 50 percent. Kobach successfully sought legislation to require voter photo identification, to add security for mail ballots, and to mandate proof of citizenship for new voters. Critics charged the law would suppress voter turnout. "The argument is dead," Kobach said. Kobach's selection of 2010 as a benchmark made 51 percent appear good. He didn't mention, though, the 52 percent turnout rate in the 2006 midterm, or the 53 percent turnout in 2002. He selected 2010 for comparison, he told the audience, because the election circumstances in 2010 were "extremely similar to this year," with interesting races. The country had an unpopular president in 2010 - President Obama - and Kansas had an open race for governor and the U.S. Senate on the ballot, Kobach said. In 2010, Kansans had a "very competitive" race for governor, and a "very competitive" Senate race, especially in the August 2010 primary but in the general election as well, Kobach said.
Citizenship Rule Takes Effect in Arizona, Kansas Primaries
Election rules in Kansas and Arizona that require proof of U.S. citizenship are set to take effect in coming weeks in state primaries. Some people will be barred from voting in state races, even as the federal government allows some of them to vote in congressional races. The split system is the result of a growing battle between federal officials and a handful of states over the necessity of verifying that a newly registered voter is a U.S. citizen. Kansas and Arizona say the federal registration process doesn't rigorously check citizenship. They have established their own verification systems and are barring people who register using the federal system from voting this month for such offices as governor and local posts. In recent years, mostly Republican-controlled states have tightened voting rules, including requiring voters to produce picture identification at the polls, arguing it prevents fraud. "There is a very real problem with aliens being registered to vote," said Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who said about a dozen states are likely to pass such measures in coming years.
78% Favor Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Register to Vote
A federal judge has upheld the right of states to require proof of citizenship before allowing someone to register to vote. Voters continue to overwhelmingly support such a requirement. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 78% of Likely U.S. Voters believe everyone should be required to prove his or her citizenship before being allowed to register to vote. That's up from 71% a year ago. Just 19% oppose that requirement.
Judge Rules for Kansas, Arizona in Citizenship Voter ID Case
A U.S. District Court judge ruled Wednesday that Arizona and Kansas can require anyone registering to vote to prove their citizenship and the federal Election Assistance Commission cannot block them. The ruling is a boost for states' rights and marks a setback for President Obama and other liberals who fought stiffer voter ID checks with an argument that they reduce voter turnout.
Justice Dept. Lawyer in Court to Oppose Kansas Citizenship Rule
Justice Department lawyer Bradley Heard was in court on Feb. 12 trying to stop Kansas from ensuring that only citizens register to vote. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, relying on a United States Supreme Court opinion of last year, asked the federal Election Assistance Commission to permit him to ensure that only citizens were registering to vote. The Election Assistance Commission said no, so Mr. Kobach went to federal court. Enter Eric Holder's Justice Department, as usual, opposing election integrity measures. Despite harping about resource concerns (which apparently means that the DOJ can do nothing about corrupted voter rolls), Holder found the time and money to send Bradley Heard to a hearing in Kansas to argue against Kobach's election integrity measures.
States Seek Right to Ask New Voters for Citizenship Proof
States are vowing to go to the courts for permission to ask newly registered voters to show proof of citizenship after a federal commission ruled late Friday that it's up to the national government, not states, to decide what to include on registration forms. Under the motor-voter law, federal officials distribute voter-registration forms in all of the states. Arizona, Kansas and Georgia all asked that those forms request proof of citizenship, but the federal Election Assistance Commission rejected that in a 46-page ruling released late Friday, just ahead of a court-imposed deadline.