Should the federal government prohibit noncitizens from voting in local elections in Washington DC?

Government Operations (e.g., Election Laws)
To prohibit individuals who are not citizens of the United States from voting in elections in D.C. (H.R. 192)
This bill has Passed the House of Representatives
Bill Summary

H.R. 192 seeks to ban noncitizens from voting in elections in Washington D.C. by overturning a previous law allowing for non-citizen participation in certain elections. Notably, noncitizens are already banned from voting in federal elections under existing law; this bill would only prohibit their participation in local elections, like mayor, school board, and city council. It is also important to note that a noncitizen is not the same as an illegal or undocumented immigrant, many lawful temporary and permanent residents do not have full citizenship status. Sponsor: Rep. August Pfluger (Republican, Texas, District 11)
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Opponents say

•    "Make no mistake, false and misleading information about our election system is being presented by Congress in an attempt to undermine voter confidence ahead of November. This is just another attempt to spread misinformation about our democratic systems and to sow distrust in our elections. It’s long been illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, and there is virtually no evidence that it happens. Our elected leaders should prioritize passing legislation like the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act that would make voting more accessible for Americans, rather than bills like this which harm American voters." Source: League of Women Voters 


•    "The Trump-Johnson proposal to ban noncitizen voting seeks to solve a problem that does not exist. Noncitizens have been barred from voting in federal elections in the United States for at least a century. And since 1996, noncitizen voting in federal elections has been a crime punishable with fines and imprisonment. While a handful of municipalities lawfully permit noncitizens to vote exclusively in local elections, those localities are the exception. Accordingly, introducing new legislation to ban noncitizen voting in federal elections is unnecessary." Source: National Immigration Forum

Proponents say

•    "If you’re in the United States illegally, you don’t have the right to vote—period. Liberals in Washington, D.C. who want to allow noncitizens to vote are putting the integrity of our election system at risk. My bill will put a stop to it. Americans deserve the confidence in our elections and to know that only legal citizens are voting in the United States of America." Source: Rep. August Pfluger (Republican, Texas, District 11)


•    "We are here this morning for a very important reason, as you all know, because there is currently an unprecedented and a clear and present danger to the integrity of our election system. And that is the threat of non-citizens and illegal aliens voting in our elections… Americans are deeply concerned about this. And it doesn't matter where you live or whether you're in a blue state or a red state, everyone's concerned. And due to the wide-open border that the Biden administration has refused to close - in fact that they engineered to open - we now have so many non-citizens in the country that if only one out of 100 of those voted, they would cast hundreds of thousands of votes. And since our elections are so razor thin in these days that we're in, just a few precincts in a few states decide the makeup of Congress and who is elected to the White House. This is a dangerously high number, and it's a great concern to millions and millions of Americans." Source: Rep. Mike Johnson (Republican, Louisiana, District 4), Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives


•    "American elections are for American citizens. And we intend to keep it that way. Recently, we have seen Democrat-run cities allowing noncitizen voting in local elections… This causes a host of problems for a state to maintain clean voter registration lists… We should be giving States tools to ensure their voter rolls are clean as we approach November’s election. Yet jurisdictions allowing noncitizen voting like Washington D.C. are only required to keep one voter list. Maintaining one clean list with U.S. citizens and noncitizen voters presents challenges… In DC, the Board of Elections says it is on the noncitizen to understand they cannot vote in federal races. Right now, roughly 500 noncitizens are registered to vote in our nation’s capital.  Let me be clear - Noncitizen voting reduces confidence in our elections. Washington, DC is setting a new standard that could soon be applied across the country. We must stop noncitizen voting." Source: Rep. Bryan Steil (Republican, Wisconsin, District 1), Chair of the Committee on House Administration

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