Daily Caller
EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Katie Britt Introduces Legislation To Prevent Illegal Immigrants From Voting In Federal Elections
By Henry Rodgerschief
Republican Alabama Sen. Katie Britt introduced legislation Tuesday that aims to make sure states are able to verify that only American citizens are voting in federal elections.
The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the bill, which is titled the Citizen Ballot Protection Act. The bill would specifically require that an applicant provide proof of American citizenship when registering to vote by mail-in application.
The Washington, D.C., City Council voted in October of 2022 to pass D.C. Act 24-640, District of Columbia Council’s Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022, which would allow illegal immigrants and legal non-citizens to vote in local elections. The D.C. city council transmitted the bill to Congress on Jan. 11, 2023. Other states have passed measures to allow legal non-citizens to vote as well.
“Voting in our country is a sacred right that must solely be limited to American citizens. To allow States to uphold this principle should be simple commonsense,” Brit told the Caller before introducing the legislation. “We are seeing certain cities across our nation begin to openly allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. This effectively disenfranchises hardworking American citizens, insults those American citizens who came to our country legally and took the time and effort to go through the citizenship process, and undermines faith in our entire electoral system – which is a cornerstone of our nation that we cannot allow to crumble.”
Britt’s bill is the Senate companion to H.R. 4316, which is legislation originally introduced by Republican Alabama Rep. Gary Palmer.
“It should not be controversial that States have the legal right to prevent noncitizens – including illegal migrants and official representatives of foreign adversaries – from voting in State and Federal elections. I’m proud to work with Representative Palmer and my Senate colleagues to ensure that we pass this legislation and stand up for the right of Americans – and only Americans – to vote in American elections,” Britt added.
The co-sponsors of the legislation include all Republican members of the Senate Rules Committee: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Senate Rules Committee Ranking Member Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee.