WASHINGTON (Reuters): The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, fueled by Donald Trump’s false claims about election fraud, approved a bill that would ban non-citizens from registering to vote in federal elections, a rare practice that is already illegal.
Less than four months before Trump’s Nov. 5 election showdown with Democratic President Joe Biden, the House voted 221-198 to approval the measure, which is based on claims that people who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally could cast ballots in this year’s presidential and congressional elections.
The legislation now goes to the Democratic-led Senate, where it is likely to be dead on arrival.
Titled the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, the bill would require those registering to vote to provide proof of U.S. citizenship and compel states to purge suspected non-citizens from their voter rolls.
It is already a felony offense for a non-citizen to vote in a federal election, and independent studies, opens new tab have shown that such things happen only rarely.
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