Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Noncitizens: Outlawed from Voting in Our Trusted Elections Act of 2022” or the “NO VOTE for Noncitizens Act of 2022”.
Noncitizens: Outlawed from Voting in Our Trusted Elections Act of 2022
A BILL
To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to clarify the authority of States to remove noncitizens from voting rolls and to require States to maintain separate voter registration lists for noncitizens, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings; Sense of Congress
Findings— Congress finds the following:
Every eligible person who wishes to cast a ballot in a Federal election must be permitted to do so according to law, and their ballot must be examined according to law, and, if it meets all lawful requirements, counted.
Congress has long required States to maintain Federal voter registration lists in a manner that promotes voter confidence.
The changes included herein are not intended to be an expansion of Federal power but rather a clarification of State authority.
The Fifteenth Amendment, the Nineteenth Amendment, the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, and the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, among other references, make clear that the Constitution prohibits voting by noncitizens in Federal elections.
Congress has the constitutional authority, including under the aforementioned amendments, to pass statutes preventing noncitizens from voting in Federal elections, and did so with the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
Congress may further exercise its constitutional authority to ensure the Constitution’s prohibition on noncitizen voting in Federal elections is upheld.
Since the Constitution prohibits noncitizens from voting in Federal elections, such ineligible persons must not be permitted to be placed on Federal voter registration lists.
Improper placement of an ineligible noncitizen on a Federal voter registration list leads to—
confusion on the part of the ineligible person with respect to their ineligibility to cast a ballot; and
an increased likelihood that human error will permit ineligible persons to cast ballots in Federal elections.
State officials have confirmed that poorly maintained voter registration lists lead to ineligible persons casting ballots in Federal elections.
A former Broward County, Florida, elections supervisor has confirmed that ineligible nonvoters were able to cast ballots in previous elections and that she was not able to locate as many as 2,040 ballots during the 2018 midterm recount.
This clarification of State authority to maintain Federal voter registration lists to ensure noncitizens are not included on such lists will promote voter confidence in election processes and outcomes.
Congress has the authority to ensure that no Federal elections funding is used to support States that permit noncitizens to cast ballots in any election.
Federal courts and executive agencies have much of the information States may need to maintain their Federal voter registration lists, and those entities should make that information accessible to State election authorities.
It is important to clarify the penalty for any violation of law that allows a noncitizen to cast a ballot in a Federal election.
To protect the confidence of voters in Federal elections, it is important to implement the policy described herein.
Sense of Congress— It is the sense of Congress that—
allowing noncitizens to cast ballots in American elections weakens our electoral system and the value of citizenship and sows distrust in our elections system;
even if a State has the sovereign authority, no State should permit noncitizens to cast ballots in State or local elections;
States should use all information available to them to maintain Federal voter registration lists and should inform Congress if such data is insufficient; and
Congress may take further action in the future to address this problem.
Sec. 3 Promoting effective maintenance of voter registration lists
Clarifying authority of States To remove noncitizens from voting rolls—
Authority under regular removal programs— Section 8(a)(4) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(4)) is amended—
by striking “or” at the end of subparagraph (A);
by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C); and
by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following new subparagraph:
“(B) the registrant’s status as a noncitizen of the United States; or”
Conforming amendment relating to ongoing removal— Section 8(c)(2)(B)(i) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(c)(2)(B)(i)) is amended by striking “(4)(A)” and inserting “(4)(A) or (B)”.
Requirement To maintain separate State voter registration list for noncitizens— Section 8(a) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)) is amended—
in paragraph (5)(B), by striking “and” at the end;
in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(7) in the case of a State that allows individuals who are not citizens of the United States to vote in elections for public office in the State or any local jurisdiction of the State, ensure that the name of any registrant who is not a citizen of the United States is maintained on a voter registration list that is separate from the official list of eligible voters with respect to registrants who are citizens of the United States.”
Requirements for ballots for State or local jurisdictions that allow noncitizen voting— Section 301(a)(1) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
“(D) In the case of a State or local jurisdiction that allows individuals who are not citizens of the United States to vote in elections for public office in the State or local jurisdiction, the ballot used for the casting of votes by a noncitizen in such State or local jurisdiction may only include the candidates for the elections for public office in the State or local jurisdiction for which the noncitizen is permitted to vote.”
Reduction in payments for election administration to States or local jurisdictions that allow noncitizen voting—
In general— Title IX of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
“907. Reduction in payments to States or local jurisdictions that allow noncitizen voting
“Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the amount of a payment under this Act to any State or local jurisdiction that allows individuals who are not citizens of the United States to vote in elections for public office in the State or local jurisdiction shall be reduced by 30 percent.”
Clerical amendment— The table of contents of such Act is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
Ensuring provision of information to State election officials on individuals recused from jury service on grounds of noncitizenship—
Requiring State election officials to coordinate information on recusal as part of maintenance of Statewide voter registration list— Subparagraph (A) of section 303(a)(2) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(2)) is amended—
by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv); and
by inserting after clause (ii) the following new clause:
“(iii) For purposes of removing names of ineligible voters from the official list of eligible voters by reason of citizenship status, the State shall coordinate the computerized list with records of courts which have recused individuals from serving on a jury on the grounds that the individuals are not citizens of the United States.”
Requiring notification by courts—
Requirement described— If a United States district court or a court of any State or local jurisdiction recuses an individual from serving on a jury on the grounds that the individual is not a citizen of the United States, the court shall transmit a notice of the individual’s recusal—
to the chief State election official of the State in which the individual resides; and
to the Attorney General.
Definitions— For purposes of this subsection—
the “chief State election official” of a State is the individual designated by the State under section 10 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the State’s responsibilities under such Act; and
the term State means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Sec. 4 Prohibition on voting by noncitizens in Federal elections
by striking “A person” and inserting “(a) In general.—A person”; and
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(b) Prohibition on voting by aliens
“(1) In general—It shall be unlawful for any alien to vote in any election in violation of section 611 of title 18, United States Code.
“(2) Penalties—Any person who violates this subsection shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”
Effective date— This section and the amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to elections held on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.