Freedom

By Patricia Tolson

During a March 12 Senate Judiciary Hearing on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, none of the three Democrat witnesses could say that they believed only U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote in federal elections.

Witnesses for the Democratic majority were Damon T. Hewitt (Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law), Lydia Camarillo (President of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project), and Sophia Lin Lakin (Director of the Voting Rights Project American Civil Liberties Union Foundation).

Witnesses for the Republican minority were Hans von Spakovsky (Manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative and Senior Legal Fellow Heritage Foundation), and Maureen Riordan (Litigation Counsel for the Public Interest Legal Foundation).

Following the reading of their prepared statements, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) asked the witnesses to provide “a ‘yes’ or ’no’ answer” to some questions.

The first was, “Do you believe that only citizens of the United States should be able to vote in federal elections?”

None of the three Democrat witnesses would provide a straightforward answer.

Mr. Hewitt said, “We don’t have a position about non-citizens voting in federal elections, we believe that’s what the current laws are, and so we’re certainly fighting for everyone who is eligible under current law to vote.”

Ms. Camarillo began by saying, “That’s a decision of the state law, but I want to emphasize–”

Mr. Lee interrupted, asking, “It’s a decision of state law as to who should vote in federal elections?”

“States decide who gets to vote in various elections and in federal elections,” she clarified before saying, “I believe that we should be encouraging people to naturalize and then vote.”

Unsatisfied, Mr. Lee pressed for a more direct response.

Ms. Lakin responded, “Federal law prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections and our focus is on enabling all eligible voters to be able to vote and cast their ballot.”

Only the two Republican witnesses provided clear answers to the question.

Ms. Riordan said, “I do not believe non-citizens should be able to vote in federal elections.”

Mr. von Spakovsky said, “As a first-generation son of naturalized citizens, I believe only citizens should be allowed to vote in all U.S. elections.”

‘They Can’t Say That Publicly’

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Ms. Lakin said, “It was an important hearing to have in a week of the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, and the importance of a restored Voter Rights Act can’t be overstated at this time.”

When asked whether only U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote in federal elections, she said, “It depends on what they’re talking about because there are already laws and requirements to ensure that only eligible voters can vote in federal elections.”

“There’s an affidavit that voters have to sign under penalty of perjury, which they can be prosecuted for,” she explained. “The fact of the matter is these safeguards have worked. The attempt to impose additional requirements is something that is not necessary and I pointed out today that we challenged the requirement to provide documents to prove citizenship back in 2016 and ultimately, we won that challenge.”

She cited the case of Fish v. Kobach, which went before the Tenth Circuit Court in 2016. The case focused on whether section 5 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) preempted a law in Kansas, passed in 2011 and enacted in 2013, that required people to provide documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC), such as a birth certificate, a U.S. passport, or naturalization papers, as part of the federally mandated voter-registration form that is included in applications to obtain or renew a driver’s license. Ultimately, the court ruled that “the DPOC required by Kansas law is more than the minimum amount of information necessary and, therefore, is preempted by the NVRA.”

In listening to the testimony of the three Democrat witnesses, Mr. von Spakovsky told The Epoch Times that—reminiscent of when the presidents of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Pennsylvania refused to give a “yes” or “no” answer to New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik’s question of whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” is against their respective codes of conduct—the three Democratic witnesses at yesterday’s hearing could not bring themselves to give a straight “yes” or “no” answer to Mr. Lee’s question on whether or not they “believe that only citizens of the United States should be able to vote in federal elections.”

“All of those groups, when they’re talking to themselves, they want aliens to be able to vote,” he suggested. “But they can’t say that publicly because they know how immensely unpopular that is among the American public.”

According to a survey conducted between Jan. 25 and 31 by McLaughlin and Associates for Tea Party Patriots Action, 87 percent of general election voters agreed that “proof of United States citizenship should be required to register to vote in American elections.”

In addition, 86 percent said, “Only United States citizens should be allowed to vote in elections in America.” An equal number said, “Only United States citizens should be allowed to vote in elections for the American President, Senators, and Representatives.”

A total of 83 percent said, “proof of United States citizenship should be required to vote in American elections,” and 79 percent agreed that “foreigners should be prohibited from interfering, including voting, in U.S. elections.”

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“This is something that runs across race and politics,” Mr. von Spakovsky noted. “Americans overwhelmingly think only citizens should vote. It doesn’t matter if they’re Democrats or Republicans, black or white.”

However, he suggested that the groups the three Democratic witnesses represent feel much differently.

“Those groups want aliens to be able to vote,” he reiterated. “They just can’t say it out loud. That’s why you heard those wishy-washy answers from them.”