Fact Check: Posts Claim '143 Democrats' Voted in Favor of Letting Noncitizens Vote in US Elections. Here Are the Facts
Claim:
Viral social media posts accurately reported in May 2024 that 143 Democrats voted to let noncitizens vote in U.S. elections.
Rating:
Context:
The vote was to revoke a law that allows noncitizens in Washington, D.C., to vote in local elections. Noncitizens are expressly prohibited from voting in federal elections, but municipalities in several states allow them to vote in local elections.
In May 2024, several social media posts spread the rumor that 143 Democrats in Congress had voted to allow noncitizens in the U.S. to vote in elections:
143 Democrats just voted in favor of non-citizens voting in American elections: pic.twitter.com/swolBDe0mi
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 23, 2024
The post had received more than 870,000 views as of this writing, along with 12,000 likes and 3,800 shares. This rumor was picked up unquestioningly by other users on X, here, here and here. The last post, by @libsoftiktok, had been viewed 1.8 million times, liked 31,000 times and shared 11,000 times.
None of the posters provided context for this vote, which concerned only local elections in Washington, D.C., and related to a so-called "rule change." This led posters to draw an erroneous conclusion. We have therefore rated the claim "False."
Local Elections in D.C.
While they pay federal taxes, Washington, D.C., residents have no representation in the U.S. Senate or House. They are able to elect what are referred to as two "shadow" senators, one "shadow" representative and a non-voting delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives. The shadow congresspeople cannot vote on the floor or in committee. Their role is to advocate for statehood. The non-voting delegate can serve on and vote in committees, speak on the House floor, propose amendments and sponsor bills. The delegate cannot vote on the House floor.
(Puerto Rico has two shadow senators, four shadow representatives and one non-voting delegate. Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands each have one non-voting delegate.)
Washington, D.C., residents hold local elections in which they vote for 13 members of the District Council — similar to a city council — and a mayor. They also vote for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, each of which represents about 2,000 people. Lastly, the 23rd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1961, gives the capital electors in the country's presidential elections.
Only Congress can legislate what Washington, D.C., residents can and cannot vote on. House representatives and senators do so the same way they would vote on any federal law. They write a bill that changes electoral rules in the capital and vote on it. The bill must then pass the House and be handed off to the Senate, to be signed by the president. The vote that took place on May 23, 2024, was one such vote.
The text of the bill, H.R. 192, aimed to revoke a law that allows noncitizens in D.C. to vote in local elections. The D.C. Noncitizen Vote Act passed in 2023, and while a few voters mounted a legal challenge against it, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the lawsuit. On May 23, 2024, 143 Democrats voted to keep the law in place, while 262 representatives (including 52 Democrats) voted to repeal it.
Local Elections Elsewhere
Municipalities in three other states allow noncitizens to vote in local elections: California, Maryland and Vermont. Seven states prohibit it, including Alabama, Colorado and North Dakota. Many don't have clear impediments to it.
As for federal elections, noncitizens are expressly prohibited from voting in them. This includes presidential elections, but also senatorial and congressional elections, as per the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996:
(a) It shall be unlawful for any alien to vote in any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, unless—
(1) the election is held partly for some other purpose;
(2) aliens are authorized to vote for such other purpose under a State constitution or statute or a local ordinance; and
(3) voting for such other purpose is conducted independently of voting for a candidate for such Federal offices, in such a manner that an alien has the opportunity to vote for such other purpose, but not an opportunity to vote for a candidate for any one or more of such Federal offices.
(b) Any person who violates this section shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Beyond the appearance of confusion, this claim in the viral posts seems to be the latest move in a far-right campaign to erode trust in electoral processes in the U.S. For example, in early May 2024, we debunked a similar claim by Stephen Miller, a onetime adviser to former President Donald Trump, who was again seeking office. In April 2024, we wrote about a false rumor that Wisconsin, a key swing state in federal elections, allowed noncitizens to get IDs to vote. Instances of fraudulent votes by noncitizens are extremely rare, and severely punished.
Bill H.R. 192 stands very little chance of going through the Senate, where the Democrats hold a majority.
Sources:
'Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996'. Ballotpedia, https://ballotpedia.org/Illegal_Immigration_Reform_and_Immigrant_Responsibility_Act_of_1996. Accessed 24 May 2024.
'Shadow Congresspersons'. Ballotpedia, https://ballotpedia.org/Shadow_Congresspersons. Accessed 24 May 2024.
'United States Congressional Non-Voting Members'. Ballotpedia, https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_congressional_non-voting_members. Accessed 24 May 2024.
'Laws Permitting Noncitizens to Vote in the United States'. Ballotpedia, https://ballotpedia.org/Laws_permitting_noncitizens_to_vote_in_the_United_States. Accessed 24 May 2024.
'Municipal Elections in Washington, D.C. (2024)'. Ballotpedia, https://ballotpedia.org/Municipal_elections_in_Washington,_D.C._(2024). Accessed 24 May 2024.
Pfluger, August. To Prohibit Individuals Who Are Not Citizens of the United States from Voting in Elections in the District of Columbia and to Repeal the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022. H.R. 192, 23 May 2024, https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/192.
Rascouët-Paz, Anna. 'US House Democrats Voted to Give "Illegal Immigrants" New Representation in Elections?' Snopes, 10 May 2024, https://www.snopes.com//news/2024/05/10/democrats-immigrants-elections-representation/.
---. 'Wisconsin Allows Noncitizens to Get IDs to Vote?' Snopes, 15 Apr. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/wisconsin-noncitizens-ids-vote/.
U.S. House of Representatives: House Session | May 23, 2024 | C-SPAN.Org. https://www.c-span.org/video/?535861-1/house-session&start=14508. Accessed 24 May 2024.
Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154, and DC 20515-6601 p:225-7000. 'Roll Call 232 Roll Call 232, Bill Number: H. R. 192, 118th Congress, 2nd Session'. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, 23 May 2024, https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024232?Date=05%2F23%2F2024.
'U.S. House Panel Votes to Advance Election Bills Targeting Noncitizens, Foreign Money'. News From The States, https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/us-house-panel-votes-advance-election-bills-targeting-noncitizens-foreign-money. Accessed 24 May 2024.
Kim, Minho. 'Here's Why Republicans Are Focusing on Voting by Noncitizens'. The New York Times, 22 May 2024. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/us/politics/noncitizen-voting-explainer.html.
