The American public must be confident the electoral process is carried out fairly and every vote is legitimate. Otherwise, trust in our sacred institutions so critical to a civil society and the rule of law will deteriorate completely. While it is the responsibility of individual states to carry out elections, Congress must have basic safeguards in place nationally to ensure confidence in our elections.
This is why this week, with my support, House Republicans passed H.R. 192 to prohibit non-citizens from voting in Washington, D.C. elections. By considering this measure, Congress is fulfilling its constitutional responsibility to exercise authority over legislative and public policy matters in the District of Columbia as the permanent seat of the federal government.
H.R. 192 is in response to a misguided law passed by the D.C. Council in 2022 to disregard federal law and allow noncitizens, including illegal immigrants, to vote in D.C. local elections. The D.C. bill, the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act (D.C. Law 24-0242), also failed to make any exception for foreign nationals or diplomats voting in D.C. elections. This means representatives from other countries (including foreign agents working at the embassies of our adversaries such as Russia and China) can vote in elections here in the United States.
This D.C. law clearly violates federal law and unjustly diminishes the voice of American citizens at the ballot box by diluting their votes with foreign influence.
H.R. 192 will repeal the D.C. Council’s Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022 and prevent individuals who are not United States citizens from voting in elections in our nation's capital.
