In a landmark move amid national debates over voter eligibility, Idaho took executive action to ensure that its voter rolls remain free of noncitizens.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed an executive order on July 9 that directs a series of actions that he hopes will bolster voter confidence and enhance election integrity.
The order, called the Only Citizens Will Vote Act, directs the Idaho secretary of state to work with local county clerks to scrub the state’s voter rolls of noncitizens.
“Idaho already has the most secure elections in the nation, and we’re going to keep it that way,” the governor said in a statement, adding that the step is particularly important as more and more people pour across the southern border illegally.
Mr. Little’s executive order mandates several actions aimed at maintaining the integrity of Idaho’s voter rolls.
It tasks the secretary of state with implementing a number of processes to validate voter registration and prevent noncitizens from registering, including routine reviews of voter rolls carried out in coordination with Idaho State Police and the Idaho Transportation Department to identify noncitizens.
The secretary of state will also work with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to verify citizenship status, with annual reports detailing these efforts to be submitted to the governor and Legislature, who will review voter registration maintenance.
The order also prohibits state agencies from providing voter registration materials to noncitizens or coordinating with federal programs that provide voter registration materials to noncitizens.
Further, any state agency that enters into or renews contracts with federal entities must confirm that there is no requirement to provide voter registration materials to noncitizens.
“Across Idaho’s 44 counties, we have excellent mechanisms in place already to ensure non-citizens do not vote in Idaho, but there is always more we can do to make sure only citizens will vote,” Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane said in a statement.
Mr. Little and Mr. McGrane said jointly that, unlike some states that erode confidence in elections by seeking to register noncitizens to vote, Idaho is fighting to keep its rolls free of noncitizens.
The executive action in Idaho comes amid a heated debate over noncitizen voting, with a GOP-led legislative proposal called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act seeking to bolster election integrity by, among other provisions, requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register for federal elections. Republicans argue that the stricter measures in the bill are essential to ensure voter confidence and prevent election fraud.
President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have voiced strong opposition to the bill, criticizing it as unnecessary and burdensome. They argue that current laws effectively prevent noncitizen voting and that the bill would disproportionately affect marginalized groups.
SAVE Act Details
The measure, introduced by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), would require voters to provide “documentary proof of United States citizenship” to cast ballots in federal elections, including for president.
The text of the proposed bill indicates that in order to register to vote in the elections, one would need to present identification that could include a passport, photo ID card that shows that the voter was born in the United States, or another form of photo ID along with other documentation showing that they were born in the United States, such as a birth certificate, or proving that they became naturalized citizens, such as a certificate of citizenship.
Election officials would be required to ask for proof of U.S. citizenship and warn of the consequences of casting an illegal noncitizen vote before providing voter registration forms.
The measure would also direct the DHS to determine whether officials should initiate deportation proceedings if a noncitizen were to be identified as being registered to vote in federal elections.
Like Idaho’s executive order, the GOP-led proposal would also require that noncitizens be removed from voter registration rolls.
The Biden administration has formally rejected the SAVE Act. In a policy position issued by the White House on July 8, it said that states already have effective safeguards in place to verify voters’ eligibility and maintain the accuracy of voter rolls.
“This bill would do nothing to safeguard our elections, but it would make it much harder for all eligible Americans to register to vote and increase the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter rolls,” the statement reads.
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) provided a more detailed argument in a letter to House Democrats urging them to vote against the measure. The lawmaker said that requiring additional documentation such as a birth certificate or an extract from a birth record proving that the applicant was born in the United States would be an “extreme burden for countless Americans, including military voters, Native voters, people who have changed their names (including tens of millions of American women), the elderly, the young, the poor, and naturalized citizens.”
The office of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) released a report in support of the SAVE Act that states that there is “irrefutable evidence that noncitizens have been illegally registering to vote and have illegally voted in U.S. elections,” including a 2014 study that found that noncitizen voting likely changed election outcomes in 2008, including Electoral College votes and the composition of Congress.
The study also found that noncitizen voters appeared to favor Democratic candidates over Republican ones and that noncitizens voted despite legal bans on doing so.
