Others have answered this - it's a poll tax. But I’ll add to it.
First, it’s already a felony for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. See 18 USC 611. And it’s a deportable offense. See
CRS Report on Immigration Consequences of Unlawful Voting by Aliens.
Second, it’s just not a problem of any real magnitude. Here’s some state data summarized by
AP:
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said last month that more than 6,500 potential noncitizens have been removed from Texas voter rolls since 2021, including 1,930 with “a voter history” who have been referred for investigation by the attorney general’s office. Texas has almost 18 million registered voters. [That’s .036% and .011% of registered voters, respectively]
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, said in August that he referred for potential prosecution 138 apparent noncitizens found to have voted in a recent election and 459 more who registered but did not vote. Those figures were higher than reviews from previous years but a small fraction of the more than 8 million registered voters in Ohio. [That’s .002% and .006% of registered voters, respectively]
Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, a Republican, recently announced that 3,251 people previously identified as noncitizens by the federal government are being switched to inactive status on the state’s voter registration rolls. They will be required to provide proof of citizenship and fill out a form to vote this fall. Alabama has more than 3 million registered voters. [That’s .108% of registered voters]
In Georgia, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger found that 1,634 potential noncitizens tried to register to vote between 1997 and 2022, though election officials flagged them and none was registered. Georgia registered millions of other voters during that time.
Finally, eligible voters would be disenfranchised.
But, of course, that is the real point of voter ID laws, isn’t it? Poor and minority voters that tend to vote for Democrats would no longer be able to vote. That’s the game. We all know it. But proponents of voter ID can’t just come out and say that because it’s so obviously evil. So we do this dance about the dangers of noncitizens voting.
If you want voter ID laws to be taken seriously, show us some initiatives to eliminate the disenfranchisement of eligible voters. Simplified forms and processes for getting ID. State assistance and fee waivers for obtaining a birth certificate or license, etc. Mobile officials that can come to you. Same-day ID issuance. What has been proposed to help keep eligible voters eligible to vote?
Shame on anyone that would tolerate disenfranchising their fellow countrymen.