GOP Bill Would Penalize States That Allow Noncitizens to Vote in State, Local Elections

The rule is one of several proposals in the American Confidence in Elections Act

A man walks to use a voting booth at one of the Virginia primary election polling stations at Colin Powell Elementary School in Centreville, Va., on March 1, 2016. (Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)

Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill seeking to strengthen election integrity and boost voter confidence in American elections by implementing measures like requiring voter ID in some cases and ensuring that only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections.

House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) introduced the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act on Monday.

The legislation “makes the biggest legislative effort in a generation to protect political speech in a climate where Democrats are doing everything in their power to determine ‘truth’ and silence conservative voices,” the bill summary states.

The bill makes it clear that it’s a felony offense for a noncitizen to vote in a federal election and asks the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, and other relevant federal agencies to provide voter data to states at no cost so that noncitizens and deceased voters can be removed from voter rolls.

States would be empowered to remove noncitizens from voter rolls immediately without a blackout period.

States that allow noncitizens to vote in state and local elections would have to maintain separate ballots for those races in case they coincide with a federal election, but they would also receive 30 percent less federal funding for election expenses under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

The ACE Act would modernize the first-time mail voter ID requirement in HAVA. All first-time voters who did not register in person at their local election office or through a state voter registration agency would have to provide ID when they vote.

The bill would require that certain voters who request a mail ballot also provide an ID. It would also reform the REAL ID Act to ensure that U.S. citizenship is printed on all qualifying voters’ identification documents after Jan. 1, 2026.

Under the bill, the DHS Disinformation Governance Board would also be officially terminated and any future similar entities would be prohibited.

‘Common Sense Reforms’

The ACE Act is based on three key findings: 1) that states have the primary role in establishing election law and administering elections, 2) that all eligible American voters must be able to vote and all lawful votes must be counted, and 3) that political speech is protected speech and all voices must be protected, the bill summary states.

Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the Committee on House Administration, sharply criticized the bill.

“This legislation is designed to appease extremist election deniers who have spent the last four years attacking our democracy,” Mr. Morelle said in a statement Sunday.

Residents wait in line to vote at a shuttered Sears store in the Janesville Mall in Janesville, Wis., on Nov. 3, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

“It would restrict the fundamental right to vote especially for voters of color, jeopardize the security of our elections, burden local election administrators, and bring more dark money into our electoral process—opening the door to corruption,“ he continued. ”It’s anti-American.”

However, supporters of election integrity welcomed the ACE Act.

“The common sense reforms in the #ACEAct will help states to maintain updated voter roles, ensure only citizens vote, combat ballot harvesting, and prevent federal and private money from meddling in our elections,” Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) said in a July 11 tweet.

Garland Favorito, the co-founder of election integrity nonprofit VoterGA, announced that his organization is backing the ACE Act.

“Once the ACE Act becomes law, Americans will no longer be forced to suffer through secretly counted, unverifiable elections that divide the country because no one really knows who won. That will help restore American confidence,” he said in a statement.

Protecting Speech, Election Transparency

The ACE Act seeks to protect political speech and limit governmental overreach on such matters.

It “repeals the requirement of persons making independent expenditures to report the identification of certain donors” while also codifying “existing donor disclosure protections for certain tax-exempt organizations,” the summary says. The Securities and Exchange Commission would be prohibited from issuing regulations with regard to the disclosure of political contributions.

It would also make the Election Assistance Commission the sole agency that is authorized to issue certification standards for election and voting technology, equipment, and software, removing that authority from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The bill requires that election materials be preserved for 22 months, including ballots, ballot envelopes of voted ballots, ballot images, and other records that could be useful for an audit after the election.

The Government Accountability Office would be tasked with studying the feasibility of requiring that all voting equipment used in federal elections be manufactured and assembled in the United States.

The ACE Act would also repeal President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14019, thus prohibiting federal agencies from engaging in voter mobilization or registration activities.