Speaker Johnson and Trump, who attempted to overturn the 2020 election, push a bill attempting to gaslight Americans under the guise of election integrity - Voto Latino

Voto Latino Foundation  |  En español Translation errors? Let us know!

Menu

Shop Donate

Speaker Johnson and Trump, who attempted to overturn the 2020 election, push a bill attempting to gaslight Americans under the guise of election integrity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 21, 2024
Contact: Diana Castaneda
VP of Communications
[email protected]

 

The bill aims to gaslight Americans into believing noncitizens vote – they don’t.
It’s a disinformation tactic to dupe voters.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Friday, backed by key members of Trump’s inner circle, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., introduced a bill targeting noncitizen voting, even though noncitizen voting is already illegal under federal law. Voto Latino condemns this anti-immigrant MAGA Republican disinformation tactic:

“MAGA Republicans are peddling Trump’s baseless conspiracy theories from 2020 about noncitizen immigrants voting to deceive the American public. Let’s be clear, only Americans can vote in elections. In fact, a study from the Brennan Center of the 2016 presidential election found that only 0.0001% of total votes casted were by noncitizens. In other words, you are much more likely to be struck by lightning than a vote being from a noncitizen. These disinformation tactics are aimed at mobilizing MAGA extremists to the polls this election cycle, not preserving democracy, and are designed to raise questions about the integrity of our electoral system. But a multicultural America has already defeated this nonsense once and will do so again. The media needs to push back vigorously against this false narrative,” said Voto Latino Co-Founder and President María Teresa Kumar. “Speaker Johnson and Trump don’t have regrets about trying to overturn the election results and they are laying the groundwork to once again threaten our democracy.”

Fact check: Trump and MAGA Republicans’ lies regarding noncitizens illegally registering to vote:

  • Federal law requires citizenship to vote in national elections.
  • When people register to vote, they sign a form attesting under penalty of perjury that they are a citizen and eligible to vote.
  • States can check databases to verify voters’ citizenship.
  • Both the federal registration form and state versions warn that making false statements is a crime and that noncitizens should not fill out the form.
  • Cases of noncitizens voting are statistically rare.

Trump made false claims about noncitizens immigrants voting in 2014, in 2016 as a presidential candidate, and again in 2020 after his reelection loss.

 

###

 

Voto Latino is a grassroots political organization focused on educating and empowering a new generation of Latino voters, as well as creating a more robust and inclusive democracy. Since its founding, Voto Latino has registered over 1.4 million voters, mobilized tens of thousands of voters in the 2022 midterms, helping to defeat the so-called “red wave” and keep the Senate majority-Democrat. Voto Latino has also filed several lawsuits to defend voting rights in Texas, Arizona, and North Carolina ahead of the 2024 election.