Non-Citizen Voting In November: TTV’s 611 Project Has Answers

Non-Citizen Voting In November: TTV’s 611 Project Has Answers

by Wendi Strauch Mahoney for True the Vote

Unprecedented numbers of illegal aliens have been allowed to pour across the nation’s borders since Biden took office in 2021 because of his open borders policies. At a minimum, 10 million illegal aliens have entered our southern border alone, not including the got-aways.

Contrary to popular opinion, non-citizens do end up voting in our elections because we simply do not have universal measures in place to prevent it. Our system makes it relatively easy for non-citizens to get on the rolls and very difficult to track. However, you will never hear that from most politicians or election officials.

Engelbrecht wrote the following in an April 25, 2024, OpEd for The Blaze:

True the Vote believes non-citizen voting could be game-changing in the 2024 election. In response to the issue, Catherine Engelbrecht’s organization has produced an initiative called the 611 Project to make Americans aware of non-citizen voting and help citizens address the problem at the grassroots level.

Recent Study Confirms Large Numbers of Non-Citizen Voters in U.S. Elections

It is true that at a statutory level, non-citizens, including permanent legal residents, cannot vote in federal, state, and most local elections. However, it has always been difficult to track non-citizen voting because there is no easy one-step way of tracking that universe of voters. To make matters worse, the Biden administration has made it even easier for non-citizens to get on the rolls by flooding our borders by way of its various humanitarian parole programs and its abuse of asylum laws.

Our election system is poorly equipped to track the average number of illegals who might inadvertently appear on state voter rolls, let alone the 10 million or more who have moved into the interior United States. In the United States, it is the states and counties that maintain voter registration rolls, not the federal government.

The system poses significant challenges in tracking and purging those who do not belong on the rolls. No national database tracks illegals who might register to vote or whose identities might be used to vote. As such, illegals and non-citizens can land on voter registration rolls in a variety of ways, some of which are not necessarily purposeful or nefarious.

Just the Facts Finds 10% to 27% of Non-Citizens are Illegally Registered to Vote

A recent study by Just the Facts shows that between 10% to 27% of Non-Citizens are illegally registered to vote based on the 2022 Census records. Using well-sourced data, from a “ground-breaking” study published by Jesse Richman and two others as well as non-citizen voter registration data from 2022, Just the Facts concluded that “roughly 27% of non-citizens were registered to vote and about 16% of them voted in the 2008 national elections.” Of note, the numbers from the 2014 study were slightly lower at approximately 25% of non-citizens who were illegally registered to vote.

Notably, Just the Facts data were challenged on March 6, 2024, in an article by the Washington Post’s “lead fact checker, Glenn Kessler.” Kessler stated he had evidence from a second report from a court case, again from Jesse Richman, that seemed to vastly undercut both the 2014 study and Just the Facts data.

Kessler interpreted the data from Richman’s second report to say that only “1% of non-citizens are registered to vote.” However, Just the Facts examined Kessler’s data and reviewed its own for accuracy. In the end, the data from Just the Facts was correct. As it turns out, it seems Kessler misled readers with “half-truths,” and various statistical ruses. For more detailed information on the Just the Fact study, please read more here.

The Just the Facts data portend a 2024 election that will almost certainly reflect illegal votes cast by non-citizens. The study states that “roughly half of non-citizens who are registered to turn out to vote,” or about 5% to 13% will illegally vote in the 2024 presidential and congressional elections.

Just the Facts reports:

What is the 611 Project?

True the Vote recently launched a new initiative called the 611 Project in anticipation of the 2024 election. The 44-page 611 Project handbook articulates the issue of non-citizen voting in the U.S. As usual, True the Vote lays out a practical call to action that will help citizens engage to address the matter.

The 611 Project helps Americans become aware of the history of public policy in the U.S. that has led to where we are today with non-citizen voting. A detailed “Public Policy” timeline starting in the 1970s through the present administration summarizes the history of voting with an emphasis on the issue of non-citizen voters.

Next, the report explores some of the legal cases and loopholes that allow non-citizens to register to vote and then vote in American elections. The report moves through the many avenues available to those who would either purposely or unwittingly break the law to vote as a non-citizen. In many cases, it seems our system is “rigged” to provide myriad loopholes and make things as confusing as possible.

In an April 1 podcast, Engelbrecht discussed, among other things, the numerous ways lawfare can impact non-citizen voting. She has been the target of groups who repeatedly sue to prevent what they often disingenuously call voter suppression. These highly politicized legal maneuvers can lead to the blocking or abandonment of authentic and well-vetted efforts to maintain clean voter rolls, throwing a real wrench in the most foundational building block of free and fair elections.

Martinez Fischer v. Whitley, for example, argued a voter roll purge in Texas unfairly targeted naturalized citizens and violated their constitutional rights. According to Engelbrecht, other lawfare has limited methodology used for "data comparison and collaboration with agencies like the Department of Motor Vehicles to verify citizenship status. The State agreed to use no data source other than DMV to verify citizenship status, ceding all other available data outlets that would have offered a more thorough assessment" by cross-checking databases.

Some jurisdictions are now allowing non-citizens to vote in certain local elections, a privilege that adds to the confusion on the part of a neophyte non-citizen who is naive to the rules and laws surrounding voting. In other cases, it seems NGOs who are charged with counseling and resettling illegals are encouraging non-citizens to vote. There are a whole host of ways a non-citizen can enter the system and a paucity of ways to ensure non-citizens are not somehow allowed to vote.

There are many ways non-citizens may end up voting in a U.S. election. One recent complication resulted from Congress passing Section 611 of Title 18 of the U.S. Criminal Code in 2000, (the origin of the name of the 611 Project). It allows a person who believes he is a citizen but cannot provide proof when registering to vote to register to vote in federal elections by signing a sworn statement affirming their citizenship under penalty of perjury. What could go wrong?

According to Engelbrecht, other ways non-citizens vote are:

• Errors in voter registration processes, such as the example above, when an illegal applies for a driver's license and checks off the "register to vote" box.

• Through misunderstanding or lack of information. Many non-citizens pay taxes, have green cards, or have been in the country for years. Confusion arises because they lack information, and according to Engelbrecht, "their confusion is supported by the numerous organizations that mail out voter registrations and absentee ballot request forms.

• Assuming eligibility because of local laws. Some jurisdictions allow non-citizens to vote in local elections under specific conditions but are not permitted to vote in federal elections.

• Intentional illegal voting to influence the outcome of an election.

• Misrepresentation or fraud. According to Engelbrecht, non-citizens "might deliberately misrepresent their citizenship status to register and vote in elections." This type of behavior is illegal and subject to severe penalties, but it often goes unpunished, which in turn encourages the behavior to continue.

In the end, Engelbrecht points out that many people who arrive here have no identification. In many cases, their home nations have sparse documentation regarding their identities and histories. Other countries are unwilling to share their databases. These are gaping holes that the Biden administration refuses to recognize. As a result, we are admitting millions who will effectively live as ghosts in our communities. Engelbrecht adds: