By Lauren Eagan
Sep 25, 2024, 10:45 AM EDT
During the current election campaign, there have been fake news reports claiming that undocumented immigrants and many people vote illegally. These claims have been seriously investigated and denied on different fronts. For example, the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Policy and Law has shown that headlines claiming that “many undocumented immigrants vote illegally” are actually false.
It is possible that this may happen, but not due to a massive fraud scheme, but rather due to administrative errors. In any case, if it does occur, the cases are few.
According to a study by the center, after analyzing 42 jurisdictions with high noncitizen populations, only 30 cases of suspected noncitizen voting could be proven and referred for further investigation or prosecution, out of 23.5 million votes counted, or 0.0001 percent of all votes.
When filling out a federal registration form, the law requires that the person doing so swear under penalty of perjury that he or she is a U.S. citizen. But undocumented immigrants can accidentally register to vote in cases such as the following:
- Some states, such as California, Colorado, Illinois, and others, issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. When they go to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DMV), they are asked to check the box to register and it is possible that, without knowing what this means, they check the box to register as voters.
- When applying for food assistance or help from nonprofit organizations, you may sometimes be asked if you want to register to vote and you may unknowingly or mistakenly check the box.
- Federal forms only ask you to affirm that you are a U.S. citizen or you will be committing the crime of perjury. Many immigrants may think that they also have the right to vote once they obtain a green card, which is also not the case, so they may not know that they are committing fraud.
At Eagan Immigration, we have found that immigrants try to make their path to residency as safe as possible. That is why we believe there is little chance that they will jeopardize their immigration future by registering to vote.
Living with uncertainty is a major source of stress for many. In these months leading up to the election, the uncertainty is likely to only get worse. Finding the path to stability and legal status may not be as difficult as you think, and the sooner you take the first step, the better.
Lauren Eagan Named to 2025 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Immigration Law