In a recent flurry of activity from Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have reignited their campaign for what they term “election integrity,” despite a steady flow of evidence refuting their claims of widespread voter fraud. The duo’s joint appearance comes in an election year anticipated to bring another close race against President Joe Biden, with Trump continuing to perpetuate the falsehood of a stolen 2020 election.
Trump’s stubborn insistence on voter fraud narratives, previously manifested in over 60 failed lawsuits, has once again sparked widespread fact-checking efforts. State and federal courts have roundly dismissed Trump’s allegations, which often target majority Black cities and counties. Moreover, an Associated Press investigation discovered during the 2020 presidential election fewer than 475 cases of voter fraud in six battleground states, a figure far too minuscule to influence election outcomes.
On the national stage, the former president has amplified the fallacy of noncitizen voting, asserting that Democrats are “importing voters” to manipulate U.S. elections. However, Trump’s narrative is contradicted by an extensive body of research demonstrating the rarity of noncitizen voting. High-profile claims have been debunked by state officials, including Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who found no evidence to support these conspiracy theories.
Adding to the refutation, NPR highlighted the circulation of a memo by Cleta Mitchell, Trump’s former adviser, warning of the supposed “threat of non-citizen voting in 2024.” Legal experts and election authorities have discredited the claims, emphasizing the negligible impact of noncitizen registrations on election outcomes and warning that the proposed stricter voter registration requirements could disproportionately disenfranchise legitimate voters.
At the intersection of voting rights and immigration policy, the incendiary allegations bear the potential to erode public trust in the democratic process. Notably, the top federal agencies overseeing election security declared the 2020 election as “the most secure in American history,” while Trump and his allies have not presented credible evidence to substantiate their voter fraud claims. The calls for “one-day voting with paper ballots” and voter ID from Trump, who has also disparaged mail-in voting, continue to face opposition from those pointing to the inherent risks of overhauling the voting process based on unproven accusations.
Despite the lack of evidence supporting the claims of widespread fraud, the rhetoric has influenced legislative proposals aimed at bolstering voter ID requirements and restricting noncitizen voting. Legal challenges have been mounted against such efforts, with critics arguing they could strip thousands of legitimate voters of their rights. Meanwhile, federal law remains clear, requiring voters to attest to their citizenship under penalty of perjury – a measure that has historically been effective in preventing noncitizen participation in federal elections.
“I will secure our elections. We are going to secure our elections. Our goal will be one-day voting with paper ballots — very simple — and a voter ID, but until then, Republicans must win. Landslide. We want it to be too big, too big to rig,” Trump said at an April 2 rally in Wisconsin, where he continued to falsely claim he won the state in 2020.
Relevant articles:
– Refuting the Myth of Voter Fraud Yet Again Brennan Center for Justice, Jan 6, 2021
– Fact checking Trump’s claims about ‘election integrity’ ABC News – Breaking News, Latest News and Videos, 3 days ago
– Conservatives are warning about noncitizens voting. It’s a myth with a long history NPR, Mar 13, 2024
– Noncitizen voting isn’t an issue in federal elections Spectrum News NY1, 3 days ago