RNC Day 2: Kari Lake’s False claim that Ruben Gallego voted to let illegal immigrants vote

Kari Lake, a U.S. Senate candidate from Arizona, joined the chorus of oft-repeated falsehoods this year about noncitizen voting during her speech at the Republican National Convention.

"Just last week, Ruben Gallego voted to let the millions of people who poured into our country illegally cast a ballot in this upcoming election," Lake said on the second night of the convention in Milwaukee. Gallego, a Democratic U.S. representative, and Lake are expected to face each other in the U.S. Senate race. The Arizona primary is July 30.

Lake’s statement is a distortion of Gallego’s position.

Lake referred to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which passed the House by a 221-198 vote July 10, largely with Republican support. It’s not expected to pass the Democratic-led Senate.

Gallego joined nearly all Democrats in voting against the legislation.

This bill, supported by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., requires people to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.

By opposing the bill, Gallego is not voting to allow immigrants who crossed the border illegally to vote in the federal election in November.

When Gallego voted against the bill, he said in a statement, "Of course only U.S. citizens should vote." Gallego said the bill would create obstacles for Arizonans to vote because of the requirements to provide the documentary proof of citizenship.

In 1996, Congress banned voting by noncitizens, which includes people legally and illegally in the U.S., in federal elections.

"It is already illegal for noncitizens to register or vote in federal elections," Wendy Weiser, a lawyer at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU school of law, said in an email to PolitiFact. "The SAVE Act would not change that fact."

In June, Gallego introduced the Voting Clarity Act, which would require Customs and Border Protection officers to advise migrants seeking asylum that they are ineligible to vote in federal elections. 

Voting in federal elections by noncitizens "is already a crime several times over," said Sean Morales-Doyle, director of voting rights at the Brennan Center in a June statement. Noncitizens who vote face deportation or jail time. When people register to vote, they attest under penalty of perjury that they are citizens. 

The SAVE Act’s documentary proof of citizenship requirement would call for essentially a birth certificate or a passport to register.

"Our research shows that over 9% of adult American citizens don't have those documents readily available," Morales-Doyle said. "So, rather than ‘safeguard American voter eligibility,’ the bill would disenfranchise millions of American citizens. And the impact would be felt disproportionately by citizens of color."

Featured Fact-check

Donald Trump

stated on May 29, 2024 in comments to reporters

Joe Biden “is letting millions of people from jails, from prisons, from insane asylums, from mental institutions, drug dealers pour in.”

The Bipartisan Policy Center concluded that the SAVE Act, proposed months before the presidential election, needs more time and resources to be applied well.

Some cities let certain noncitizens vote in local elections. In May, Gallego voted against allowing noncitizens to vote in Washington, D.C., local elections, a reversal of a position a year ago, the Arizona Republic and Cronkite News found.

Former President Donald Trump, some Republican lawmakers and social media influencers have spread false and misleading statements about noncitizen voting. Think tanks, academics, courts and journalists have analyzed claims about noncitizen voting for years and have found only sporadic cases that wouldn’t swing federal elections.

Lake said, "Just last week, Ruben Gallego voted to let the millions of people who poured into our country illegally cast a ballot in this upcoming election."

In July, Gallego voted against the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which requires people to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. However, federal law already bans noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

We rate this statement False. 

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