Raffensperger Applauds Election Assistance Commission for Action on Noncitizen Voting
Atlanta- Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger praised the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s proposal to require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. Since 2019, Secretary Raffensperger has emphasized the need for a Constitutional Amendment banning noncitizen voting, and Raffensperger thanks Chairman Donald Palmer for his bold stance, asserting that this marks a decisive step toward the Constitutional Amendment he has long advocated.
“For years I have insisted that our elections must protect the one person-one-vote principle by ensuring only U.S. citizens cast ballots in our federal elections. This latest step by the EAC signals the beginning of what must become a nationwide Constitutional Amendment banning non-citizen voting once and for all.”
Georgia already requires citizenship verification when registering to vote, and Raffensperger has repeatedly urged other states to follow Georgia’s lead on the issue. In the course of multiple audits, Georgia has identified 1,634 potential non-citizens attempting to register to vote. While all were successfully flagged by Georgia’s citizenship verification procedures, the fact that Georgia’s systems have identified that many potential non-citizen registrants underscore the need for stronger nationwide safeguards.
“Nothing short of a constitutional amendment will provide the permanence and clarity needed to enshrine this safeguard into law,” said Raffensperger. “The EAC’s announcement takes us one step closer to that goal. I look forward to working with Congress, the states and election administrators across the country to make sure that only Americans decide America’s elections.”
###
Georgia is recognized as a national leader in elections. It was the first state in the country to implement the trifecta of automatic voter registration, at least 17 days of early voting (which has been called the “gold standard”), and no-excuse absentee voting. Georgia continues to set records for voter turnout and election participation, seeing the largest increase in average turnout of any other state in the 2018 midterm election and record turnout in 2020, and 2022. 2022 achieved the largest single day of in-person early voting turnout in Georgia midterm history utilizing Georgia’s secure, paper ballot voting system. Most recently, Georgia received top rankings for Election Integrity by the Heritage Foundation, a top ranking for Voter Accessibility by the Center for Election Innovation & Research and tied for number one in Election Administration by the Bipartisan Policy Center.