Having laws on the books does not guarantee their compliance.

Take a state speed limit. Posting a sign saying it’s 65 mph does not guarantee drivers will adhere to that speed. In fact, most of them won’t.

We see the same type of situation when it comes to people residing in the United States who are not citizens but continue to vote in American elections.

The mainstream media and political left have declared that alien voting cannot possibly occur because there are laws that make it illegal. These groups scoff at proposed legislation from Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican, requiring all 50 states to ask voters to present proof of citizenship.

Yet there is ample evidence, despite similar laws already being on the books—such as the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which prohibited aliens from voting in federal elections—that aliens have registered and voted in past elections.

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In Virginia, for example, more than 11,000 aliens were initially listed on the state’s voter roll within the past decade. In New Jersey, at least 616 known aliens ended up in the state’s voter registration system just a few years ago. Since 2021, nearly 200 aliens were initially on voter rolls in Arizona.

While these figures may appear relatively small compared with the general population, they reveal a couple of crucial points.

For one, alien voting is not limited to one individual state or region. For another, alien voting has spanned years and is not limited to one election cycle. 

The fact is, alien voting can change the outcome of close elections, especially in local ones where turnouts usually total just a couple of thousand votes.

Given the lack of verification of citizenship of those registering to vote, the problem is no doubt worse than these numbers would indicate, since election officials seem to find out about aliens on the voter rolls almost by accident.

Elections—whether at the local, state or federal level—have consequences. An official in public office can shape our communities for years to come. Whether it’s a state attorney general, a county prosecutor who enforces laws and puts criminals behind bars, or a school board member who approves the curriculum for our children, having a bad public official elected to office because of the alien vote can have lasting and likely negative impacts on American communities. 

But don’t expect much sympathy at the White House. The Biden administration already violates numerous federal immigration laws on the books daily.

Its “catch and release” program violates 8 USC 1225’s requirement of mandatory detention for illegal aliens. Its “mass parole” program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans violates 8 CFR § 212.5’s requirement of parole being used only on a case-by-case basis. Its deportation protocols focusing only on arresting illegal aliens deemed to pose a threat to public safety or national security, or who recently crossed over the border illegally violates 8 USC 1227’s deportable alien’s criteria. 

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Seeing that the Biden administration willfully breaks federal laws, we can suspect that laws prohibiting aliens from voting are also being broken—and are being ignored by an administration that has explicitly encouraged illegal immigration into this country.

In addition to having laws on the books to prevent alien voting, our nation must better enforce these laws. This means the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security must step up. If there are rogue actors within these departments, as we continue to see under this administration, Congress should use its purse strings and defund elements within these agencies.

Creating a congressional commission to further explore how aliens impact the outcomes of American elections ought to be considered, as this issue won’t go away soon. And lastly, Congress should require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in any election reform legislation.

Inaction is not an option. Our constitutional republic requires compliance, enforcement and integrity in its electoral processes.