Report: Pennsylvania Confirms, Over 11,000 Noncitizens Are Registered To Vote
Following an investigation, over 11,000 noncitizens were found to be registered to vote in Pennsylvania, according to a Wednesday report by The Washington Times.
The ineligible voters were found using a method similar to that used in Texas where 95,000 noncitizens were found registered to vote.
Of the almost 100,000 noncitizen registered voters in Texas, about 58,000 have voted at some point since 1996, according to The Washington Times.
Both states used the driver’s license records to check immigration status against those registered to vote in their respective states.
The Washington Times also reported that Pennsylvania admitted that there was a problem with the state motor vehicle bureau that made it an easy process for noncitizens to register to vote.
However, the state would not release the names of those illegible registered voters to the state lawmakers, which made it impossible to discover how many had actually voted.
After the discovery, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe called on Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration to immediately remove the 11,198 noncitizens from the voter registry.
“I believe that we need to take action and have those people removed immediately from the rolls,” Metcalfe told The Washington Times. “They were never eligible to vote.”
According to Metcalfe, Wolf’s administration “belatedly acknowledged the large number of noncitizens in communications over the past two months,” The Washington Times reported.
Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Val DiGiorgio said in a statement, “These 11,198 non-citizen voters must immediately be taken off of Pennsylvania’s voter rolls.
“While Pennsylvania’s Congressional Democrats this week jumped at the ability to support legislation that would weaken voter verification procedures, these revelations are the latest indication that before lawmakers undertake further election reform measures, our current system must be bolstered to ensure integrity befitting the democratic process.”
The Washington Times contacted the Pennsylvania Department of State but did not receive a comment.
Logan Churchwell, the director of communications and research at the Public Interest Legal Foundation, is involved in lawsuits in both Pennsylvania and Texas in an effort to gain access to the voter data involved in each of these instances.
“Demonstrating, much less discussing, noncitizen voting activity is the worst form of heresy one can commit for left-wing groups,” Churchwell said.
Domingo Garcia, who serves as the national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, has a different take on the push to purge voter rolls.
“It’s clear that the right-wing elements in Texas government are trying to rig the system to keep power and disenfranchise 95,000 American citizens,” Garcia said.
“There is no voter fraud in Texas. It’s a lie repeated time and again to suppress minority voters, and we’re going to fight hard against it.”
However, Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton believes that this display of disregard for voter eligibility is the “tip of the iceberg.”
“This shows the urgent need for citizenship verification for voting. The Department of Justice should follow up with a national investigation.”
The Washington Times cited a 2013 National Hispanic Survey that found that 13 percent of noncitizen Hispanics said they were registered to vote.
According to James D. Agresti with the Just Facts nonprofit, that 13 percent could amount to anywhere from 800,000 to 2.2 million illegal voters in the United States.
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