In every nation that affords its citizens the right to vote, people go to the polls in the hope and expectation that the outcome of the election will reflect the views of the citizens of that nation — and no one else. Until 2016, Americans were not much concerned about our elections being manipulated by foreigners, but we now are highly sensitized to that risk. And while Americans are focused on the threat from foreign governments, there is another threat which often goes unnoticed.
The Threat of Foreign Government Interference
The most obvious source of foreign influence on U.S. elections comes from foreign governments. Voters are instinctively skeptical of a candidate who is receiving assistance from a foreign government.
For years, American mainstream media worked with their handlers in the Intelligence Community to push the hoax that Russia was helping Donald Trump’s campaign for the Presidency in 2016. To this day, the entry for “Russiagate” on Wikipedia, the unmistakable voice of the Deep State, states as fact:
The Russian government interfered in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States.
Wikipedia has no shame. Its description of Russiagate is at complete odds with the May 2019 Report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller who was unable to “establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” It is also refuted by the May 2023 Report of Special Attorney to the Attorney General John Durham. The Durham Report concluded that the FBI should never have opened its Crossfire Hurricane investigation during the presidential election season and should have not trusted the Steele Dossier, which we now know was generated by the Clinton Campaign.
As just this week, we have new evidence not only that the Russians did not help Trump — but rather, the Russians wanted Hillary Clinton to be elected. Journalists Michael Shellenberger and Matt Taibbi have reported that the CIA is hiding a Top Secret 50-page report that Russia favored Hillary Clinton in 2016, and that the intelligence was manipulated — “cooked” —- by CIA Director John Brennan to report the opposite of what it actually showed.
Now, it appears that such foreign threat as exists comes from China — not Russia. Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe has reported that intelligence about China’s election interference was suppressed by the CIA.
However, there is another means by which Americans can lose control of our own elections — by allowing noncitizens to vote in American elections.
Voting By Foreigners in State and Local Elections
The District of Columbia recently adopted the “Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act” which allows non-citizens — including illegal aliens — to vote in local elections. Under this new law, even foreign diplomats are allowed to vote, requiring only that they have maintained a residence in the city for 30 days. The only limitation is that voters must not also claim voting residence in any U.S. State or U.S. Territory.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) introduced a resolution to disapprove the D.C. law. He argued, “Voting is a pillar of American democracy and a constitutional right that undeniably needs to be protected and preserved for citizens of this country.” He described the law as a “reckless decision [and] an attack on the foundation of this republic.” Although Congress could have stopped this law from going into effect, the U.S. Senate refused to take action within the 30-day congressional review period.
Other localities that have such laws are in California, Maryland, and Vermont. A law similar to the D.C. law was passed in New York City in 2022, but recently was struck down by a New York appeals court.
This is no small matter, as the decision to allow noncitizens to vote can determine the outcome of elections in many locations, especially big cities. The Pew Research Center estimates that in 2020 there were over 25 million noncitizens living in the U.S. including 12 million permanent residents, 2 million temporary residents, and 11 million illegal aliens.
Voting By Foreigners in Federal Elections
Federal law prohibits aliens from voting in elections for President and Congress. 18 U.S. Code § 611 provides, “It shall be unlawful for any alien to vote in any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate [or] Member of the House of Representatives….” However, there is good reason to believe that illegals in fact vote in massive numbers – despite the law.
In three recent posts, Elon Musk asserted that “(1) illegal immigrants ‘are not prevented from voting in federal elections,’ (2) ‘you don’t need government issued ID to vote,’ and (3) Democrats ‘are importing voters.’” Musk was predictably derided by the Left. But history has proven that he is right. In a 2013 McLaughlin survey, 13 percent of self-declared Hispanic non-citizens admitted to being registered to vote. There is no way to know how many are registered, but refused to tell the pollsters.
In a 2008 Harvard/YouGov survey, 8 percent of self-declared non-citizens responded that they “definitely voted” in the 2008 presidential election. And, 82 percent of respondents who “definitely voted” stated that they voted for Barack Obama. Again, these numbers are likely to be greatly underreported, as aliens are not likely to tell a pollster they committed a federal crime.
A “database match with consumer and voting records showed that an additional 8% of non-citizens in the database voted in this election, even though they said they had not voted.” These numbers of admitted alien voters are more than enough to have tipped the balance of presidential races and battles for control of Congress.
Where Foreign Voters Will Take Us
Jefferson warned of the dangers of mass, uncontrolled immigration of people from countries that do not share our love of liberty. “They will bring with them the principles of the governments they leave…. It would be a miracle were they to stop precisely at the point of temperate liberty. … They will infuse into [American legislation] their spirit, warp and bias its direction.”
Americans are losing control of our own government to invaders from nations unconcerned with our constitutional liberties. As Jason Snead of the Honest Elections Project asks, “why let the people choose their government when you can have the government choose its people?”
Editor’s Note: To read the articles in this series, please click here.
