Secretaries of State Brad Raffensperger (R-Ga.) and Adrian Fontes (D-Ariz.) had different opinions on voting by people who are not citizens during a panel talk on “Meet the Press” that will air on Sunday.
Kristen Welker of MSNBC talked to Raffensperger, Fontes, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D), and Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt (R) about threats they’ve faced, false information, AI, and other topics.
There aren’t a lot of noncitizens voting in elections, so Welker asked Raffensperger why it was such an important problem.
«Because I think that only citizens of the United States should be able to vote in our elections. I did it again in 2018 and said the same thing. Raffensperger replied, “I’m the first secretary of state in Georgia ever to do 100% citizenship verification.”
He said that the state found about 1,600 people who tried to register to vote but could not find proof of residency.
“So, people in Georgia asked me, ‘Are foreigners allowed to vote in Georgia?'” “They aren’t, I can say that because we checked,” Raffensperger said.
Fontes talked to Raffensperger and told him that case proved his own point.
“You checked and found that there were attempts.” But none of those people were actually registered to vote, and none of those people actually did. Thus, elections have been free and clear of votes from people who are not citizens in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, and all over the country, Fontes said. “So, I believe this is a false lead.”
Fontes said that Arizona has a rule that lets people who are not citizens vote, and that the state’s standards are “higher than everybody else’s.” However, some people say that this is not true.
Fontes said, “We need to look at the facts.”
Benson said it was “good news” that everyone could agree that people who aren’t citizens shouldn’t be able to vote.
“That’s why we’re all committed to it, and I think it’s really important for people to know that no matter what party we’re in, we’re doing everything we can and more to make sure that only U.S. citizens are voting,” she said.
