FACT SHEET

Noncitizen Voting In America

• There are an estimated 30 million noncitizens in the United States as of April 2024.
• The noncitizen population includes all foreign-born residents of the United States—legal, illegal, and quasi-legal—MINUS those who have become naturalized U.S. citizens.
• Thus, the noncitizen population includes:
• Lawful permanent residents (green card holders) who haven’t naturalized;
• Nonimmigrant visa holders (temporary workers and visitors);
• Asylees (aliens granted asylum) and refugees;
• Parolees (the more than one million inadmissible aliens the Biden Administration has allowed to fly into the United States without a visa, in a clear abuse of immigration law); and
• Illegal aliens (at least 5.5 million illegal aliens have entered through Biden’s open borders).

• All 50 states and the District of Columbia issue driver’s licenses, including REAL IDs, to noncitizens who are here legally.

• 19 states and the District of Columbia issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.

• Every noncitizen who is authorized to work in the United States is eligible for a Social Security number (SSN).

• This includes every noncitizen in the list above except for some nonimmigrant visa holders and most illegal aliens, unless/until they apply for asylum.

• With a driver’s license and a social security number, any noncitizen can register to vote in any state UNLESS the state takes additional steps to verify U.S. citizenship.

• All states are required under federal law to accept and use the federal voter registration form, at state Depts of Motor Vehicles and welfare agencies.  The form has only a checkbox to answer yes or no to the question, under penalty of perjury: “Are you a US Citizen?” 

• The Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that states may not require documentary proof of citizenship in addition to checking the box, 

• Imagine if you are a newly arrived noncitizen with limited or no English language skills and a government official hands you a form to fill out without clearly explaining that you are not eligible to vote. You are probably going to fill out the form and sign it!

• Registering to vote and voting in federal elections by noncitizens are felonies and make noncitizens deportable. Many noncitizens are not aware of this.