Illegal aliens voting in elections has been a concern for Republicans as incidents of non-citizens being registered to vote have seemingly appeared, prompting Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to introduce a bill making the casting of ballots as an illegal alien a felony.
Naming the bill "Judicial Action to Impose Liability for Alien Voters" or "JAIL for Alien Voters Act," Rep. Gaetz was inspired by remarks from former President Donald Trump in September, where he briefly but sternly said, "IF YOU VOTE ILLEGALLY, YOU'RE GOING TO JAIL" in a Truth Social post.
"President Donald Trump is right: illegal aliens who vote in our elections should be in jail. It is unacceptable that illegal aliens get lighter sentences for defrauding our elections than U.S. citizens. My legislation, the JAIL for Alien Voters Act, will create parity in punishment for those who commit voter fraud, regardless of immigration status. It's common sense that U.S. citizens should be the only ones voting in U.S. elections," said Rep. Gaetz in his press release.
Earlier this month, the Florida Congressman introduced a similar bill reaffirming that states have the right to clean their voter rolls of deceased and non-citizen names at any time after the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Virginia for supposedly attempting to remove non-citizens within 90 days of the upcoming election.
However, Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) issued an August executive order requiring daily inspection of the non-citizens list at the state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) with registered voter rolls. People are given two weeks to prove their citizenship before their voter registration is removed, taking approximately 6,300 names off the lists between January 2022 and July 2024.
The DOJ's lawsuit alleges that this system has removed the voter registration of people who had previously proven their citizenship, and people should be given more than two weeks to prove their citizenship.
In July, Gaetz and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) demanded the DOJ prosecute cases of illegal aliens attempting to register to vote, including 1,600 known aliens present in Georgia's voter rolls.
