House Committee Investigates Noncitizen Voting in Key States
The House Oversight Committee is looking into claims that noncitizens might be listed on both jury and voter rolls in significant battleground states.
Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. John James (R-Mich.) reached out to Attorney General Pam Bondi with concerns over whether certain counties in the Detroit area are potentially granting U.S. citizens exclusive rights, which might breach federal law.
“There are noncitizens on state jury rolls and, in some cases, they’re registered as voters. The committee is asking for a briefing to discuss the Department of Justice’s role in checking into these issues and whether they could be happening elsewhere in the country,” the letter stated.
Comer emphasized that the attorney general can take action against such violations under civil rights law.
Concerns in Michigan
In Michigan, individuals are chosen for jury duty from those who have a driver’s license or state ID. According to Michigan law, anyone applying for these IDs automatically gets registered to vote unless they specifically opt out.
Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini recently found troubling irregularities after comparing the county’s jury rolls to the Michigan Secretary of State’s eligible voter list. Over four months, the investigation uncovered that 239 noncitizens were included on jury rolls, and of those, 14 had been registered to vote at some point.
Forlini expressed concern about the increasing presence of noncitizens in local jury pools, stating that over that four-month study, the findings were shocking.
“What we found is very concerning. During our review, we identified 239 non-citizens among potential jurors. After checking the voter rolls, it seems 14 of them were registered to vote at some time,” Forlini said in a press release. He flagged one individual in particular as having voted multiple times, which could lead to serious legal issues.
Ongoing Investigations
The Department of Justice had previously taken legal action against Michigan regarding voter information issues late last year.
Comer and James also urged Bondi to consider whether similar discrepancies could be present in other states and to investigate if local officials have resisted cooperating with the DOJ’s inquiries regarding these issues.
Meanwhile, Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson criticized Forlini’s claims as “reckless,” stating that the state has started its own investigation. She remarked, “This is what happens when you focus on headlines instead of facts, and it’s the real people who get hurt.” Benson emphasized that she takes illegal voting allegations seriously and noted that only four noncitizens identified by Forlini were actually registered to vote, committing to actively investigate the situations.
Although no confirmed evidence has emerged to suggest that non-citizen voting impacted federal elections, Republicans caution that the surge of illegal immigration under the Biden administration might raise such concerns in the future.
In response, House Republicans have recently proposed several bills aimed at addressing this potential issue, including the SAVE America Act, which is anticipated to be voted on soon.
