Marjorie Taylor Greene Proposes Bill to Ban Illegal Immigrants from Voting in Washington DC

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) waits to speak during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 1, 2023. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has put forward a bill that would impose a citizenship requirement for voter registration in Washington D.C., and effectively ban illegal immigrants from voting.

The draft bill, a copy of which has been obtained by The Epoch Times, is titled the “American Confidence in Elections: District of Columbia Voter Identification Act.”

The focus of the bill is to undo the Local Resident Voting Rights Act that entered into force in March of this year, which allowed non-citizen permanent residents to vote in local elections for mayor, D.C. Council, the State Board of Education, Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, and the D.C. Attorney General.

An earlier House resolution introduced by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) sought to nix the D.C. voting act, but it stalled in committee after being introduced in the lower chamber in January 2023.

Ms. Greene’s bill seeks to revive that effort and give it legislative force by amending the Help America Vote Act of 2002, establishing photo identification requirements for voting in D.C. elections, and requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in D.C. elections.

“Only American citizens should be voting in American elections. That’s why I introduced the District of Columbia Voter Identification Act to safeguard election integrity by implementing mandatory photo voter ID and ensuring only American citizens are casting ballots by instituting a citizenship requirement for voter registration,” Ms. Greene told The Daily Caller, which was first to report on the bill.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks on the House floor on May 23, 2023. U.S. House of Representatives/Screenshot via NTD

The D.C. Council passed the Local Resident Voting Rights Act in October 2022 after years of similar efforts floundering. The measure was opposed by Republicans on Capitol Hill, who argued that approving the legislation would let illegal immigrants vote in local D.C. elections.

Mr. Comer and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) introduced a joint resolution in January formally disapproving the D.C. Council measure.

“Allowing illegal immigrants to vote is an insult to every voter in America. Every single Democrat should be on the record about whether they support this insane policy,” Mr. Cotton said in a statement at the time.

‘A Pretty Spectacular Juxtaposition’

While there was no immediate reaction to Ms. Greene’s bill by opponents, D.C. Council member Brianne K. Nadeau, who introduced the Local Resident Voting Rights Act that Greene’s bill seeks to undo, earlier criticized Congressional efforts to nix the measure.

“Despite House Republican attempts to interfere, today the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act became law,” Ms. Nadeau said in a statement on March 14. “Our neighbors–who pay taxes, attend our schools, and contribute to the vibrancy of our communities–will now also have a say in who represents them in our local government.”

At the time, Ms. Nadeau accused Republicans of seeking “disenfranchisement” by opposing the measure.

“Disenfranchisement is on full display right now,“ Ms. Nadeau said. ”We’re expanding voting rights here while our autonomy is under attack. It’s a pretty spectacular juxtaposition.”

Ms. Nadeau argued that residents of the District of Columbia deserve “full autonomy and representation” and that it’s unacceptable for Congress to make decisions about the city that affect the lives of its residents.

“Congress’ interference must not be tolerated, and the past few weeks have made clearer than ever why D.C. must become the 51st state,” she added, referring to the District of Columbia statehood movement, which gained traction in the Democrat-controlled House in 2021 with the passage of a bill seeking to grant D.C. the status of a state.

Statehood

In April 2021, the House passed H.R. 51, the D.C. statehood bill along party lines with zero Republican support.

Democrats have been advocating statehood for the U.S. capital for decades, arguing that it would fix a centuries-old wrong centering on the notion that D.C. residents are taxed but have no elected representatives to intervene in Congress on their behalf.

“This country was founded on the principles of no taxation without representation and consent of the governed. But D.C. residents are taxed without representation and cannot consent to the laws under which they as American citizens must live,” said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting delegate, on the House floor ahead of the vote.

President Joe Biden, too, has repeatedly expressed support for D.C. statehood and urged lawmakers in Congress to pass the Democrat bill.

Republicans, by contrast, have argued that the D.C. statehood bill was less about representation but more about pushing progressive policies.

“This is not about a balance of power, this is about more power,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said ahead of the vote.

“This is about government-run health care, a 93 trillion [dollar] Green New Deal, packing the Supreme Court, higher taxes, and a bigger, less efficient form of government,” she said at the time.

Mr. Comer, who also opposed the bill, called it a “blatant power grab” by Democrats as the District of Columbia has in the past overwhelmingly voted blue.

“I wonder, listening to the debate, if our friends on the other side of the aisle would be so passionate if Washington, D.C., were 90 percent Republican as [opposed to] 90 percent Democrat,” he said at the time.

“H.R. 51 goes against the Founding Fathers’ intent, and is unconstitutional, impractical and a blatant power grab.”