Democrats ‘divorced from voters’ as 5 states back citizen-only voting, bolstering GOP push

Voters in five states overwhelmingly approved ballot measures barring noncitizens from voting, including Kansas, where Democrats scored a major Senate upset, and Alaska, where the Senate race remains uncalled.

Federal law already prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, but measures approved in Kansas, Alaska, Arkansas, South Dakota and West Virginia clarify or explicitly codify citizenship requirements for voting in state and local elections, with support exceeding 60% in each state. 

Election integrity advocates pointed to the results as evidence supporting President Donald Trump and Republicans’ argument that their push to require proof of citizenship for federal voter registration has “overwhelming bipartisan support.”

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“I would absolutely agree that noncitizen voting bans are overwhelmingly popular,” Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project, told Fox News Digital. “They enjoy bipartisan support.”

A 2024 Gallup poll found that 83% of Americans, including 66% of Democrats, support requiring first-time voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

The ballot measure wins also come as the conservative-majority Supreme Court prepares to consider a related dispute over whether Arizona can require proof of citizenship on its state voter registration form and remove suspected noncitizens from the rolls before an election, a ruling that could affect how states enforce citizenship requirements.

Related election measures failed in California and Arizona. California’s Proposition 39 was defeated 58.5% to 41.4%, a margin of roughly 17 percentage points; the measure would have required voter ID and additional citizenship-verification procedures.

“I would note that the unique thing there is not only that California is openly hostile to the idea of trying to prevent noncitizen voting in terms of its elected leadership, but also the left poured more than $30 million into the ballot measure campaign to defeat that,” Snead told Fox News Digital.

Snead said Arizona’s measure was broader legislation that included several provisions beyond noncitizen voting, which may have contributed to its defeat.

The victories for the measures barring noncitizens from voting follow the Trump administration and congressional Republicans’ failed efforts to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

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The SAVE America Act also became a flashpoint in Congress, with Republicans and Democrats sparring over whether to attach it to a budget reconciliation package. Trump’s effort to tie the bill to Department of Homeland Security funding contributed to a prolonged standoff during the department’s shutdown. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Republicans lacked the votes to pass it, while Democrats argued it would disenfranchise eligible voters.

Hans von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Election Commission and senior legal fellow of Advancing American Freedom, said the Democratic Party is completely “divorced” from its voters.

Snead agreed, saying Democrats took a “90-10 issue” and turned it into a highly politicized fight.

“The left is far out of step with the American public, and they really should be answering the question, ‘Why are you opposed to something that 90% of the public is in favor of?” Snead said. 

“Only citizens should vote in our elections. And if you believe, as the left claims to, in democracy, well then, we should start by making sure that we have free and fair elections that are decided only by American citizens.”

But while Spakovsky applauded the passage of the ballot measures, he warned they could prove ineffective unless states are allowed to verify voters’ citizenship.

“Look, I’m glad those states passed that referendum, but those provisions aren’t going to be much good unless states are able to do two things,” Spakovsky said.

Spakovsky pointed to Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota, a case in which the Supreme Court will decide whether federal law prevents Arizona from requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and from removing suspected noncitizens from its voter rolls. 

He said the ruling could affect how effectively states can enforce citizenship requirements.

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Snead said simply checking a box attesting to citizenship on a federal form has not been sufficient.

“As we have seen in a number of recent arrests by the Justice Department, with indictments going out against noncitizens, and with the failures of the automatic voter registration system in New Jersey, which added 6,600 noncitizens to the rolls, with almost 400 of them voting, we clearly have been let down by that check-a-box system,” Snead said.

However, Spakovsky said a ruling in favor of Arizona would only go so far, arguing that proof of citizenship would only apply to future voter registrations.

“The only way for them to try to check the citizenship of people who are already registered is by using the SAVE database at the Department of Homeland Security, and with complete control of Congress, I have no doubt that one of the first things Democrats will do is try to defund the database so that states can’t use it,” Spakovsky said.

Snead applauded the Trump administration’s efforts to expand states’ access to the SAVE database to clean up their voter rolls, arguing the previous process of tracking down ineligible voters was “cumbersome.” He also voiced concerns that Democrats will gut the database.

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“I would not be surprised if they try to defund the entire safe system or pass legislation to prevent its use for cleaning up voter rolls,” Snead said.

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“I think that we are fast approaching the point where it is fair to say, ‘Why are Democrats actively pushing for noncitizen voting?'” Snead continued. “I think that’s the direction that we are going.”