Sen. Vitter: Deport illegals who vote
1:51 AM 11/03/2012
Kevin Mooney
The Daily Caller
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Illegal aliens and noncitizens who vote in U.S. elections would be put on an accelerated path toward deportation under new legislation introduced by Republican Louisiana Sen. David Vitter.
While this is a “seemingly common sense proposition” there is currently no law on the books that would make voter fraud a deportable offense for foreign nationals, Vitter told the Daily Caller in an interview.
“While this may sound bizarre to a lot of folks in Washington D.C., illegal aliens and noncitizens have no constitutional right to vote in American elections,” he added in an emailed statement. “And they certainly shouldn’t influence the outcomes.”
“My bill injects some of that common sense and puts teeth into voter laws so we can uphold the integrity of American elections. Of course we want immigrants to become voters once they become citizens, but our election system and our right to vote are being taken advantage of because of weak enforcement.”
Alleging that President Obama’s Department of Justice (DOJ) refuses to enforce a key provision of federal law that directs state officials to purge dead and ineligible voters from their rolls, Vitter says he sees a strong potential for voter fraud to occur in states that could help decide both the presidential election, and control of the U.S Senate.
Under Section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993, state social welfare agencies are required to offer potential voters registration forms while they seeking other government services. This part of the law is commonly known as “motor voter.”
Under Section 8 of the NVRA, state officials are required to maintain and update voter roles as a safeguard against fraudulent efforts. This means they must purge the rolls of dead voters and any ineligible voters who have moved.
But critics say Attorney General Eric Holder and the political appointees within President Obama’s DOJ have declined to enforce Section 8, which means that the names of ineligible voters will remain on the voter rolls in the upcoming election, Vitter noted.
“The Obama Justice Department is just picking and choosing which voter laws to enforce,” Vitter told TheDC. “They’re quickly becoming a campaign arm for president Obama by allowing some states – especially key swing states – to keep felons, illegal aliens and dead people on their voter rolls, which are clear violations of voter laws.”
Vitter’s proposed bill, The Protect Voter Integrity Act (S.3579), would make it a deportable offense for an illegal alien, or legal non-citizen, to vote in federal elections. Illegals and non-citizens who do vote would also be committing an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which means they would be subjected to expedited removal from the U.S.
Sen. Vitter: Deport illegals who vote | The Daily Caller
