US Republicans target noncitizen voting, as Trump keeps up false voter fraud claims

WASHINGTON: US House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled a bill to ban noncitizens from voting in federal elections, which is already illegal and rarely occurs, an effort meant to draw more attention to Donald Trump’s false claims that US elections are marred by widespread fraud.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has relied on the former president’s support to hold off a bid to oust him from leadership by Republican hardliner Marjorie Taylor Greene, said the measure was aimed at preventing noncitizens from voting in November.

“We all know - intuitively - that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections. But it’s not been something that is easily provable,” Johnson told reporters without offering evidence to support the claim.

Republicans say the legislation would provide a needed mechanism to safeguard voting by requiring states to collect proof of US citizenship before registering voters and to purge their voter rolls of noncitizens.