Peach Tree Times

State Rep. Mike Cameron (R-Rossville) stands with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and those who have taken a firm stance against voting rights for noncitizens, rights that local governments around the country are increasingly granting. 

“I believe that everyone who has the right to vote should vote, but you have to be qualified to vote and that means earning the privilege of being a citizen before you vote,” Cameron told the Peach Tree Times.

He added that the votes of noncitizens unfairly “dilute” the votes of citizens.

At an August press conference, Raffensperger, a Republican, urged the Georgia Legislature to approve a constitutional amendment clarifying that noncitizens have no right to vote. A provision in the Georgia Constitution gives every citizen the right to vote but doesn’t preclude noncitizens from voting.

"We want to be very clear about that so that people don't believe that they can register," Raffensperger said at the news briefing. "The confusion arises when you can vote in other states, and we want to make sure people understand in Georgia only American citizens vote. It is reserved for American citizens only."

A proposed constitutional amendment in the Georgia House died with the end of this year’s legislative session, but could be considered again next year, the Associated Press reported.

Recently, noncitizen residents of two towns in Vermont, Montpelier and Winooski, gained the right to vote after the Vermont Legislature overrode Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of the bill approving charter changes by the towns.

Nine Maryland cities have given noncitizens the right to vote. The San Francisco Board of Education allows it, and according to the Pew Foundation, Washington, D.C., Illinois and New York City are considering allowing the provision.

Jack Tomczak, national field director with Americans for Citizen Voting (ACV), said that those who support noncitizen voting typically argue that without that voting right they are paying taxes without representation. Tomczak, however, argues all Americans experience taxation without representation to some degree.

“Visiting another state and paying sales tax in that state doesn’t give you the right to vote in that state,” he said for an earlier story. “And a federal law passed in 1996 prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections, yet many pay federal taxes.”

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill recently wrote in a commentary that noncitizen voting would substantially impede the citizen naturalization process as it is a major incentive to become a U.S. citizen.

“The naturalization process serves as an essential, shared experience for millions of past and present immigrants to the U.S.,” he said.

Merrill also said that voter confidence, not noncitizen voting, will increase voter turnout across the United States. He noted that since his taking office in January 2015, the state has registered 1,890,152 new voters. Overall, 96% of eligible African-American residents are registered, 91% of eligible white residents are registered, and 94% of all eligible residents in this state are registered to vote that Alabama registered voters nearly doubled.

Cameron said he agrees with Merrill’s point that giving voting rights to noncitizens disincentives them from becoming citizens.

 “Bottom line,” Cameron said, “is that you should be a citizen to vote, and it’s not discriminatory to insist on that."