Johnson, after a meeting with Trump at the former president's Mar-a-Lago estate, introduced a major federal elections reform bill aimed at ensuring illegal aliens are unable to cast ballots. If it seems like a solution in search of a problem, that's far from the case, according to Cleta Mitchell, a senior legal fellow at the Conservative Partnership Institute.
Abuse of 'motor voter' law
The National Voter Registration Act, passed by former President Bill Clinton in 1993, made voter registration available through the Department of Motor Vehicles. That legislation basically allows individuals to obtain their driver's license and register to vote at the same time.
An estimated 11 million people registered in the first three years of Motor Voter, according to The Washington Post. But there has been abuse in the past, and the system is ripe for exploitation with non-citizens having poured across the southern border by the millions in President Joe Biden's first term, Mitchell explained on Washington Watch Friday.
"The law requires that every state must accept and use what is called the federal voter registration application," Mitchell noted. "And on that form [is] a little checkbox that says yes, you're a citizen. But a Supreme Court ruling ten years ago prohibits [workers] from asking any potential registrant to prove they're a citizen," she added.
In addition to her role at CPI, Mitchell is founder of the Election Integrity Network. According to the election law attorney, every state has a statute that says only citizens can vote. "But states are not able to require people to prove it. That's what this bill [being pushed by Speaker Johnson] would change," Mitchell told show host Jody Hice.
As Ronald Reagan once said, "Trust, but verify." According to Mitchell, the voter registration process leaves states with no method of verification.
"It's one thing to accept as true a checked box back at a time when no one would have dreamed that you would have an administration that would completely disregard the immigration laws. Thirty-one years ago, who would have thought that you would have millions of illegals pouring across the border? Nobody would have thought that. So that has changed," Mitchell said.
Voter integrity a common theme for Johnson
Johnson has stood against the threat of illegals voting before and received pushback from Democrats. The Speaker is hopeful this measure will offer another layer of protection.
"Every single person who registers to vote in a federal election must prove they're an American citizen first. Our bill would put us on par with virtually every other democracy around the world that also prohibits non-citizen voting," Johnson told reporters.
"It seems like common sense. I'm sure all of us would agree we only want U.S. citizens to vote in U.S. elections, but there are some Democrats who don't want to do that," he added.
Johnson again called out Biden's border policy.
"One of the reasons for this is our open border, which everybody asks all around the country: Why would they do this? Why would they allow all this chaos? Why the violence? Because they want to turn these people into voters," Johnson stated, answering his own questions.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) agrees.
"They want them voting. They also want them to be counted for redistricting. Every district includes about 750,000 people. So, literally you have people in the country whose allegiance isn't to the country determining the makeup of a district and its electoral count for president," Perry told Hice.
Political hardball wasn't a GOP strength in recent budget talks. It will take forceful measures by Republicans to get voter legislation through the Senate and the White House.
"My concern is we'll pass a bill that will go nowhere in the Senate. We need to attach that bill to something that is moving [and] must pass, and force this administration to sign it. That's what needs to happen," Perry said.
Biden's push for easy voter sign-up
Registering to vote has become much easier under Biden, Mitchell pointed out. But while that's helpful for prospective voters, it's also helpful for those who would game the system.
"Three years ago, President Biden issued an executive order in which he ordered every federal agency to use our tax dollars to register to vote everybody who comes into contact with that federal agency as well as to provide voting materials for them to vote," she relayed.
"So, register and get out the vote," Mitchell continued. "That's what federal agencies are doing with our tax dollars – and they're coming into contact with millions of illegals.
"We've had whistleblowers who've brought forward instructions that they've received from the head office of their agency in Washington instructing them that they're supposed to be giving people voter registration and voting materials," Mitchell said.
