ATLANTA (CBS46) – Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is stepping up efforts to ensure that only American citizens vote in the Georgia elections.
He wants a constitutional amendment that states that only US citizens can vote in Georgia. At a press conference Thursday morning, Raffensperger signed a petition from the Americans for Citizen Voting grassroots group that only American citizens can vote in Georgia.
“The surprising and alarming truth is that there are places in the US where non-US citizens are allowed to vote, and in Georgia there have been attempts here in Georgia to allow non-US citizens to vote,” said Ken Hand by Americans for Citizen Voting.
Raffensperger vowed during his election campaign to ensure that only American citizens are eligible to vote. A spokesman for Raffensperger’s office told CBS46 that the Americans for Citizen Voting had contacted their office about their joint efforts to pursue non-citizen polling cases.
So far, the Georgia Secretary of State has told CBS46 that it has only been able to identify one case of suspected non-citizen voting.
“We are currently investigating a case in DeKalb County,” said Jordan Fuchs. “At the end of the day there is one too many and we need to catch any errors in the process that would make this possible.”
The DeKalb case will be discussed at a hearing on Tuesday.
“It is a movement that allows non-citizens to vote in our local elections such as school boards and mayorships, non-citizens with green cards,” said Christopher Arps, president of Americans for Citizen Voting. “Voting is a privilege for US citizens. I can’t go to Mexico. I can’t go to Canada and vote in their elections. They shouldn’t be able to do that here, ”continued Arps.
The group expressed concerns that U.S. cities like San Francisco are allowing votes from non-citizens in elections, as San Francisco recently approved the election of non-citizens in its school board elections.
“These trends make it clear that more needs to be done to preserve the integrity of the elections in Georgia,” said Raffensperger.
The nonprofit also notes that states like Alabama, Colorado, North Dakota, and Florida recently passed changes that ensure only US citizens can vote.
Georgia House minority leader James Beverly calls the effort “political standing” and a “solution in search of a problem.”
“Anyone who is a citizen can vote in the state of Georgia already. That’s it,” Beverly said. “If you’re not a citizen, you’re already banned from voting in the state of Georgia,” Beverly said.
Georgian law makes it clear that only citizens can legally vote in elections.
The Georgia Constitution contains the same rule in Article 2, Section 1, which states in part that this right to vote is extended to “any person who is a citizen of the United States and, within the meaning of the law, a Georgia resident, who is at least 18 years of age , at least 18 years old and not deprived of their rights by this article, and who meet the minimum residence requirements … “
Raffensperger wants to strengthen the language through a constitutional amendment.
“We have to add a simple word to the constitution: the word ‘just’,” said Hand. “Adding that little word to the constitution makes it clear that only US citizens can vote in the Georgia elections, and this will stop pressure from extreme groups to allow non-citizens to vote,” he continued.
In order to enforce the constitutional amendment in the November 2022 vote, state lawmakers would have to vote for a referendum with a two-thirds majority.
The decision on the citizens’ “only” language would then be in the hands of the Georgian voters in the November 2022 elections.
You can watch the full press conference below:
