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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a formal petition with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) urging it to require documentary proof of United States citizenship (DPOC) to register to vote in federal elections. This commonsense requirement would strengthen election integrity by ensuring that only U.S. citizens can vote in U.S. elections.
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), frequently called the “Motor Voter Law,” created a single federal form that all states are required to accept and use for voter registration for federal elections. The EAC is responsible for maintaining and, as necessary, amending this form.
The federal form is required to collect information “necessary to enable the appropriate State election official to assess the eligibility of the applicant.” Despite this, it only requires applicants to check a box affirming they are U.S. citizens. The form does not require any verification that applicants are telling the truth, other than the applicant’s signature attesting that the information they have provided is true. The form does nothing to prevent criminal dishonesty. In other words, it relies entirely on the “honor system,” trusting that all illegal alien applicants attempting to register to vote — who are already committing a crime — will somehow choose to be honest when deciding which box to check on the voter registration form.
Requiring DPOC to be submitted with the form would require applicants to submit documents proving U.S. citizenship, such as Real ID driver’s licenses, military ID, and passports when registering to vote. A DPOC requirement is a commonsense measure to assess a voter’s eligibility. Several states, including Arizona, Georgia, Alabama, and Kansas, have taken measures to require DPOC to register to vote, but various legal challenges have blocked these laws from taking full effect.
Arizona’s law has been implemented for state and local elections, but not for federal elections. Arizona is required to allow individuals to register to vote in federal elections without providing DPOC simply because the federal form does not require it. As a result, Arizona’s voter registration rolls include voters who are fully registered to vote in both state and federal elections (those who have provided DPOC), and voters who can only vote in federal elections (those who have not provided DPOC). Currently, Arizona has over 40,000 voters who have not provided DPOC registered to vote in federal elections — nearly four times the margin of victory listed in the official results of the 2020 presidential election in that state.
Illegal aliens voting in U.S. elections is not a hypothetical issue. In Pennsylvania, a 2018 lawsuit revealed over 100,000 aliens registered to vote, and one city official found that at least 90 aliens had actually cast ballots in a Philadelphia election. Similarly, in 2019, Texas identified nearly 100,000 possible foreigners on their voter rolls, of which around 58,000 may have voted in previous elections. Since 2021, Texas has removed over 6,500 potential foreign citizens from its voter rolls. Of those 6,500 foreign citizens, 1,930 actually voted. Additionally, survey data suggests that a significant proportion of aliens may be illegally registered to vote.
On March 25, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14248, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” requiring, among other things, that the EAC implement a DPOC requirement on the federal form. Following this directive, courts in Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts temporarily halted the implementation of that portion of the order, questioning whether the President has the authority to order the EAC to take action. However, even those courts acknowledged that the EAC remains free to take action on its own to impose a DPOC requirement.
Today, AFL is giving the EAC a reason to act. Federal law allows any member of the public to file a “petition for rulemaking” with a federal agency, requesting it to adopt a new regulation or rule. Thus, AFL has filed a formal petition with the EAC requesting that it amend the federal voter registration form to require applicants to provide DPOC when registering to vote.
If an agency does not act on a petition for rulemaking, federal law allows the party that submitted the petition to sue, forcing the agency to act. AFL will be watching closely to ensure the EAC takes action expeditiously.
“America First Legal will not stand by while our elections are undermined by loopholes and an ‘honor system’ that invites fraud. The right to vote is the sacred privilege of American citizens—period. We are demanding that the EAC fulfill its duty to the American people by requiring real, documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections. Anything less is an open invitation for illegal voting and a betrayal of our democracy. AFL is fully committed to using every legal tool available to ensure that only citizens decide America’s future. We will not rest until election integrity is restored and the voice of every lawful voter is protected,” said Senior Counsel James Rogers.
“The right to choose our government—that is, to vote and to have our votes counted—is a fundamental right of American citizens and a principle that lies at the very foundation of our democratic republic. The commonsense requirement that the federal form provide State election officials with the tools needed to verify voter eligibility, including adequate proof of citizenship, will help to protect that right by preventing lawful votes from being diluted through fraud,” said Ryan Giannetti, Counsel for America First Legal.
Read the petition for rulemaking here.
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