“Demagoguery: political activity or practices that seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.” Oxford online dictionary.

“A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” This line from “The Boxer” by Simon and Garfunkel describes Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI). Tom hears what he wants to hear – the MAGA conspiracy theories about voter fraud – and disregards any logical thinking or factual information to the contrary.

The myth that noncitizens are voting is another example of Tom’s flawed thinking and demagoguery. As demonstrated by his online newsletters, Tiffany has little regard for serious discussions of public policy or issues that actually impact his constituents. His newsletters consist mostly of inflammatory rants to instill anger, fear and division among people. Every newsletter is primarily vitriolic attacks on President Biden and Democrats with little factual discussion of issues. Exemplifying the above definition of “demagoguery,” his pronouncements “seek support by appealing to...prejudices...rather than rational argument.”

In a recent e-newsletter,Tiffany says “It is evident that Democrats are relying on illegal immigrants to become future voters. This strategy became clear when Joe Biden initiated his illegal alien Voter Importation Program (VIP) by opening our borders on January 20, 2021” (Note: I have been unable to find anything online about a “Voter Importation Program” It apparently doesn’t exist).

Tiffany continues, “Despite numerous studies showing that non-citizens are voting in U.S. elections and despite over 70% of Americans opposing non-citizen voting, 198 House Democrats voted against legislation this week that would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.”

This is a typical example of how Tiffany cherry picks sources, distorts facts and misuses statistics to mislead his constituents. In his newsletter, “numerous studies” is hyperlinked giving the impression that he is providing documentation. The source is an article in a conservative newspaper that, if you read the article, doesn’t support Tiffany’s argument (“Pennsylvania admits to 11,000 noncitizens registered to vote,” The Washington Times, January 30, 2019). The article reports about a Republican state legislator attacking the Democratic governor for what the state admits was “a glitch in state motor vehicle bureau computers that allowed noncitizens to register to vote.” Note that these individuals were accidentally “registered” to vote and the article provides no documentation that the 11,000 actually voted as Tiffany claims.

The article discusses a similar situation in Texas. The Texas Secretary of State compared state driver’s license records, which include immigration status, with voter registration rolls. He found 95,000 noncitizens were registered to vote. This was 0.6% of the 16 million registered voters in Texas. But this analysis does not say how many actually voted. The article also cites other sources which say comparing driver license and voter registration records is not a valid statistical methodology.

The bottom line is the conservative source that Tiffany cites is more honest and balanced in its reporting than Tiffany is in his newsletter. The hyperlinked source does not document that noncitizens are voting.

Tiffany also says “70% of Americans” oppose noncitizens voting. This may be true but is an irrelevant statistic. People’s opposition to noncitizen voting does not prove that noncitizens are voting. It does, however, jazz up Tiffany’s rant with a number that provides a false impression of credibility.

Similarly, Tiffany’s declaration that 198 Democrats voted against requiring proof of citizenship is not evidence that noncitizens are voting. Nor does it prove Democrats support noncitizens voting. Noncitizens voting is already illegal so the legislation was unnecessary. Plus requiring citizenship documentation would disenfranchise many more eligible citizens than noncitizens. 

In a recent study the Brennan Center for Justice found that 9% of eligible voters (21.3 million people) don’t have proof of citizenship readily available. Some 3.8 million don’t have these documents at all.

Currently no state requires proof of citizenship to register to vote. Federal law requires the use of a standard voter registration form that asks if the registrant is a citizen. Requiring written proof of citizenship primarily would reduce the number of eligible citizens being able to vote.

Unlike Tiffany’s poor documentation there are reputable sources that say noncitizen voting is not a problem. I list four below, including the conservative Cato Institute.

A study by the Brennan Center for Justice analyzed 23.5 million votes across 42 jurisdictions from the 2016 election and found 30 instances of noncitizens voting – just 0.0001 percent of the votes cast. They say, “Every legitimate study ever done on the question shows that voting by noncitizens in state and federal elections is rare...there is no evidence that noncitizen voting has ever been significant enough to impact an election’s outcome.”

The libertarian Cato Institute agrees, In the article listed below they say, “There are likely many problems with America’s voting system and there is no doubt that a non-zero number of non-citizens illegally voted, but there is no good evidence that noncitizens voted illegally in large enough numbers to actually shift the outcome of elections or even change the number of electoral votes.”

The extremely conservative Heritage Foundation advocates for requiring proof of citizenship. But their “Election Fraud Database” lists only 24 cases of proven noncitizen voting between 2003 and 2023. The database lists only 1,546 cases of election fraud of all kinds going back to the 1980s. They say the database is only “a sampling” of cases but clearly these are small numbers that don’t justify the statements of Trump and Tiffany on election fraud.

Tiffany’s statements about noncitizens voting are simply inaccurate and misleading. He is just stirring up distrust in government and the accuracy of our elections.

We have much bigger problems with voter apathy than we do with voter fraud. In a typical election about 50% of legal, eligible voters don’t bother to vote. Instead of creating more obstacles to voting – like requiring written proof of citizenship – we should be encouraging more people to vote. 
 
Sources:

Washington Post, “The truth about noncitizen voting in federal elections,” Glenn Kessler, March ,2024

Brennan Center for Justice, “Noncitizens Are Not Voting in Federal or State Elections – Here’s Why,” Sean Morales-Doyle, April12 2024

National Immigration Forum, “The Myths and Truths of Noncitizen Voting in the United States,” May 7, 2024

The Cato Institute, “Noncitizens Don’t Illegally Vote in Detectable Numbers,”.Alex Nowrasteh, November 25, 2020