Safeguards Ensure Only US Citizens Are Automatically Registered to Vote

10/1/24

Noncitizens cannot register to vote and are NOT voting in our federal and state elections. It is illegal and rarely occurs—if for no reason other than noncitizens who attempt to register to vote could face prison and deportation. Why would they take the risk? 

The Brennan Center found only 30 suspected cases of noncitizen voting out of 23.5 million votes in the 2016 election. Additionally, according to the Brennan Center, “Every legitimate study ever done on the question shows that voting by noncitizens in state and federal elections is vanishingly rare.” 

Illinois passed new driver’s license legislation (HB 3882) that allows noncitizens to apply for standard driver’s licenses. This law went into effect in July 2024. Despite the cited statistics, there are those who are concerned that noncitizens will use these new driver’s licenses to register to vote. 

There are two avenues to become registered to vote. 

First, Illinois is one of 24 states where, when an eligible voter interacts with certain government agencies, like the Secretary of State's driver's licensing department, they are automatically registered to vote or their existing registration is automatically updated. The recent change in the law allowing noncitizens to apply for a standard driver's license has raised fears that noncitizens will also be automatically registered to vote. In order to ensure this does not happen, updated safeguards were put in place.

Second, this new driver’s license law does not affect operations and procedures of county clerks, boards of elections or deputy registrars. Under federal law, election officials are prohibited from asking about or requiring proof of citizenship as a condition of registration. The new iteration of the standard driver's license could be issued to either a citizen or a noncitizen. It is not up to anyone on the election side of things to question its validity as identification required to register to vote.

The intent of issuing noncitizens the same standard driver’s license as any other driver is twofold: it reduces discrimination previously faced by those carrying a Temporary Visitor's Driver's License (TVDL) and, by removing that stigma, encourages more Illinois residents, citizens or not, to obtain valid driver’s licenses, which results in safer roads for all.