House Passes Measure to Repeal D.C. Noncitizen Voting Law

The House passed legislation on Thursday that would undo a District of Columbia law allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections, part of a broader bid by Republicans to amplify false claims by former President Donald J. Trump of widespread illegal voting by immigrants, a rare occurrence that is already outlawed in federal elections.

The bill has virtually no chance of being taken up in the Democratic-led Senate or making it to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. But Republicans have used it, and other legislation aiming to crack down on voting by noncitizens, to stoke distrust in the country’s election laws and infrastructure ahead of the general election in November, a key pillar of Mr. Trump’s strategy to preemptively accuse Democrats of cheating him out of the presidency.

In the face of ample evidence to the contrary, the former president has long claimed falsely that federal elections are susceptible to widespread voter fraud and illegal voting by undocumented immigrants, who have skewed the outcomes in favor of Democrats — a charge that congressional Republicans have echoed.

The nation’s capital is one of more than a dozen municipalities in the country — most of them in California, Maryland and Vermont — that allow noncitizen residents to cast ballots in local contests, though voters eligible under the local laws rarely do so, even when they are allowed.

The vote was 262-143 to roll back the District’s voting law so that noncitizens would be barred from participating, with 52 Democrats and all Republicans supporting it.

On Thursday, Republicans said that the Washington, D.C. law was a gateway to a more sinister effort underway throughout the country to enfranchise people who should not be allowed to vote.