The Oklahoma Senate scored a major win for election integrity on Wednesday after the upper chamber passed legislation making it more difficult for illegal aliens to vote in state elections.
Under SB 377, county court clerks would be permitted to compile a monthly list of individuals “excused from jury duty for not being a citizen of the United States and provide the list to the secretary of the county election board.” Once acquired, the local election board secretary is then mandated to “cancel the registration of each registered voter included on the list” and “report the person or persons to the district attorney and the United States attorney for the county.”
Notably, seven of the Senate’s eight Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in supporting the measure (45-1).
According to bill sponsor and Republican Sen. Brent Howard, the concept for the legislation was originally conceived by Oklahoma’s secretary of the state election board, who “had discussions with … county officials [who] were concerned that someone would claim (either true or falsely) that they could not serve on a jury because they were not a citizen of the United States.”
“We have other requirements for our court clerks to report to the election secretaries if a person makes a claim that would otherwise disqualify them from being a registered voter (like a convicted felon or moved from the jurisdiction), so we all felt this was a logical step to ensure voter roll integrity,” Howard told The Federalist. “We feel the significance [of this bill] is that if someone will self-profess they are unable to serve their civic duty of serving on a jury because they are not a citizen, then we need to ensure they are not also on the voter rolls.”
“I believe this is a common-sense approach to ensuring voter roll integrity and that Oklahoma does not have voters registered who are not lawfully allowed to vote,” he added.
The measure will now head to the Oklahoma House of Representatives, where Republicans hold an 81-20 supermajority.
Oklahoma legislators’ bid to ensure U.S. citizens are the only individuals able to vote in state elections puts to shame Democrats in other states who have made it a priority to give noncitizens the power to vote in the United States while owing allegiance to another sovereign nation. In Rhode Island, for example, Democrats in the General Assembly have introduced legislation that would give municipalities the option of providing illegal aliens and foreign nationals the ability to vote in local elections.
Local ordinances in Democrat-controlled states throughout the country have passed resolutions permitting such activity, including in San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C.
Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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