Pennsylvania Is ‘Failing’ to Keep Noncitizens from Voting, Says PILF Testimony

Published On: October 24th, 2017

(HARRISBURG, PA.) – October 24, 2017: The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) today announced its participation in an upcoming Pennsylvania House State Government Committee hearing regarding noncitizen registration and voting.

In October 2016, the PILF released a study finding 86 noncitizens were registered to vote in Philadelphia between 2013 and 2015. In September 2017, the City of Philadelphia confirmed and expanded upon these findings, announcing that “hundreds” of noncitizens were registered at various points in time dating back to 2006.

PILF Litigation Counsel Noel H. Johnson has been invited to testify before the State Government Committee on October 25 to discuss flaws and fixes within Pennsylvania’s voter registration system.

“The current voter registration system is failing to keep noncitizens from registering to vote and there are inadequate safeguards in place to detect and remove [them],” Johnson writes in prepared statements for the Committee.

“Only eligible citizens who are entitled to cast ballots on Election Day should appear on voter registration rolls,” Johnson adds. “Unfortunately, in Pennsylvania, that has not been the case.”

The Public Interest Legal Foundation has built a record of case studies uncovering noncitizen voter registration and voting in a growing number of states.

  • In October 2016, PILF found 86 noncitizens registered to vote in Philadelphia. Forty of those voted in at least one election.
  • In May 2017, PILF found 5,556 voters removed by the Commonwealth of Virginia as “non-citizens”. Roughly 33% voted. This research followed an initial October 2016 sampling that yielded more than 1,000 noncitizens.
  • In September 2017, PILF found 616 noncitizens within 11 New Jersey counties’ voter registration systems.

The PILF is led by J. Christian Adams, a Commissioner for the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

To read all of Noel Johnson’s prepared testimony before the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee, click here.

Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is a 501(c)(3) public interest law firm dedicated to election integrity. The Foundation exists to assist states and others to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections. Drawing on numerous experts in the field, PILF seeks to protect the right to vote and preserve the Constitutional framework of American elections.

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October 2017_ Noel H. Johnson_Testimony to the PA House State Government… by Public Interest Legal Foundation on Scribd

Public Interest Legal Foundation