Sen. Mike Lee on citizenship dilution

    by Flint: Mike Lee

    Sen. Mike Lee just spoke on the Senate floor, arguing that American citizenship is being diluted because Congress hasn't acted to prevent non-citizens from voting. He said, "You vote and at the same time, somebody down the street from you is voting who's not supposed to vote. That person has diluted your..." #MikeLee

    Transcript (en)

    I cannot for the life of me fathom why that would be a good idea any more than any corporation would see fit to have non-shareholders vote in shareholder elections, non-directors vote on a matter considered for a vote in a board of directors. You don't do that. Citizenship has to mean something. And citizenship means first and foremost that you've got the right to participate in this body politic in our system of government in the United States, and you can't have that stripped away from you. Well, there are many ways that it can be stripped away from you. One of the most common pedestrian and overlooked ways in which you can have that stripped is by having your vote offset, by having it nullified, neutralized. In other words, if you vote and at the same time somebody down the street from you is voting who's not supposed to vote. That person has diluted your vote. That person has cheapened what it means to you to be a citizen. And they may have completely offset, neutralized, and nullified your vote. That's not acceptable. It requires proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections, and then we get to the steps two of it. Step two of the The Save America Act is just about the voter ID.