Georgia’s top elections official wants to make changes in the voter registration process.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says the Georgia and U.S. Constitutions should be amended to prohibit voting by noncitizens. It's unclear what practical effect such a change to the state constitution would have, however. State law already bars those who aren’t U.S. citizens from voting.
At a recent debate, the embattled Secretary of State said that several cities around the US have allowed non-citizens to vote in local elections. Earlier this year, state lawmakers failed to move ahead with legislation that would have amended the state constitution to prohibit non-citizens from voting.
An audit undertaken under Raffensperger's direction flagged more than 1,600 potential noncitizens who tried to register over the last 25 years, but none of those registration attempts was successful.
Raffensperger is advocating for the change ahead of what could be a difficult bid to clinch the GOP nomination later this month for another four-year term in office.
