GEORGIA, USA — The Secretary of State's Office announced a new way to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls in Georgia on Thursday.
Brad Raffensperger is calling it the "Only American Citizen Voting" audit.
“This is a vital step in maintaining election security and integrity in Georgia,” Raffensperger said. “We are double-checking to make sure that if any non-citizens attempt to register to vote, they will not be able to vote unless they prove that they are U.S. citizens.”
Noncitizens are not permitted to vote in federal, state, or local elections in Georgia, though some states permit them to vote in local elections. According to a report from the VERIFY team, some state constitutions don't explicitly prohibit noncitizens from voting in local elections. The VERIFY team added that these municipalities include San Francisco and Oakland in California, Washington, D.C., and 10 communities in Maryland
What does this mean?
Raffensperger stated that the office is conducting the "Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE)" audit to identify noncitizens who may have registered to vote.
He added that they will use the Georgia Department of Driver Services to see which documents each voter turned in to the DDS.
The office added in a news release that because Georgia is REAL ID compliant, everyone who has a driver's license or state ID has proven their citizenship.
Raffensperger added that once they use services from the DDS, they will use the SAVE program to verify the citizenship of people identified as potential noncitizens.
"This audit is a continuation of Georgia’s citizenship verification process, which was recently upheld in court over challenges from left-wing groups such as the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, among others," a news release stated.
According to the Secretary of State's release, he added that the audit is a continuation of the process that was held up in federal court when the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda challenged it.
It comes as the Peach State has recently come into the spotlight after the death of a college student shook the political landscape of the battleground state's stance on immigration during a pivotal election year.
Police allege that Laken Riley, an Augusta University nursing student, died at the hands of Jose Ibarra, who reportedly entered the country illegally.
As the two older presidential candidates battled it out in Atlanta for the debate two weeks ago, they wrangled over the topic of immigration, making several striking claims at each other.
As calls continue to pour in for President Joe Biden to step down because of his age and performance at the debate, Raffensperger and other Republican leaders continue to highlight the president's stance on immigration.
In recent months, Biden has tried to reverse his poor public standing over his handling of immigration, first by endorsing a bipartisan Senate proposal with some of the toughest border restrictions in recent memory and then, after that legislation collapsed, taking executive action to clamp down on migrants seeking asylum at the southern border.
“By saying he would veto the SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) Act, President Biden is saying that he doesn’t want to verify the citizenship status of people attempting to vote. I could not disagree more with that position," said Raffensperger.
The results of the audit will be announced in the coming days, according to the office.
Raffensperger's office also stated that the attempted registration by noncitizens is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
