Do Non-Citizens Vote? | Center for Equal Opportunity

Do non-citizens vote?

Yes, they do, according to this study — and they vote quite a bit. Here’s the abstract:

In spite of substantial public controversy, very little reliable data exists concerning the frequency with which non-citizen immigrants participate in United States elections. Although such participation is a violation of election laws in most parts of the United States, enforcement depends principally on disclosure of citizenship status at the time of voter registration. This study examines participation rates by non-citizens using a nationally representative sample that includes non-citizen immigrants. We find that some non-citizens participate in U.S. elections, and that this participation has been large enough to change meaningful election outcomes including Electoral College votes, and Congressional elections.

Something to keep in mind the next time you hear there’s no such thing as voter fraud.

An Irresponsible Dissent – Speaking of voting, here’s another item. Unhappy with the fact that the majority reversed, though only in part, a district court decision striking down two Ohio statutes — that “(1) required county boards of elections to reject the ballots of absentee voters and provisional voters whose identification envelopes or affirmation forms, respectively, contain an address or birthdate that does not perfectly match voting records; (2) reduced the number of post-election days for absentee voters to cure identification-envelope errors, and provisional voters to present valid identification, from ten to seven; and (3) limited the ways in which poll workers can assist in-person voters” — a federal appellate judge has written a dissent that includes 11 pages worth of photographs of civil-rights martyrs.

This is irresponsible behavior for a judge. To compare relatively minor, routine administrative changes such as these to the horrific murders and other terrible events that occurred during the Jim Crow era is wholly unjustified. To complain that the majority is trying to “reverse the progress of history” in taking one side or the other in a dispute over a seven-day vs. a ten-day deadline for a voter to cure an absentee ballot problem is bizarre to say the least.

We expect such histrionics from activists, community organizers, and (alas) even politicians and football players, but we ought to hold members of the federal judiciary to a higher standard.

Survey of University Admission Directors –Inside Higher Ed had a story recently on its latest survey of college and university admission directors, and it contains much of interest.

For example, “in a potentially notable finding, a significant minority of college admissions directors now say (in contrast to past surveys but consistent with the views of many advocates for Asian-American applicants) that their colleges generally admit only Asian applicants with higher grades and test scores than other applicants.” That is, four out of ten directors at both public and private schools indicated that they believe Asian-American applicants are held to a higher standard at “some” places; and 41 percent of public-school respondents and 30 percent of private-school respondents admitted that this was the case at their own university or college. That is, indeed, “notable.”

Another juicy tidbit has to do with this summer’s Supreme Court ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas, upholding that school’s use of race and ethnicity in admissions. The new IHE report notes that the Court “cited the research the school did over the years to show why it needed to consider race in admissions — and the decision said that colleges need to have conducted such studies to consider race.” But, the report continues, the recent “survey results suggest that relatively few colleges have done or plan to do such studies.” Indeed, “only 13 percent of colleges said they conducted studies similar to those the Supreme Court cited as making the Texas approach legal. And only 24 percent said they planned to either start or continue such studies.” And this, the report correctly notes, “could make some colleges vulnerable to lawsuits.”

To look at it another way, three out of four schools interpret Fisher as giving them a green light to engage in admissions discrimination for the foreseeable future, and only 4 percent said they planned to change admissions practices in light of the Court’s ruling.

Good News, Bad News, Good News – I see that Ian Tuttle has an article in National Review on the University of Chicago’s recent “small blow for learning” — that is, the recent letter to incoming freshmen from John Ellison, dean of students, promising and defending true freedom of speech and thought.

Alas, Inside Higher Ed reports that 150 faculty members there have written their own open letter to freshmen, pushing back. But George Leef also has, as it turns out, an article already defending the Ellison letter from its critics.

So when it comes to speech there’s plenty to talk about.

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