> To paraphrase a recent conversation I had with a friend: "in the USA, can illegal immigrants vote?" has a single truthful answer ("no" obviously). But there are many places around the web saying other things (which is why my friend was confused).
This doesn’t have a single truthful answer. Some states don’t have voter ID laws, so the truth can depend on the state. In those no voter ID laws there’s not that much keeping someone from voting twice or more under different names, except significant moral qualms about subverting instead of preserving everyone else’s right to vote in a democratic republic. Someone can assume the name of a person from another country that could’ve plausibly come in illegally. Without a picture ID, they can’t claim you aren’t that persons.
Can an illegal immigrant vote? Yes, in states without voter ID laws, technically anyone can vote, even convicted terrorists. Should an illegal immigrant vote? No, they’re not supposed to be able to vote and there may be consequences if caught.
What purpose do a lack of voter ID laws serve except the obvious conclusion which is to enable cheating?
That isn’t true. They do have voter registration, and they match name addresses that are cross them off, a name can’t vote twice.
MAGA types who wanted to prove democrats could cheat like this were caught very quickly because voting twice or voting for someone else is very very easy to detect, even without IDs. The judges gave them Darwin awards.
Unregistered voters can’t vote in any state, they can only do so by pretending to be someone else (name and address matches the rolls), but they are caught when those people actually vote. Foreigners can also vote by illegally registering. But motor voter means they actually check your status at registration.
The ID thing is a solution to a non-problem, like literacy tests were. But the republicans could make it easier to achieve universally if they just went with a guaranteed free national ID like other countries, except that would make the obstruction aspect of voter ID requirements much more moot, so they never go there.
Foreign residents can vote in some local election in a few places, mainly very local school board elections.
This doesn’t have a single truthful answer. Some states don’t have voter ID laws, so the truth can depend on the state. In those no voter ID laws there’s not that much keeping someone from voting twice or more under different names, except significant moral qualms about subverting instead of preserving everyone else’s right to vote in a democratic republic. Someone can assume the name of a person from another country that could’ve plausibly come in illegally. Without a picture ID, they can’t claim you aren’t that persons.
Can an illegal immigrant vote? Yes, in states without voter ID laws, technically anyone can vote, even convicted terrorists. Should an illegal immigrant vote? No, they’re not supposed to be able to vote and there may be consequences if caught.
What purpose do a lack of voter ID laws serve except the obvious conclusion which is to enable cheating?