Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey just signed into law House Bill 2492, which requires all people opting to vote only in federal elections in that state to provide proof of United States citizenship and state residency. HB 2492’s amendments to Arizona’s existing election law are brief, unremarkable and reasonable, but they close a loophole in Arizona law that state lawmakers say is being exploited.

Prior to the law’s passage, those voting in state elections were already required to provide proof of citizenship and residency, but voters casting ballots for federal elections only had no such requirement. This disparity created a worrisome trend, according to Kelli Ward, Arizona’s Republican Party chairwoman. In an op-ed for Western Journal last week, Ward explained that only 21 of the voters who cast federal-only ballots in the 2014 election did not provide proof of citizenship. In 2018, 1,700 voters who cast federal-only ballots had no proof of citizenship on file. In 2020, nearly 12,000 people without documented proof of citizenship cast ballots in the federal election. Today, more than 13,000 people are registered to vote in Maricopa County — the state’s most populous county — without providing any proof that they are United States citizens.

These numbers matter. To put things in perspective, Joe Biden carried Arizona by only 10,457 votes in the 2020 presidential election.

Notwithstanding the predictable hue and cry by Democrats, HB 2492 does not deprive anyone of the right to cast a lawful vote. The law permits registration for those without driver’s licenses and for the homeless. It provides processes by which anyone whose registration is rejected to cure any defects, including imposing a duty on the county recorder to notify anyone whose registration is challenged and to verify, if possible, the citizenship of any potential registrant who has not provided documentation.

Right on cue, here comes attorney Marc Elias, consigliere to Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. Elias is representing a group suing to block enforcement of Arizona’s election integrity laws. Elias has long experience with this, having led the party’s efforts to change election procedures in multiple states leading up to the 2020 election.

But all is not well in Elias Electionland. Some of the changes Elias obtained in 2020 — like ballot harvesting and ballot dropboxes — have since been struck down as being illegal or unconstitutional. Others are being challenged as creating potential for fraud.

And the plot thickens. Elias’ former law partner Michael Sussmann has been indicted for lying to the FBI in conjunction with the “Russia collusion” hoax against former President Donald Trump that we now know was concocted by Hillary Clinton’s campaign — represented by none other than Sussmann’s and Elias’ (former) law firm, Perkins Coie. There is heavy buzz that Elias himself is under investigation.

Democrats’ election manipulation must be viewed in conjunction with the Biden administration’s open borders policy on immigration. As I have written elsewhere, the numbers of immigrants coming across the southern border have exploded since Joe Biden took office; more than 2.5 million people have entered the country illegally since January of last year, and the numbers are increasing every month. (We have already hit the 1 million mark in fiscal year 2022, and this is before what the Border Patrol calls “peak migration months” of spring, summer and early fall.) The federal government continues to charter jets and buses, transporting and depositing immigrants from the southern border to locations all over the country, often under cover of night.

Now, Biden has announced that he will be lifting the Title 42 “public health” immigration restrictions next month, a move that even some Democrats have criticized. Border Patrol officials are warning that as many as 18,000 immigrants a day could begin illegally crossing the border. There are nowhere near the resources needed to handle those numbers, and the Department of Homeland Security knows it. According to DHS documents published earlier this week, the department plans to implement “broadscale release mechanisms.” In other words, illegals will be released and told to show up in court at some date in the future. Most won’t, and there will be no consequence for failing to do so. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has stated publicly that he wants to end the overwhelming majority of deportations. At this rate, another 2 to 3 million people will enter the country illegally before the 2022 midterms. Unless steps are taken to stop it, the population of immigrants in the United States illegally will have increased by 10-15 million people between the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.

Critics of Biden’s immigration “policies” raise legitimate concerns about the societal costs of housing, food, education and health care for those numbers. The more immediate concern should be the impact of millions — or even just tens of thousands — of illegal votes.

Democrats’ attacks on reasonable election integrity laws like requiring proof of U.S. citizenship and state residency, coupled with policies encouraging the illegal influx of millions of immigrants, suggest strongly that those currently in control of our government are importing noncitizens with the intention of “harvesting” their “votes” in support of whatever candidates and policies they want, regardless of the wishes of actual American citizens.

This should be the primary objection to widespread illegal immigration. Voting is a privilege reserved to citizens. No one in power should be permitted to manipulate immigration policy or election laws to cancel out Americans’ votes, neutralize our Constitutional right to control over our government and effectively silence our voices. If we let them get away with this, they will steal our country right out from under us.

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