Yesterday, America First Legal (AFL) filed a formal petition with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) urging requiring documentary proof of U.S. citizenship (DPOC), to register to vote in federal elections (such as a birth certificate, real ID, or passport). The petition argues that the current "honor system," where applicants simply attest to their citizenship under penalty of perjury, is insufficient to prevent non-citizen voting. This commonsense requirement would strengthen election integrity by ensuring that only U.S. citizens can vote in U.S. elections.
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AFL is giving the EAC a reason to act. Federal law allows any member of the public to file a “petition for rulemaking” with a federal agency, requesting it to adopt a new regulation or rule.
The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) frequently called the “Motor Voter Law,” created a single federal form that ALL STATES ARE REQUIRED to accept and use for voter registration for federal elections. The EAC is responsible for maintaining and, as necessary, amending this form.
Despite this, it only requires applicants to check a box affirming they are U.S. citizens. The form does NOT require any verification that applicants are telling the truth, other than the applicant’s signature attesting that the information they have provided is true. The form does nothing to prevent criminal dishonesty. It relies on the “honor system,” trusting that all illegal alien applicants attempting to register to vote — who are already committing a crime — will somehow choose to be honest when deciding which box to check on the voter registration form.
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Several states have taken measures to require DPOC to register to vote, but various legal challenges have blocked these laws from taking full effect.
Voting disparities in U.S. elections is not a hypothetical issue. In Pennsylvania, a 2018 lawsuit revealed over 100,000 aliens registered to vote, and one city official found that at least 90 aliens had actually cast ballots in a Philadelphia election.
In 2019, Texas found nearly 100,000 possible foreigners on their voter rolls, of which around 58,000 that potentially voted in previous elections. Since 2021, Texas has removed over 6,500 potential foreign citizens from its voter rolls. Of those 6,500 foreign citizens, at least 1,930 actually voted. Additionally, survey data suggests that a significant proportion of undocumented immigrants may be illegally registered to vote.
Currently, Arizona has over 40,000 voters who have not provided DPOC registered to vote in federal elections — nearly four times the margin of victory listed in the official results of the 2020 presidential election in that state. That number may be very low as recently it was reported an additional 120K registered voters lacked proof of citizenship.
AZ’s law has been implemented for state and local elections, but not federal elections. AZ is required to allow individuals to register to vote in federal elections without providing DPOC simply because the federal form does not require it. As a result, AZ’s voter rolls include voters who are fully registered to vote in both state and federal elections (those who have provided DPOC), and voters who can only vote in federal elections (those who have not provided DPOC).
On March 25, 2025, President Trump issued EO 14248, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” requiring, among other things, that the EAC implement a DPOC requirement on the federal form. Following this directive, courts in D.C., and Massachusetts temporarily halted implementation of that portion of the order, questioning whether the President has the authority to order the EAC to take action. However, even those courts acknowledged that the EAC remains free to take action on its own to impose a DPOC requirement.
A DPOC requirement is a commonsense measure to assess a voter’s eligibility. If the EAC does not act on a petition for rulemaking, federal law allows the party that submitted the petition to sue, forcing the agency to act!
“AFL will be watching closely to ensure the EAC takes action expeditiously, we will not stand by while our elections are undermined by loopholes and an ‘honor system’ that invites fraud. The right to vote is the sacred privilege of American citizens—period. We are demanding that the EAC fulfill its duty to the American people by requiring real, documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections. Anything less is an open invitation for illegal voting and a betrayal of our democracy. AFL is fully committed to using every legal tool available to ensure that only citizens decide America’s future. We will not rest until election integrity is restored and the voice of every lawful voter is protected,” said Senior AFL Counsel James Rogers.
“The right to choose our government—that is, to vote and to have our votes counted—is a fundamental right of American citizens and a principle that lies at the very foundation of our democratic republic. The commonsense requirement that the federal form provide State election officials with the tools needed to verify voter eligibility, including adequate proof of citizenship, will help to protect that right by preventing lawful votes from being diluted through fraud,” said Ryan Giannetti, AFL Counsel. Read more here.
WAGOP Chairman and State Representative Jim Walsh’s Election Integrity Citizens Initiative to the 2026 Legislature - IL26-126: AN ACT Relating to requiring verification of citizenship for voter registration, addresses these issues.
Under the GOP-led measure, there are multiple ways voters would be allowed to prove their citizenship to register to vote, such as: show their enhanced driver’s license or enhanced identicard, a birth certificate, a certificate of naturalization, a U.S. Department of State consular report of birth abroad, or a passport, at a county auditor’s election office when they first register to vote.
“On the current WA voter registration form, a person marks a box indicating they are a citizen. This initiative says you just can’t check a box. This does not touch mail-in voting in any way. It does not touch the transaction of voting. WA State has probably the least secure voting system in the US. Besides being a 100% mail-in voting state, we have ‘automatic’ voter registration. We essentially have no safeguards in registering to vote, no confirmation that a person registering is, in fact, a citizen, other than an attestation. It’s not just motor voter that's an issue; you’re automatically registered to vote when you apply for any state government benefits (SNAP, Medicaid, etc.), and there’s no real confirmation that the person registered to vote is a citizen.” Walsh said.
The initiative is now out for petition signatures and could become law next year. To be certified, the petitions must contain the signatures of at least 308,911 registered voters and be submitted by Jan 2, 2026.
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