OKC Standard

U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin, along with Senators Ted Cruz and Bill Hagerty, Representative Andy Biggs, and other Republican colleagues, has raised concerns over the Department of Justice's handling of non-citizens registered to vote in U.S. elections. They sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland highlighting their dissatisfaction with the DOJ's lack of response to previous inquiries.

The group expressed alarm about reports indicating that non-citizens have been registering and voting in federal elections. "We are deeply concerned by reports of non-citizens registering to vote and voting in federal elections," they wrote. The senators emphasized the urgency given the proximity of the 2024 Presidential Election, which is less than 34 days away.

Joining Mullin, Cruz, and Hagerty were several senators including Tommy Tuberville, Marsha Blackburn, Roger Marshall, Thom Tillis, Rick Scott, James Lankford, Jim Risch, Ron Johnson, Kevin Cramer, Mike Crapo, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Josh Hawley, Steve Daines, Cynthia Lummis, Tim Scott, Marco Rubio, John Thune, Shelley Moore Capito, Eric Schmitt, John Barrasso, Pete Ricketts, Katie Britt, Deb Fischer, Mike Rounds, Mike Braun, Ted Budd, John Hoeven Joni Ernst John Kennedy and Roger Wicker.

Representative Biggs was joined by Representatives Andy Harris Clay Higgins Gary Palmer Matt Rosendale Ralph Norman Eli Crane Andy Ogles Aaron Bean Josh Brecheen Nancy Mace Bob Good Eric Burlison Mike Ezell Chuck Fleischmann Tom Tiffany Lauren Boebert Claudia Tenney Michael Guest Diana Harshbarger Ben Cline Chip Roy Barry Loudermilk Mary Miller Paul Gosar Lance Gooden Jeff Duncan Harriet Hageman Barry Moore Mike Collins Tim Burchett Greg Lopez Keith Self Brian Babin August Pfluger Alex Mooney Dusty Johnson Randy Weber Rich McCormick and Matt Gaetz.

The letter detailed recent findings from state officials regarding non-citizen voter registrations. For instance Virginia removed 6 303 non-citizens from its voter rolls between 2022 and 2023 while Texas identified over 6 500 non-citizens registered to vote with 1 930 having a voter history.

The lawmakers stressed that this issue poses a threat to election integrity stating "Clearly there is a non-negligible amount of voter participation by non-citizens in federal elections which is not only a serious threat to the integrity of our elections and the democratic process they represent but also has the potential to reduce Americans’ trust and confidence in election results."

They reiterated their request for information on DOJ enforcement efforts initially made on July 12 with an overdue response expected by October 16.

"We respectfully reiterate the July 12 request for information on your Department’s enforcement efforts," they added urging for a prompt reply from Attorney General Garland.