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The initiative, dubbed “Operation Protect the Vote,” comes in the lead-up to the midterm elections, where the Trump administration is making good on threats to weaponize the Justice Department and other federal entities in its favor over claims of supposed voter fraud. On Tuesday, the federal government sent election officials in Los Angeles County an unverified list of 20,000 people it claims are “likely noncitizens” registered to vote in California. As the New York Post first reported Monday, federal agents used the list to make the more than two dozen targeted arrests on the basis of its voter fraud allegations.
The Justice Department said in its Monday press release that federal law enforcement arrested “11 foreign nationals” against whom it will level criminal charges, including that they “fraudulently registered to vote in U.S. elections, electoral contests in which most of them cast illegal and fraudulently obtained ballots.”
The 11 arrestees are among 28 people the department officially charged—and all are from its list of 20,000 targets in the election. The press release claims that every person targeted is a legal permanent resident of the US but not a citizen.
You know it’s bullshit because voter fraud is a state crime, not federal. Federally there’s not an actual law that says you have to be a citizen to vote at all.
18 U.S. Code § 611:
(a) It shall be unlawful for any alien to vote in any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, unless—
(1) the election is held partly for some other purpose [and];
(2) aliens are authorized to vote for such other purpose under a State constitution or statute or a local ordinance; and
(3) voting for such other purpose is conducted independently of voting for a candidate for such Federal offices, in such a manner that an alien has the opportunity to vote for such other purpose, but not an opportunity to vote for a candidate for any one or more of such Federal offices.
California’s voter laws require one to state under penalty of perjury that they are a US citizen to vote, which means any non-citizen trying to vote in California fails part (2) because they are explicitly not authorized to. (And, of course, the Midterms contain federal candidates, triggering “solely or in part”.)
You don’t have to make shit up for Trump to be conducting fascist voter intimidation. He clearly is.
You just proved my point. 1,2, and 3 prove it’s strict intent which would require investigation and moreover an attempt to actually cast a vote which isn’t likely given midterms basically just opened.
Ed: maybe you’re unaware but Californias midterm is not solely federal.
3©:
I can’t believe I have to explain that you don’t have to establish mens rea before making an arrest. 3© is a defense, not something you have to prove wasn’t true before arresting somebody, just like you don’t have to prove someone didn’t act in self-defense before arresting them for killing someone. Mens rea is something that normally gets sorted out in court because it’s usually by far the most difficult part of a prosecution.
I’m not unaware. The law says “solely or in part”. “in part” satisfies 1(a) and could satisfy 1©, but 1(b) is violated no matter what because in California, you have to be a US citizen to vote in the Midterms.
You’re also conspicuously moving the goalposts from “there is no federal law”. Your nonsense is distracting from what could be actual criticism of these nakedly fascist actions.
You don’t have to develop mens rea before arrest, no. You do have to have a reasonable belief that you could establish it after arrest which again seems unlikely because you need to actually knowingly and willfully vote or attempt to vote to have committed a state or federal violation.
Yes my point is often a midterm will be two ballots fed/state then local. Showing up, identifying and even taking a federal/state ballot is not illegal, even marking it off you’re unaware you couldn’t legally isn’t a crime. Only casting an actual vote knowing it would be unlawful to do so.
There isn’t a federal voter fraud law bud, voter fraud outside of registration is pretty much solely a state issue.
This is a) a completely different statement from the provably false one you made before (there go those goalposts again), and b) only half-true. There is a federal law expressly punishing voter fraud when voting for federal candidates, but what is and isn’t fraudulent is delegated to state law.
52 U.S. Code § 20511 - Criminal penalties
It is therefore a federal crime to commit voter fraud to vote for or try to vote for a federal candidate.
But again, taking it back, this is a completely different claim to your first one that you can’t seem to admit is objectively false.
There isn’t. That isn’t punishing voting that punishing the lie hence it’s knowing requirement. Look into the legislative intent and the controversy surrounding this particular statute and it’s almost certain unconstitutionality.
The fed has zero control on how, when and where elections are handled, zero. The only way they got it through is to punish the lie on the federal document not the cast vote. They are similar they aren’t however the same thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act_of_1965
I don’t know how you can keep Matrix-dodging a truth that’s so obviously on your side. You keep vomiting out these absolutist statements that can be outright disproven in five seconds. You don’t have to lie.
You should read your own source rather then continuing to attempt to insult me specifically why the supreme court struck down the 1870 federal registration attempt.
No one is lying, you’re not understanding and your ego makes you think that’s a lie rather than a lack of understanding on your part.
It’s also increadibly uncommon for random individuals to be doing it:
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/11/nx-s1-5147732/voter-fraud-explainer
The feds do have some say in federal elections. Shitholy states tried to ratfuck fed elections in their states removing voters from rolls within so many days of an election in recent years and the feds stopped them.
This is different of course, this is the feds trying to de facto remove voters from rolls so many days before an election.
No they have jurisdiction over discrimination which is how they got past the states rights/state sovereignity argument.
Ah that may be so, under the voting rights act perhaps? Not sure if that part is even left standing, the supreme court has been chipping away at it.
Correct. It’s still there, they just use the protected bit to get their foot in the door and test how far they can get before they get pushback.