No, House Dems Did Not Vote to Allow Noncitizens to Vote in H.R. 1

A misleading social media post suggests that House Democrats want to give the right to vote to noncitizens. "House Dems 228 yes 197 GOP no to allow illegal aliens to have right to vote. Let that sink in America!" stated a March 9 Facebook text-post that was posted on a page called Donald Trump for President Martin County, Florida. The text post oversimplifies a vote in the U.S. House. The quote was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed…. Some conservative politicians and activists have been raising alarm about noncitizens voting, including President Donald Trump (often without evidence). There have been cases of noncitizens who have cast ballots, but they are statistically rare…. The specific vote that relates to the Facebook post was on a motion before the final vote on the bill…. By voting against a motion that said allowing illegal immigrants to vote devalues the franchise, it opened the door for conservatives to attack Democrats — although this Facebook claim is exaggerating. Just because Democrats voted against a motion reaffirming that illegal immigrants can’t vote doesn’t mean they voted to actually allow those immigrants to vote. The United States already has a law that prevents noncitizens from casting a ballot for president or other federal offices. HR 1 doesn’t change that law — and HR 1 doesn’t call for extending the right to vote to noncitizens.