By Congresswoman Stephanie Bice 
Oklahoma has some of the strongest protections in place to ensure a secure election system. Other states cannot say the same. It is the American people’s right to choose their elected officials, but over the years our foreign adversaries have found ways to interfere in our democratic systems. House Republicans are working to ensure that our elections are secure nationwide through thoughtful, pragmatic electoral reform.
With the influx of illegal immigrants entering our country, there is a fear of their participation in the electoral process. These fears have even been validated within the District of Columbia. In 2022 D.C.’s local government amended their election laws to allow non-citizens to vote. American elections should be for American citizens, which is why on May 23rd House Republicans passed new legislation to repeal this provision and prevent any further non-citizens from voting in elections in our nation’s capital.
This is only one of numerous steps we have taken to secure our elections. As a member of the House Administration Committee, which oversees election policy, we are working to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act provides additional preventative measures starting with the voter registration process. All individuals will have to provide evidence of American citizenship in order to register to vote, no matter the state. This bill also provides states access to citizenship databases from the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security to assist in cleaning voter rolls. This is one of the simplest solutions that helps secure the validity of our election process from the intervention of non-citizens and bad actors, while also ensuring that data exchanged for verification purposes cannot be shared for malicious intent.
We are also looking to modernize federal laws which prevent foreign nationals from wrongly influencing American elections. Foreign money should never be a factor in the campaign process. My legislation, the Preventing Foreign Interference in Elections Act closes a loophole which has allowed foreign actors to funnel money into liberal causes. Nobody running for office should be influenced by the finances of an individual outside this country. An elected official’s job is to be a faithful public servant for the American people who legally elected them to office.
The only people who have a right to our elections are the American people. House Republicans will not stand by and allow for anyone other than Americans decide who their elected officials are. We must restore confidence in our election system and make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.
