"Republican efforts to require citizenship proof for voting face resistance in various states"

In Texas and other states across the union, President Donald Trump's dream of requiring proof of citizenship to vote has hit a wall. Despite numerous attempts, the aspirations of Trump and his Republican allies have fallen short.

Trump's executive order, aiming to establish proof-of-citizenship for federal elections, was torpedoed by a judge, while federal legislation appears to be lacking the required votes in the Senate. At the state level, success has been scant, even in places where Republicans hold the reins - a tale as old as the bill introduced in Texas, one of the nation's most comprehensive proof-of-citizenship proposals.

The Texas bill would have applied not only to new registrants but also to the state's roughly 18.6 million registered voters. Anthony Gutierrez, director of Common Cause Texas, expressed his concerns, stating, "The bill authors failed spectacularly to explain how this bill would be implemented and how it would be able to be implemented without inconveniencing a ton of voters."

Illegal voting by non-citizens is already a punishable felony, potentially culminating in deportation, but Trump and his allies promote the proof-of-citizenship mandate due to the claim it would boost public confidence in elections. Before his election, Trump's claim that non-citizens might vote in sufficient volumes to sway outcomes was unfounded. Although non-citizen voting does happen, it's uncommon and more often a slip-up.

Voting rights groups argue that proposals mandating proof-of-citizenship are overly burdensome, threatening millions of Americans' ability to exercise their constitutional right. Many Americans lack easy access to birth certificates, U.S. passports, or have names that no longer correspond to their birth certificates—such as married women who changed their last names.

Married women who changed their names present a significant concern. These issues surfaced in local elections earlier this year in New Hampshire, which passed a proof-of-citizenship requirement last year. Similar laws have created confusion, as seen in states like Arizona and Kansas when attempting to implement them.

In Arizona, problems with data handling affected the tracking and verification of residents' citizenship status. In Kansas, the proof-of-citizenship requirement was in effect for three years before it was overturned by federal courts, with the state's own expert estimating that almost all of the roughly 30,000 people who were prevented from registering to vote while it was in effect were U.S. citizens who would otherwise have been eligible.

This year, the number of states considering bills related to proof of citizenship for voting has tripled compared to 2023. However, few new laws have been created, with many Republican-led states, such as Florida, Missouri, Texas, and Utah, seeing their proposals stumble or fail.

In Texas, the legislation sailed through the state Senate but never made it to a floor vote in the House. The reasons for the legislative stumble in Texas are unclear, with Rep. John Bucy, a Democrat who chairs the House elections committee, speculating that people realized, "As flawed as this playbook has been in other states, Texas didn't need to make this mistake."

Efforts to enforce proving citizenship for voting remain controversial, with opposition from voting rights groups and Democrats, who argue these measures disproportionately affect marginalized communities. On the other hand, some Republicans support these measures as a means of preventing fraud. The debate over voter ID and proof-of-citizenship laws is a contentious issue, stirring up strong partisan emotions.

The debate over voter ID and proof-of-citizenship laws, such as the bill in Texas, is a contentious issue in politics, stirring up strong partisan emotions.
In Toronto and other general news, the enforcement of proving citizenship for voting remains a hot topic, with opposition from voting rights groups and Democrats, who argue these measures disproportionately affect marginalized communities.
Trump's policy of requiring proof of citizenship to vote has faced opposition in policy-and-legislation, even in states like Texas, where Republicans hold the reins.
Despite the ongoing news of wars-and-conflicts around the world, the topic of proof-of-citizenship for federal elections has become a significant point of discussion in the realm of law and policy in numerous states across the union.