Electoral Studies
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/electstud
Department of Political Science, Old Dominion University, BAL 7000, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
Old Dominion University, USA
George Mason University, USA
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 24 January 2014
Received in revised form 12 August 2014
Accepted 3 September 2014
Available online 21 September 2014
In spite of substantial public controversy, very little reliable data exists concerning the
frequency with which non-citizen immigrants participate in United States elections.
Although such participation is a violation of election laws in most parts of the United
States, enforcement depends principally on disclosure of citizenship status at the time of
voter registration. This study examines participation rates by non-citizens using a na
tionally representative sample that includes non-citizen immigrants. We nd that some
non-citizens participate in U.S. elections, and that this participation has been large enough
to change meaningful election outcomes including Electoral College votes, and Congres
sional elections. Non-citizen votes likely gave Senate Democrats the pivotal 60th vote
needed to overcome libusters in order to pass health care reform and other Obama
administration priorities in the 111th Congress.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Non-citizen
Voting
Immigrant
Enfranchisement
Vote fraud
Registration
1. Introduction
This analysis provides some of the rst available
nationwide estimates of the portion of non-citizen immi
grants who vote in U.S. elections. These estimates speak to
an ongoing debate concerning non-citizen voting rights
within the United States (DeSipio 2011; Earnest, 2008;
FAIR, 2004; Fund and von Spakovsky, 2012; Hayduk,
2006; Immigration Policy Center, 2012; Munro, 2008;
Song, 2009; Von Spakovsky, 2012) and they also speak to
broader global questions concerning the normative politi
cal place of non-citizens in democratic politics.
Most state and local governments in the United States
bar non-citizens from participating in elections (the
exception: a few localities in Maryland), but the question of
whether non-citizen immigrants can, and should, partici
pate receives varied answers globally (Earnest, 2008) with
150
2
Since the total legal permanent resident population in 2008 of 12.6
million (Rytina, 2012) was approximately four percent of the overall U.S.
population, and the total non-citizen adult population in 2011 was 19.4
million (CPS, 2011), the non-citizen population was under-sampled.
Nonetheless, the sample that was collected provides the rst nation
wide sample from which analysts can draw inferences concerning elec
toral participation by non-citizens in United States elections.
3
Here we combine the categories Black or African American, Black or
African American and White, or Black or African American and Native
American e 6.6 percent were Black or African American alone.
151
4
The Census Bureau (CPS, 2011) estimates that there were 19.4 million
non-citizens age 18 or over living in the United States in 2011.
152
Table 1
Estimated voter registration by non-citizens.
70%
2008
2010
60%
67 (19.8%)
11 (3.3%)
84 (25.1%)
76 (15.6%)
N.A.
124 (25.3%)
50%
67%
40%
26%
30%
20%
10%
4%
0%
Voted
Table 2
Estimated voter turnout by non-citizens.
2008
2010
38 (11.3%)
5 (1.5%)
21 (6.4%)
13 (3.5%)
N.A.
8 (2.2%)
153
they voted but didn't, and the portion who said they didn't
vote but did. 71 non-citizens answered a survey question
indicating whether they voted, and also had their vote
validated. Among these, 56 indicated that they did not vote
(but two of these cast a validated vote), while 13 indicated
they voted, of whom ve cast a validated vote6. The
adjusted estimate of 6.4 percent for 2008 is quite substantial, and would be associated with 1.2 million noncitizen votes cast in 2008 if the weighted CCES sample is
fully representative of the non-citizen population. To produce an adjusted gure for 2010 we cut by three quarters
the estimated number of non-citizens who voted but
claimed they did not (somewhat larger than the drop in the
number who self-reported voting). This produces an overall
estimate that 2.2 percent voted in 2010.
There has been signicant debate in the literature
concerning the ideological or political leanings of noncitizen voters. In Belgium for instance, Jacobs (2001)
found indications that non-citizens often voted for right
wing parties, while others (Bird et al., 2010; Howard,
2009; Janoski, 2010; Joppke, 2003; Rath, 1990) nd evidence that left-leaning parties and noncitizens tend to
align together. In the 2008 and 2010 U.S. elections, noncitizen voters favored Democratic candidates. Noncitizens who reported voting were asked their candidate preferences, and these preferences skewed toward
Democrats. In 2008 66.7 percent reported voting for the
Democratic House candidate, while only 20.8 percent
reported voting for the Republican candidate. 81.8
percent reported voting for Barack Obama compared to
17.5 percent for John McCain. The difference of proportions is statistically signicant using both Chi-Square
and z tests (p < .005) and substantively large for both
the House and Presidential vote cases. Similarly in 2010,
53.8 percent of non-citizens reported voting for the
Democratic House candidate while 30.7 percent indicated that they voted for the Republican. These results
are summarized in Fig. 2.
These results allow us to estimate the impact of noncitizen voting on election outcomes. We nd that there is
reason to believe non-citizen voting changed one state's
Electoral College votes in 2008, delivering North Carolina
to Obama, and that non-citizen votes have also led to
Democratic victories in congressional races including a
critical 2008 Senate race that delivered for Democrats a
60-vote libuster-proof majority in the Senate. It is
possible to evaluate whether non-citizen votes have
changed election outcomes by pairing data on the
number of adult non-citizens per state with election
margins and our estimates of the frequency with which
non-citizens supported Republican and Democratic candidates. For instance each additional non-citizen vote
adds an expected 0.643 votes to Obama's vote margin
6
This should produce a very conservative measure of the portion who
actually voted, as most of the drop off is among individuals for whom
registration status could not be veried (and this could be a result of
errors in matching e a match to consumer data could occur even though
a match to voter data has been missed). Among non-citizens with veried
registration status, 75 percent of those who reported voting had a veried
vote, while 30 percent who reported not voting cast a validated vote.
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Presidenal Vote 2008
Republican
Fig. 2. Partisan vote choice by non-citizens in 2008 and 2010 U.S. elections.
7
Each analysis assumes that non-citizens voted for D and R candidates
at the relevant national percentages from that election year and for that
ofce. E.g. 68 percent voted for House Democrats in 2010.
154
Table 3
Non-citizen turnout required to account for 2008 Obama win of state.
State
Obama victory
margin
(FEC, 2009)
Number of
adult
non-citizens
(Census
Bureau, 2013)
Non-citizen
turnout required
to account for
Obama victory
margin
North Carolina
Florida
Indiana
Nevada
Virginia
14,177
236,450
28,391
120,909
234,527
432,700
1,684,705
165,210
275,565
427,535
5.1%
21.8%
26.7%
68.2%
85.3%
Table 4
Non-citizen turnout required to account for democratic congressional
victories.
State, district,
and year
Democratic
candidate
victory
margin (FEC)
Number of
adult non-citizens
(Census Bureau,
2013, 2014)
Non-citizen
turnout required
to account for
victory margin
180,020
19,845
0.65%
6.94%
155
Table A.1
Race and citizenship status.
Citizenship status
Race
White
Black
Hispanic
Asian
Native American
Mixed
Other
Middle Eastern
Total
Total
Immigrant citizen
Immigrant non-citizen
First generation
Second generation
Third generation
647
47.0%
134
9.7%
353
25.6%
167
12.1%
5
0.4%
20
1.5%
40
2.9%
11
0.8%
1377
100.0%
150
44.2%
31
9.1%
91
26.8%
55
16.2%
0
0.0%
5
1.5%
5
1.5%
2
0.6%
339
100.0%
1622
62.3%
91
3.5%
581
22.3%
156
6.0%
8
0.3%
68
2.6%
66
2.5%
13
0.5%
2605
100.0%
6442
89.1%
68
0.9%
405
5.6%
36
0.5%
38
0.5%
94
1.3%
147
2.0%
2
0.0%
7232
100.0%
18,002
85.3%
1668
7.9%
550
2.6%
30
0.1%
260
1.2%
270
1.3%
320
1.5%
3
0.0%
21,103
100.0%
26,863
82.3%
1992
6.1%
1980
6.1%
444
1.4%
311
1.0%
457
1.4%
578
1.8%
31
0.1%
32,656
100.0%
where one might expect those who were in fact noncitizen immigrants to be distinct from the broader
population.
8
One important caveat is in order. To the extent that non-citizen voting
is dependent upon an ability to pass for a citizen at the polling place,
respondents who looked less like immigrants to election ofcials might
have an easier time voting.
156
Table A.2
Racial characteristics of non-citizen voters and non-voters, 2008.
Race
White
Black
Hispanic
Asian
Mixed
Other
Middle Eastern
Total
Voted
Total
129
44.3%
24
8.2%
77
26.5%
50
17.2%
5
1.7%
4
1.4%
2
0.7%
291
100.0%
21
43.8%
7
14.6%
14
29.2%
5
10.4%
0
0.0%
1
2.1%
0
0.0%
48
100.0%
150
44.2%
31
9.1%
91
26.8%
55
16.2%
5
1.5%
5
1.5%
2
0.6%
339
100.0%
Fine businesses
Grant legal status
Increase border patrol
Increase guest workers
Allow police to question
Citizens
Non citizens
Total responses
1786
73.7%
21,162
38.7%
34,057
62.2%
659
27.2%
26,531
48.5%
6
35.3%
310
63.4%
201
41.1%
8
47.1%
96
19.6%
2438**
55,234**
55,234**
2438*
55,234**
Didn't vote
Voted
Total responses
285
62.6%
186
40.9%
87
19.1%
25
73.5%
15
44.1%
9
26.5%
489
489
489
157