(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A top Republican lawmaker is pushing for passage of a bill requiring people to register to vote in Illinois to provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
House GOP Leader Tony McCombie's bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in Illinois. Right now, people just have to, under penalty of perjury, say that they are citizens.
McCombie, from far northwest Savanna, agrees there's no proof of non-citizens voting in Illinois, but she said this is proactive with so many migrants coming to the state. She also reports a constituent proposed the legislation.
“There's obviously some language barriers and some situations where they might not understand the law. So, I think this is a good proactive step for, you know, voter integrity, but also for the influx of noncitizens.”
She rejects suggestions that this is voter suppression, possibly blocking actual citizens from voting.
“Nobody's asking at the polls for your ID. Nobody's asking for your citizenship. It's an assumption, right? And like you said, they're attesting to that. But what if they don't know what they're attesting to?”
Leader McCombie admits there've been few, if any complaints of non-citizens voting in Illinois, but she points to Oregon where a few hundred non-citizens were mistakenly registered.
House Republican Leader Tony McCombie says a constituent proposed this bill. There will, of course, be hearings on the legislation.
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok