Can undocumented immigrants vote in the USA?
Executive summary
Undocumented immigrants are not legally permitted to vote in federal elections and generally cannot vote in state elections; federal criminal law makes voting by “aliens” unlawful and creates penalties that can include imprisonment and immigration consequences [1] [2]. A small and growing number of local jurisdictions have created narrow, local exceptions that permit some noncitizens — typically lawful residents or parents of schoolchildren — to vote in municipal or school-board contests, but these do not legalize voting by undocumented immigrants in federal or most state contests [3] [4].
1. Legal baseline: federal prohibition and criminal penalties
Congress and federal practice draw a hard line: since the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 and codified in Title 18, it is unlawful for aliens to vote in federal elections, and federal statute expressly criminalizes voting by noncitizens [1] [2]. The federal prohibition is backed by penalties and by immigration consequences: illegal voting can lead to fines, imprisonment, denial of immigration benefits, and deportation, and USCIS is instructed to consider such violations during naturalization reviews [5] [2].
2. State and local patchwork: narrow exceptions, not a nationwide right
Federal law does not uniformly block states and localities from allowing noncitizen voting in purely local contests, and a handful of municipalities and school-district rules have extended voting rights to noncitizen residents — in many cases limited to lawful residents or parents of local schoolchildren — but no state currently permits noncitizens to vote in statewide elections and such local policies remain limited and legally contested [3] [4]. Ballotpedia documents municipal experiments and variations, including Maryland towns and some city school-board rules, but these are exceptions to the broad national rule [3].
3. Undocumented immigrants specifically: legal risk and practical reality
Reporting and legal guides are clear that undocumented immigrants face legal barriers and real risks if they register or vote: affirming U.S. citizenship on registration forms is typically required, and falsely claiming citizenship can carry severe immigration and criminal penalties — so undocumented persons are effectively barred and strongly deterred from voting in federal and state contests [5] [6]. Independent analyses and election officials find confirmed incidents of noncitizen voting to be extremely rare, and documented cases tend to be isolated rather than evidence of systemic voting by undocumented communities [5] [7].
4. Verification, audits, and the question of scale
Election administrators use cross-checks against citizenship records, death certificates, postal data and other lists to validate eligibility, and audits by officials and researchers have not found widespread noncitizen participation in federal or state elections; alleged claims that “millions” of noncitizens vote lack supporting evidence in audits and academic reviews [8] [5] [7]. Advocacy and watchdog groups differ on emphasis — some conservative datasets list incidents, while analysis from the American Immigration Council and the Brennan Center contend the phenomenon is minimal and manageable through procedural improvements [9] [7].
5. Political debate and competing agendas
The question of noncitizen voting has been weaponized politically: critics of immigration often frame local noncitizen-suffrage measures as threats to election integrity, while proponents highlight democratic inclusion for residents who pay taxes and are affected by local policies; policy advocates argue limited local voting rights can be safe and appropriate for municipal governance, whereas opponents point to federal prohibitions and public concerns about uniformity and fraud [10] [4]. Legislative and legal skirmishes continue in courts and statehouses as municipalities test the boundaries of local authority [4].
6. Bottom line and reporting limits
Bottom line: undocumented immigrants cannot lawfully vote in federal elections and in virtually all state elections; some local exceptions exist for noncitizens, typically limited in scope and often restricted to lawful residents or parents in school contests, but those exceptions do not amount to a general right for undocumented people to vote [1] [3] [4]. This summary is based on available legal texts, policy analyses and reporting; where sources document disputes or rare exceptions, those facts are noted, and this reporting does not attempt to adjudicate unresolved court challenges beyond the cited materials [1] [3] [2].