Pew finds majority of voters confident noncitizens won’t be able to vote in midterms

Researchers found that more than two-thirds of voters believe noncitizens will be stopped if they try to cast ballots, but Democrats are more confident than Republicans.(CN) — As Republican lawmakers raise the specter of illegal voting, Pew Research finds in a new poll that a majority of voters have confidence noncitizens will be prevented from voting in the midterms.During a survey of 5,062 U.S. adults, including 3,917 registered voters, conducted from Sept. 28-Oct. 4, researchers found 68% of voters are at least somewhat confident that noncitizens will be blocked from casting ballots if they try to do so, with 34% saying they are very confident. However, that confidence varies by party: 45% of Republicans say they are confident noncitizens won’t be able to vote, compared with 90% of Democrats.Voters are also somewhat divided on whether all legally qualified voters can cast a ballot if they want to, with 72% of Democrats saying they are at least somewhat confident all eligible voters will be able to vote, compared to 90% of Republicans.This comes as legal battles over voter citizenship verification rage at both the state and national levels. Some red states have passed laws requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, and Republicans in Congress have been trying to implement similar requirements at the federal level through the SAVE America Act.Meanwhile, in late September, the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority voted 6-3 to stay a lower court ruling blocking Trump administration efforts to develop a national database to verify the citizenship status of registered voters, and on Monday the Justice Department announced it was charging 28 foreign nationals in California with election-related crimes.Critics of citizenship verification efforts claim such measures are unnecessary, as it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote and documented instances of noncitizens voting are rare. They also argue that requirements for voters to prove their citizenship are unfairly burdensome and that errors in citizenship-verification databases could block eligible citizens from voting.Pew also asked voters about other election-related concerns. Sixty-seven percent of voters said they were at least somewhat confident that attempts to intimidate voters at polling places will be stopped, and 52% of voters were confident U.S. election systems are safe from hacking.Fifty-three percent of voters said they’re confident mail-in ballots will be counted accurately. Confidence in mail-in voting was higher among Democrats than Republicans — 64% versus 42% — but Democratic confidence in mail ballots was down from the 85% it was at in 2024. This drop in trust is also reflected in a dip in the amount of Democratic voters who say they have voted or plan to vote by mail, from 22% in 2022 to 15% this year.This comes amid Republican efforts to restrict mail-in voting. Since 2020, many Republican-led states have enacted laws that tighten mail-in voting, including adding identification requirements, shortening deadlines, restricting eligibility for mail-in voting and limiting who can collect mail ballots.Meanwhile, at the federal level, the Trump administration has sought to enforce an executive order requiring the U.S. Postal Service to work with states to create pre-approved lists of mail-in voters and deliver mail ballots only to voters on those lists, but the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked it.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads