The Democratic governor of one of the most hotly-contested states in the 2020 presidential election has vetoed a bill to kick foreign voters off the voting rolls.
Gov. Roy Cooper took the red pen to Senate Bill 250, a bill to “Remove Foreign Citizens from Voting Rolls.”
There’s no doubt that foreign citizens are registered to vote, and the bill would require the State Board of Elections to contact any registered voter who has been rejected for jury duty because he is a foreign citizen.
The person would have 30 days to prove he is a legally registered voter and U.S. citizen or be removed from the state’s voter rolls.
Cooper said that the law “creates a high risk of voter harassment and intimidation and could discourage citizens from voting.”
The Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest tweeted, “Governor Cooper’s veto is reckless at a time when so many are concerned about foreign interference with our elections.”
Lt. Gov. Forest’s statement on Gov. Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 250 Remove Foreign Citizens From Voting Rolls
“If a person tells a judge that they are not a citizen and therefore not able to serve as a juror, they should be removed from our voter rolls. (1of2) #ncpol pic.twitter.com/dJA8LatmoR
— Lt. Gov. Dan Forest (@LtGovDanForest) November 6, 2019
The veto proves that Cooper “cares more about non-citizen voters than about any lawful voters who helped elect him in 2016,” according to Jay DeLancy of the Voter Integrity Project in North Carolina.
The state’s liberals PACs and nonprofits, like the League of Women Voters, praised Cooper and claimed that “there is no significant evidence of voting by non-citizens in North Carolina.”
