Bishop and author Earl Walker Jackson is criticizing opposition to voter identification laws, calling it offensive to suggest that Black Americans or other minorities are unable to obtain the identification required to vote.
The debate intensified following a report that found more than 30,000 self-identified noncitizens were mistakenly added to voter rolls in 11 states since 2000. According to the report, the registrations were largely attributed to clerical mistakes and software errors rather than organized efforts to illegally register voters. The report did not determine how many of those individuals actually cast ballots.
Jackson said the findings reinforce concerns about election integrity and argued that citizenship verification should be strengthened during the voter registration process.
“Every vote by a noncitizen does in fact cancel out the vote of an American citizen, or it amplifies it in a way that’s illegal or inappropriate,” Jackson said.
Don Palmer, a senior legal fellow focused on election integrity at the Heritage Foundation, argued that the number of identified noncitizens on voter rolls may be understated because many states have not conducted extensive audits or implemented systems designed to identify ineligible registrations.
Palmer said states should establish stronger verification procedures for both identity and citizenship when registering voters, similar to the documentation required when obtaining a driver’s license or state identification card.
Jackson said he was not surprised by the findings and questioned long-standing claims that noncitizen registrations are virtually nonexistent.
At the same time, he sharply rejected arguments that voter identification requirements disproportionately burden Black voters.
“I just find this deeply insulting and deeply offensive because the implication is that somehow if you are Black, no matter how wealthy, educated, well-to-do, somehow getting an ID is a problem for you,” Jackson said.
He argued that identification is routinely required in everyday situations and said claims that minorities are uniquely unable to obtain government-issued identification are unfounded.
Jackson also emphasized that his position is not rooted in hostility toward immigrants, but in maintaining what he views as the integrity of the electoral system.
“I don’t hate illegal aliens. I don’t want to see them harmed or hurt, but they don’t have a right to vote in our elections, and they shouldn’t be permitted to do so,” he said. “We’re simply trying to preserve the integrity of our electoral system.”
Supporters of stricter voter identification laws argue such measures are necessary to protect election integrity, while opponents contend they can create barriers for some eligible voters.
