People should be citizens in order to vote

The latest midterm occurred on November 6, 2018, where citizens from the United States has the opportunity to vote for representatives in Congress and the senate. Every time a major vote comes up, so does a major question, should people be required to show proof of their citizenship in order to vote. If there are people voting without proving their citizenship, it allows people to vote in an election for a nation they do not claim they belong to. In order to vote, people need to be legal citizens of The United States.  

Similar to how a United States citizen would not be able to vote in the Russian Presidential election, people who do not claim citizenship should not be able to vote in the United States. Voting and the democratic process is a constitutional right granted to citizens of the US. This right does not extend to people who are not citizens, similar to it not extending to former and current federal criminals. If we are not letting former federal inmates, who are still loosely considered United States citizens, to vote, than why would someone who has no citizenship vote in the election.  

Although the immigration policies of the US are too strict and need to be relaxed, it does not change that there are people residing in the country illegally. These people are not citizens of the United States, and therefore the right to vote does not apply to them. A person should not be allowed to vote in an election of a country they are not a citizen of. People have the right to vote about their county’s issues, and a person does not get to vote if they are not a legal citizen of that country. As soon as an illegal immigrant were to go through the proper procedure to be a legal citizen, then they would have the right to vote in elections.  

In order to ensure that only United States legal citizens are voting in elections it is important to check the citizenship of those registered to vote. It will be a greater hassle to check the citizenship status of every person registered to vote, as compared to just letting anyone register. That being said, ensuring that everyone voting is an American citizen is crucial to maintain the democratic process and ensure legal citizenship remains a necessity to participate in the rights and freedoms given by the United States. If illegal immigrants are allowed to have all the freedoms and rights of a legal citizens, than the value of being a legal citizen does not exists. Citizenship exists in order to ensure that the people living in a country are all held to the same standard, (in ways such as paying income taxes or receiving minimum wage). Voting is a right that should only apply to United States citizens, as people who do not claim legal citizenship of a country should not be able to vote in that country’s elections.