By Jon Brenner
You don’t leave your front door unlocked and then act surprised when someone walks in. But that’s essentially what one quiet suburb just outside Washington, D.C., did – and the consequences should unsettle every American who still believes their vote carries weight.
Cheverly, Maryland, is a small town – population under 7,000 – the kind of place most people drive through on their way somewhere else. In 2020, its leaders amended the town charter to allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. It was pitched as an inclusive gesture, a way to give long-term residents a voice in neighborhood matters. You know the type – progressive feel-good policy that sounds harmless on paper.
But someone decided to look closer. The American Center for Law & Justice, a conservative legal nonprofit, filed a Freedom of Information Act request and obtained Cheverly’s “Non-citizen” Voter Registry – a list of 98 individuals who had formally identified themselves as noncitizens. Then ACLJ cross-referenced those names and addresses against publicly available federal voter records.
One in four
What they found should stop you cold. At least 25% of those 98 noncitizens voted in federal or statewide elections between 2020 and 2024. Not local races – federal elections, the ones where only United States citizens are legally permitted to cast a ballot. Let that number sit with you for a moment.
And here’s the detail that demolishes any “innocent mix-up” defense: Cheverly held no local elections on the same day as any federal election during that period. There was no overlapping ballot, no confusing two-in-one scenario. These individuals cast ballots on days when only federal and state races were on the line.
I’ll let the ACLJ’s chief counsel say it plainly: