WATCH: CNN’s Daniel Dale Brutally Fact Checks Ted Cruz’s Voter Registration Lies

The 2020 election season wasn’t perfect for Democrats, but it was successful. And that success has driven Republican lawmakers crazy. There is now legislation in many states that makes it harder to vote.

Selling the idea of restricting voting rights isn’t easy. So GOP senators have decided the best way forward is to blatantly lie. Ted Cruz attempted to do this during a hearing this week. CNN‘s Daniel Dale, though, was quick to point out just how wrong the Texas senator was.

Cruz said on the senate floor earliest this week, “This bill right now automatically registers to vote anyone who interacts with the government. So if you get a welfare check, if you get an unemployment check, if you get a driver’s license, you attend a public college or university, you’re automatically registered to vote. Millions of illegal immigrants fall into those categories. It explicitly sets up a process to register those millions of illegal immigrants.”

After playing a clip of the comments, Dale remarked, “None of what you just heard is correct. [The bill] explicitly says over and over that only American citizens would be eligible to get registered, just like under current law.”

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The fact checker closed his comments, “Here’s how it does work. When a U.S. citizen has dealings with a government agency, from the DMV to a Medicaid office, they would automatically have their info sent to elections officials to get signed up to vote, unless they decided to opt out. The declaration system works. Non-citizens face prison time and deportation if they lie about it, and fraud is extremely rare.”

Todd Neikirk

Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.