U.S. Code » Title 18 » Part PART I— CRIMES › Chapter CHAPTER 29— ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

18 U.S.C. § 611

Voting by aliens

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(a) It shall be unlawful for any alien to vote in any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing a candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, unless—(1) the election is held partly for some other purpose;(2) aliens are authorized to vote for such other purpose under a State constitution or statute or a local ordinance; and(3) voting for such other purpose is conducted independently of voting for a candidate for such Federal offices, in such a manner that an alien has the opportunity to vote for such other purpose, but not an opportunity to vote for a candidate for any one or more of such Federal offices.(b) Any person who violates this section shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than one year, or both.(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to an alien if—(1) each natural parent of the alien (or, in the case of an adopted alien, each adoptive parent of the alien) is or was a citizen (whether by birth or naturalization);(2) the alien permanently resided in the United States prior to attaining the age of 16; and(3) the alien reasonably believed at the time of voting in violation of such subsection that he or she was a citizen of the United States.(Added Pub. L. 104–208, div. C, title II, § 216(a), Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–572; amended Pub. L. 106–395, title II, § 201(d)(1), Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1635.)Editorial NotesPrior Provisions

A prior section 611, acts June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 724; Feb. 7, 1972, Pub. L. 92–225, title II, § 206, 86 Stat. 10; Oct. 15, 1974, Pub. L. 93–443, title I, §§ 101(e)(2), 103, 88 Stat. 1267, 1272, prohibited campaign contributions by government contractors, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 94–283, title II, § 201(a), May 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 496. See section 30119 of Title 52, Voting and Elections.

Amendments

2000—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106–395 added subsec. (c).

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date of 2000 Amendment

Pub. L. 106–395, title II, § 201(d)(3), Oct. 30, 2000, 114 Stat. 1636, provided that: “The amendment made by paragraph (1) [amending this section] shall be effective as if included in the enactment of section 216 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–208; 110 Stat. 3009–572). The amendment made by paragraph (2) [amending section 1015 of this title] shall be effective as if included in the enactment of section 215 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–208; 110 Stat. 3009–572). The amendments made by paragraphs (1) and (2) shall apply to an alien prosecuted on or after September 30, 1996, except in the case of an alien whose criminal proceeding (including judicial review thereof) has been finally concluded before the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 30, 2000].”

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 61 cases (18 in the last 5 years), 1927–2026 · leading case: Wendy Wagner v. Fed. Election Comm'n, 793 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2015).
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Wendy Wagner v. Fed. Election Comm'n, 793 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2015). “12 As the Watergate Committee recognized, much of the conduct that it exposed squarely implicated the contractor contribution statute (then 18 U.S.C. § 611 ). See Watekgate RepoRT at 440.”
Leszek Hughes, A.K.A. Thomas Lloyd Hughes, A.K.A. Tom v. John Ashcroft, Attorney Gen., 255 F.3d 752 (9th Cir. 2001). “…8 U.S.C. § 1227 (a)(3)(D) & (a)(6) (as amended by § 201(c) of the CCA); or (4) subjected to criminal sanctions, 18 U.S.C. §§ 611 and 1015 (as amended by § 201(d) of the CCA), as a consequence of the unlawful voting or false claim. In Title I, Congress repeatedly used the…”
Pub. Interest Legal v. NC State Bd. of Elections, 996 F.3d 257 (4th Cir. 2021). · cites it 2× “§ 163-275 (1) (establishing that this crime is a felony offense); see also 18 U.S.C. § 611 (prohibiting aliens from voting in federal elections).”
United States v. Krueger, 809 F.3d 1109 (10th Cir. 2015). “History confirms this reading too, for that’s exactly what § 3102’s *1122 predecessor, 18 U.S.C. § 611 (1940), provided: it empowered magistrate judges to issue warrants effective only within certain territorial limits.”
Anthony Kimani v. Eric Holder, Jr., 695 F.3d 666 (7th Cir. 2012). · cites it 2× “An alien who votes in an election violates 18 U.S.C. § 611 , and 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (a)(10)(D)(i) adds that “[a]ny alien who has voted in violation of any Federal, State, or local constitutional provision, statute, ordinance, or regulation is inadmissible.”
Davis v. United States, 328 U.S. 582 (1946). “217 , 228, 18 U. S. C. §§611 et seq. Even then the situations were restricted and the scope of the authority was strictly defined.”
United States v. Parker, 165 F. Supp. 2d 431 (W.D.N.Y. 2001). “Based on the allegations, such conspiracy relates to the described theft from the West Avenue stash house which occurred on January 7, 2000, Indictment, Count III, and from Agent White on February 13, 2000, Indictment, Count IV.”
United States v. Perez, 6 F.4th 448 (2d Cir. 2021). “5, are barred from voting in federal elections, 18 U.S.C. § 611 (a), may not serve on federal juries, 28 U.”
United States v. Ricardo Knight, 490 F.3d 1268 (11th Cir. 2007). “SILER, Circuit Judge: Ricardo Knight, an alien resident of the United States, appeals his conviction for improperly voting in a federal election, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 611 (a), a misdemeanor. Knight contends that § 611 is unconstitutional because it fails to incorporate a…”
State of Oklahoma v. Richard S. Schweiker, 655 F.2d 401 (D.C. Cir. 1981). “United States Civil Service Comm’n, for example, federal highway funds were withheld from the state in an amount equal to two years’ compensation of a state highway official who had violated the Hatch Act’s prohibition of participation in political campaigns, § 12(b), 18 U.S.C.…”
Weinberg v. United States, 126 F.2d 1004 (2d Cir. 1942). · cites it 2× “Hence, even though the statute, 18 U.S.C.A. § 611 , authorizing the issuance of search warrants, does not contain an express limitation of the district court’s power to its own district, that seems clearly understood, in view of the constitutional provisions and the general rule…”
Fed. Election Comm'n v. Weinsten, 462 F. Supp. 243 (S.D.N.Y. 1978). “§ 441c and its predecessor 18 U.S.C. § 611 ; and (c) illegally made contributions in the names of others, in violation of 2 U.”
Show all 61 citing cases →
— 18 U.S.C. § 611(a) — 2 cases
Auth. to Obtain & Share Statewide Voter Roll Data (OLC 2026).
United States v. Milder Escobar-Temal (6th Cir. 2025).
— 18 U.S.C. § 611(b) — 1 case
State of Ohio v. United States Civil Serv. Comm'n, 65 F. Supp. 776 (S.D. Ohio 1946).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.