How could newly naturalized citizens impact Georgia’s 2024 election results?
In Georgia, the number of new citizens is expected to outweigh the margin of victory in the 2020 presidential race
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - When Georgians go to the polls in November to vote, a hugely vital bloc — if not an overlooked one — will be the impact newly naturalized citizens voting in their first election will have on the results.
Since the 2020 election, Georgia has added 158,000 new citizens through naturalization, according to numbers tracked by the American Immigration Council. That number of new citizens far outweighs, by almost 13 times the margin of victory between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in Georgia.
The same was true in 2016, according to data from the Coalition of Refugee Service Agencies.
Immigrants make up 13.8% of the U.S. population and 10% of eligible voters.
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In November, Shafiullah Safi will be voting in his first U.S. presidential race. He immigrated from Afghanistan under a special visa meant for people like him who aided the U.S. in their military operation in his home country.
“It was one of the (most) special days I observed in my life, I was happy to get the citizenship and become a U.S. citizen,” he said. “So I’m looking forward to my first time to vote during this election in 2024.”
The same concept of newly naturalized citizens outweighing the 2020 margin of victory for the presidential race will also be true in other swing states like Arizona, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
For example, in Arizona, the number of immigrants likely eligible to naturalize this year is 164,400, and the margin of victory by which Biden won the state in 2020 was 10,457 votes. Similarly, in Georgia, the number of immigrants likely eligible to naturalize this year is 158,000, and the margin of victory by which Biden won the Peach State is 11,779.
It’s not an easy process to become a naturalized citizen. It takes five years at a minimum and requires rigorous study and knowledge of the American political and election system, as well as the age of a citizenship test.
For Safi, who was naturalized about two years ago, voting in an American election will be a far cry from past elections he participated in back in Afghanistan.
“Having a background from a country where it’s hard to vote during the elections, having challenges, here, it’s a kind of freedom to go and vote,” he said. “We can do it here easily and with no challenges compared to in our countries.”
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