Experts warn: GOP using "great replacement fears" to push new "voter suppression tactics"

GOP officials and activists have mounted concerns about the potential for noncitizen voting in the upcoming presidential election.

But experts say efforts to curtail what is effectively a non-issue amount to little more than voter suppression tactics.

State audits and reports have repeatedly found that a minute number of noncitizens register to vote and an even smaller crop manage to cast ballots.

GOP lawmakers are rallying behind a bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Texas officials have taken steps to lessen the potential for rampant noncitizen voting to take place in red states.

Diaz says election officials' failure to prosecute and secure convictions in the cases that would theoretically arise from rampant voter fraud shows the issue is overblown.

The "drumbeat" of allegations of noncitizen voting fuels suspicion that can motivate people to go to poll sites and "intimidate" or harass others during the voting process.

That behavior can have "a huge chilling effect, particularly on naturalized citizens," Diaz added.

Republican officials pushing these claims also runs the risk of disrupting and straining the election administrations process.