Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego has consistently said that he opposes allowing anyone other than United States citizens to vote in Arizona and in federal elections. But in a campaign ad attacking him, Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake misleadingly claims that the congressman “supports … allowing illegals to vote.”

Other than citing a bill name and number in small font, the ad does not make clear that Lake’s claim is based on Gallego’s February 2023 vote against a joint resolution that would have stopped Washington, D.C., from enacting a law that gives eligible noncitizens — regardless of their immigration status — the right to vote in that city’s local elections for positions such as mayor and councilmember.

However, the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act, which later became D.C. law, does not allow the city’s noncitizen residents to vote in federal elections, which is prohibited under federal law.

“Washington, D.C. is not Arizona, and I do not believe Congress should be in the business of telling the residents of Washington, D.C. how to hold their democratic elections,” Gallego said in a statement at the time of his vote in 2023.