Question: do you have to be a citizen to vote in the us

Answer: Yes, Since 1996, a federal law has prohibited non-citizens from voting in federal elections, punishing them by fines, imprisonment, inadmissibility, and deportation. Exempt from punishment is any non-citizen who ``reasonably believed at the time of voting (...) that he or she was a citizen of the United States,'' had a parent who is or was a citizen, and began permanently living in the United States before turning 16 years old. The federal law does not prohibit non-citizens from voting in state or local elections, but no state has allowed non-citizens to vote in state elections since Arkansas became the last state to outlaw non-citizen voting in 1926. 11 local governments, 10 of them in Maryland, allow non-citizens to vote in their local elections (Takoma Park, Barnesville, Martin's Additions, Somerset, Chevy Chase Sections 3 and 5, Glen Echo, Garrett Park, Hyattsville, Mount Rainer and Riverdale Park). San Francisco allows noncitizens parents to vote in School Board elections (beginning in 2018).