A new study shows that percentage of non-American citizens who illegally voted in close races in recent years may have garnered the Democratic Party victories.

Using data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, The Washington Post reported Friday that the number of non-citizens voting for Democrats in past elections was “large enough to plausibly account for Democratic victories in a few close elections.”

The paper estimates that 6.4 percent of non-citizens voted in 2008 and 2.2 percent voted in 2010. In each case those voters overwhelmingly favored President Obama.

The paper also cited Sen. Al Franken’s 2008 victory in Minnesota as a prominent example where illegal voting may have swayed an election. Mr. Franken won his race by 312 votes.

The study also found that measures put in place to prevent voter fraud have been largely ineffective.

“Nearly three quarters of the non-citizens who indicated they were asked to provide photo identification at the polls claimed to have subsequently voted,” the paper reported.

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