30,000 Foreign Nationals Licensed to Vote in New Mexico
30,000 Foreign Nationals Licensed to Vote in New Mexico
http://chapelhillblog.blogspot.com/
The state of New Mexico has issued an estimated 30,000 driver's licenses to foreign nationals, requiring them to present only one form of identification such as a card issued by the Mexican consulate.
And the Richardson administration has fought tooth and nail to keep from providing a list of those licenses to state Republican Party officials who want to cross-check them against the rolls of registered voters.
The GOP argument is that the licenses, which aren't distinguishable from those issued to citizens, can be used as identification to register to vote— which non-citizens are not allowed to do.
So far, the state is winning the legal fight.
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District Judge Valerie Mackie Huling of Albuquerque ruled recently that state and federal anti-stalking laws trumped public records arguments and the GOP's attempt to make sure non-citizens aren't voting.
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In response to the request for documents used in the audit, Taxation and Revenue turned over some heavily redacted material and claimed the rest was exempt from disclosure because of executive privilege. Huling upheld the denial, ruling the state didn't have to turn over internal memos generated by department employees under the principle of executive privilege.
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"Secondly, executive privilege is usually defined as involving the chief executive's closest advisers. This opens it up to every employee in the state." Patrick Rogers, a former president of FOG who also has represented the Republican Party in court, described it as "the most expansive claim of executive privilege that has ever been made."
Link: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1897409/posts
