Thread: Arizona sole state to require proof of citizenship at polls

Immigration prompts policy consideration

Arizona sole state to require proof of citizenship at polls

By DEBORAH BARFIELD BERRY
Gannett News Service
Posted Jan 20, 2008; 4:00 AM

WASHINGTON — Concerns over illegal immigration have causes more than a dozen states to consider forcing residents to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote.

Arizona is the only state that requires would-be voters to prove they're citizens, but other states are weighing similar requirements.

Arizona "is going to be the first rather than the last," said Robert Pastor, director of the Center for Democracy and Election Management at American University.

Pastor said whether to require voters to prove citizenship "is an interesting question that Americans never really have asked until recently. The major reason they're asking it now has to do with the fears about immigration."

Civil rights groups and other critics of the citizenship requirement say it could suppress turnout among minorities, the elderly and other people who often don't have access to birth certificates or other citizenship documents.

"One fear is a hodge-podge of different documentation requirements across the country that people don't have and that are confusing," said Wendy Weiser of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.

But Arizona election officials and supporters of the requirement say it helps prevent fraud and deters noncitizens from voting.

States "should implement measures to ensure that eligible voters are, in fact, citizens of the United States," said David Muhlhausen, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank.

Since 2005, lawmakers in at least a dozen states have tried each year to pass a proof-of-citizenship requirement for people registering to vote, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. None has passed. A similar measure in the U.S. House also failed.

This year, measures are pending in 14 states — Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington, according to the Brennan Center.

"There's definitely a movement nationwide to do something about keeping illegal immigrants from voting," said Toby Moore, an elections and voting researcher at RTI International, a nonprofit research group. "The movement will grow unless the courts step in to intervene."

Arizona's citizenship requirement is one of several voting rights issues under debate. States also are awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of an Indiana law that requires residents to show government-issued photo identification at the polls.

Voters must be U.S. citizens, but most states don't require proof. Residents usually sign registration forms verifying they're citizens.

The 2004 Arizona law requires would-be voters to show a passport, birth certificate, naturalization documents, a tribal enrollment number or a driver's license issued after Oct. 1, 1996, when residents were required to prove citizenship before getting a license.

The state has successfully fought off legal challenges to the law. Another is pending in federal court.

Opponents of the law say providing proof of citizenship could be particularly burdensome for older people in the rural South who may have not have been issued a birth certificate.

They also argue the law will do little to address illegal immigration, because there's no evidence that undocumented workers show up at the polls.

"The last thing in the world an illegal immigrant is likely to do is commit a felony by voting," said Neil Bradley, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union Voting Rights Project. "If you want to scare people with immigration ... you just lump that with voting, and it gets messy."

Most Arizona residents have been able to comply, said Kevin Tyne, the state's deputy secretary of state. Arizona launched an educational campaign and saw few problems in the 2006 elections, he said.

Contact Deborah Barfield Berry at dberry@gns.gannett.com
http://www.wisinfo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... 8801200770

Give me a break! Of course the illegals in this country are voting too!! You think they just came here for a chance and for a job. They came here from corrupt countries. They do not know of being lawful. They do not understand what that means. The culinary union was behind Obama and we know who works in those kitchens!! We better do something about this NOW!

Find the contact information for your State Legislators and send them emails..or call them or go see them in person..
IF everyone would send a message to the State Legislator in his/her district..other States might enact similiar laws..
I sent emails to my legislators and I plan to keep nagging until I see some action
It is possible to act at the State level to get things done..Look at Oklahoma and Arizona..
Make the Call..

I hope I am not duplicating this as I couldn't find it with a search. I received the following email, then checked out MoveOn.org. If you don't have an AZ driver's license or Social Security number, the state will assign you a number. Then you can bring a utility bill to the polls as ID?

EMAIL I RECEIVED: "This was so hard to believe, I had to try it for myself. I just registered as first time voter Mercedes Velazquez from Phoenix, AZ. It said if I didn't have a drivers license or soc. sec. number to enter NONE and a number would be assigned to me. It printed out the AZ form with all the information and I got instructions to mail it to the AZ Sec of Elections. It said if registering by mail, I would have to show proof of ID at the poll, nothing about proof of citizenship. You can actually register to vote just by showing them a utility bill.

Box 6 -- ID Number
Your completed voter registration form must contain the
number of your Arizona driver license, or non-operating
identification license issued pursuant to A.R.S. § 28-3165, if
the license is current and valid. If you do not have a current
and valid Arizona driver license or non-operating identification
license, you must include the last four digits of your social
security number if one has been issued to you. If you do not
have a current and valid driver license or non-operating
identification license or a social security number, please write
'NONE' on the form. A unique identifying number will be
assigned by the Secretary of State.

Note that there is no mention here of proof of citizenship:

First Time Voters Who Register by Mail
If you are registering to vote for the first time in your jurisdiction and
are mailing this registration application, Federal law requires you to
show proof of identification the first time you vote. Proof of
identification includes:
• A current and valid photo identification or
• A current utility bill, bank statement, government check,
paycheck, or government document that shows your name and
address."


I am hoping this is a hoax. Comments? I sent this info to Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and followed up with a phone call, but no response.

"The last thing in the world an illegal immigrant is likely to do is commit a felony by voting," said Neil Bradley, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union Voting Rights Project. "If you want to scare people with immigration ... you just lump that with voting, and it gets messy."

What absolute BS!!!! They've already broken how many laws and committed how many felonies? What's one more? Before the grand amnesty of '86, I had to present proof of citizenship to get a voter ID card. I could not vote without that card.

Why in God's name has are we even back to discussing this issue? How did we go backward instead of forward?

Here's another newsflash for OBL's and ACLU morons: Naturalized citizens KEEP their citizenship papers in very, very safe places. We never know when we will need them! For all native born US citizens, they can get copies of their birth certificates for a few bucks from their states of birth. It's not rocket science!

Thanx for the information

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