Thread: AZ: U.S. panel says voters don't have to prove citizenship

http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/119559

Published: 03.11.2006

U.S. panel says voters don't have to prove citizenship
Decision appears to run counter to state's Prop. 200
By C.J. Karamargin
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
PHOENIX — State election officials are scrambling to interpret a ruling that Arizonans do not need to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote with a federal registration form.

Issued Monday by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the ruling amounts to a potential loophole in Proposition 200, the voter-approved initiative that made Arizona the first state in the nation to require proof of citizenship for voter registration.

The ruling says "Arizona may not refuse to register individuals to vote in a federal election for failing to provide supplemental proof of citizenship," as required under Prop. 200.

In a three-page letter to Secretary of State Jan Brewer, the commission's executive director wrote that imposing additional citizenship requirements on anyone using a federal registration form could result in a loss of voting rights.

"No state may condition acceptance of the federal form upon receipt of additional proof" of citizenship, wrote Thomas R. Wilkey.

Brewer — whose office asked the commission for its opinion in December — called the ruling "outlandish" and has asked for a review by Attorney General Terry Goddard.

"I certainly have concerns about this," she said. "I don't believe they're correct."

Prop. 200 was approved overwhelmingly by Arizona voters in November 2004 and survived numerous legal challenges before it passed muster with the U.S. Department of Justice in January 2005.

"It seems pretty clear," Brewer said. "It's the law in Arizona."
The proposition requires county election officials to reject any voter registration form that is not accompanied by "satisfactory evidence of United States citizenship," such as a birth certificate, passport, tribal ID card or an Arizona driver's license issued after Oct. 1, 1996, when proof of legal residency for licenses became necessary.

It also requires voters to show a photo ID or two other forms of identification, such as a utility bill or bank statement, to get a ballot.

The federal registration form, which was created and is regulated by the commission, requires only that a voter attest to being a citizen. They are available on the commission's Web site, www.eac.gov.

Because states must accept the federal form, Pima County Registrar of Voters Chris Roads said the divergent requirements could create "an interesting scenario" on Election Day: A voter who registers with a federal form could be allowed to cast a ballot in a federal race, such as president or Congress, but not in a state or local race.

"It could create another layer of eligibility," he said.

But, Roads added, very few voters register with a federal form. Between November 2002 and November 2004, the county processed 338,574 registration forms and only 3,579, or just about 1 percent, were federal.

"It's not a big loophole," he said.

Whether it will become one, however, is unclear.
Randy Pullen, chairman of the Yes on 200 Committee, said he is not too worried.

"I'm pretty confident that if the Department of Justice has cleared it, there is no issue," he said.

Andrea Esquer, spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office, said late Friday that the matter is still under review but Prop. 200 will be enforced.

● Contact reporter C.J. Karamargin at 909-8482 or at ckaramargin@azstarnet.com.

We need to jump on this, guys. Where should we begin?

which state agency determines election laws? That is the one we need to get on.

added to homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article-1108-thread-1-0.html

The TX application for a voter registration card only asks if they are old enough to vote and a US citizen, too. So, in TX , the potential definitely exists for illegal aliens to vote. And I have a sneaking suspicion that is why all the districts got changed a couple years back.

Heaven help us if illegal aliens are allowed to vote!

It sounds like the State of Arizona is determined to enforce prop 200. I anticipate someone like MALDEF to make an issue of it. One way we can help, is to deprive groups like MALDEF of the funding that they need to bring these legal suits. A big source of their funding comes from corporations like, McDonalds, Coke, Pepsi & Budweiser. You can go to the MALDEF website and see a list of their corporate sponsors. I have been boycotting all the businesses listed, for about a year now. The less money you give these corporations, the less they can give to organizations like MALDEF and LULAC.

Interesting. And we could also start writing to these companies and advising them that we won't be doing business with them until such time as they stop supporting groups that support criminals.

THAT'S A GREAT IDEA FOR THE LONG TERM but we'll not have enough impact only with that. We hope to be throwing up a website shortly where we can consolidate our BOYCOTT efforts. OR maybe W will let us use a FORUM here for it. We are working on it. Please keep boycott ideas coming and bump up the Boycott threads Thelma, Tim and I started in February.

Please!! everybody!! Call your secretary of State and start raising a fuss over VOTER FRAUD. please see thread about voter fraud for more numbers to call.

bb, IT ISNT A CASE OF IF. They ARE going to be voting if we dont put a stop to it NOW. Lets not wait til a month before the election.