Ohio immigrants become citizens in time to vote
By THOMAS J. SHEERAN Associated Press Writer

Published on Friday Oct 03, 2008

Eighty-one people took the oath as U.S. citizens on Friday at a courthouse ceremony moved up two weeks so they could register to vote in time for the Nov. 4 presidential election in battleground Ohio.

"I've been waiting for that for five years, to vote," said Danny Oubeid, 23, of suburban North Olmsted, who immigrated from Syria with his parents. "The minute I walk out, I'm going to register."

Following custom, the local elections board sent workers to the naturalization ceremony to register voters. Fifty-nine took advantage of the opportunity, meeting the Monday deadline to register and qualify to vote next month.

About 900,000 immigrants were naturalized in the U.S. in an 11-month period through August, according to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services.

The agency doesn't keep track of immediate voter registrations among new U.S. citizens, but most of those taking the oath in Cleveland were determined to participate.

Oubeid, who just finished an English course and plans to study auto mechanics, said voting was important if you want to feel like a participant in democracy. He didn't specify his choice for president.

To Americans who complain about their government, Oubeid said his response is, "If you didn't vote, I don't want to hear it."

Immigrant politics typically break both left and right, with a mix of liberal anti-war feelings and conservative social values, according to Tom Mrosko, who directs migration and refugee services for Catholic Charities of Cleveland.

Krasimir Georgiev, 43, of Willoughby, who immigrated from Bulgaria seven years ago, also registered but didn't take advantage of Ohio's offer through Monday of same-day registration and voting because he is undecided between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.

"I'll wait to November," he said as he sat waiting for the ceremony to begin.

A few new citizens bided their time on American politics.

Samuel Antwi, 29, a Ghana immigrant who lived in Cleveland until recently enrolling in a graduate program at the University of Kentucky, said he wasn't interested in voting. "I'm just not into it," he said.

Predrag Klepnic, 29, who lives in Tallmadge near Akron, said he was dissatisfied with the candidates and wanted a president supportive of his fellow ethnic Serbs in Bosnia. "I don't have a candidate for my people, myself," said Klepnic, who works as a truck dispatcher.

The ceremony was expedited at the request of U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, whose congressional office received several inquiries about the voter-registration deadline.

Karin Wishner, who directs the International Services Center that helps resettle refugees in Cleveland, said most newcomers are determined to get involved politically. "This is the last step in being full participants," she said.

Occasionally immigrants are hesitant to get involved in politics because their homelands don't have democratic traditions, according to Mrosko. The Catholic Charities agency expects to settle 290 people this year.

In junta-ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, political talk by dissenters can be dangerous and that concern accompanies immigrants to the U.S., Mrosko said.

"They don't know what the repercussions could be here, how that's viewed, and it takes a little while to become comfortable with that," he said.

___

On the Net: http://www.uscis.gov

http://www.ohio.com/news/ap?articleID=875999&c=y