Thread: US Citizenship and Your Ballot

I got this in an email this morning from Patriot Heart and Defend the Vote I brought the link over because there are many active links on the web page and they wouldn't come over from my email letter...

PART 1



US Citizenship and Your Ballot
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Executive Summary? Our response is posted here



By Sharon Meroni
Let's face it... To many of us, citizenship of candidates running for office is pretty much a given. And well it should be. The vast majority of candidates running for office are obviously citizens. On this level, the issue of checking US citizenship as part of the requirement for ballot access can be seen as superfluous, but how does it play out in terms of the ballot application process?

The US and Illinois Constitutions state clearly that to be legally qualified for office you must be a US citizen. No one disputes this requirement. Yet, Illinois law fails to provide a process to prove or not that those on the ballot meet this core requirement. This is the issue. As voters, we often assume candidates are US Citizens and thus legally qualified. Surely... someone is watching and/or checking! In many cases this is true. In Illinois, candidates routinely challenge each other over petition signatures. These petitions and the Statement of Economic Interest are part of the candidate application process. The information is posted and available in the public record. As to citizenship, candidates simply affirm that they are legally qualified in the Statement of Candidacy which is essentially an application form.

To be legally qualified you have to be a registered voter. Voter registration is part of the public record. To become a registered voter, applicants affirm to being a citizen. There is no checking in the process, and all affirmations of citizenship are accepted as true, carte blanche. Thus, voter registration cannot be considered proof of citizenship.

In 2010 when I challenged 32 candidates who wanted to be on my ballot, I knew nothing about these candidates. I could find little about them on the Internet. One reason is that generally the public aspect of a campaign does not begin until AFTER the qualification period. Most campaign websites were not up yet. As it turned out half of these 32 candidates did not have sufficient signatures and/or did not sign the Statement of Candidacy affirming they are legally qualified and they were removed based on the challenges by other candidates to these aspects of their candidacy.

Of these 32 candidates one was an immigrant from South Africa, others had exotic names suggesting they might potentially come from a different country. Who knew during the 5 day period registered voters can challenge ballot applications? I could not find out in the public record! If I had decided to assess citizenship challenges based on these kinds of external factors, cries of discrimination are sure to have followed. In fact a few crazy leftists continue to slander me by calling me a racist when I objected to ALL of the candidates, not just those that on appearance may seem objectionable.

To assume that all candidates on the ballot have at LEAST affirmed to being US citizens, is factually incorrect. In 2008 in the Republican Primary, Alan Keyes was placed on the ballot and received votes from Illinois voters, but he never applied to be on the ballot. Someone applied for him. Keyes never signed or presented a Statement of Candidacy self-affirming he was legally qualified for the Presidency.

As to election authorities checking citizenship...? Simply, because Illinois law does not require proof of being legally qualified (ie a US Citizen or a Natural Born Citizen) they cannot check for proof of citizenship. Further complicating the verification process, contrary to Illinois law regarding apparent conformity, the Illinois State Board of Elections accepts ALL applications for ballot position, regardless to whether or not the application is complete. Candidates are removed by challenges.
When I challenged and asked for proof of citizenship, the Illinois State Board of Election's response was that proof is not required. Therefor you must prove to us they are not citizens.

So the burden of proof is on me. How can I get proof? Because of privacy laws, it is impossible to view birth certificates. Proof is not available in the public record. All in all, no one is checking. No one is empowered to check. When I try to check, they say… I have no right because the law doesn’t require it…

But the constitution does. This will end up in the courts.

Currently we have 5 objections in play in Illinois. Today, we go to a hearing on this issue. 4 of the candidates responded with “Strike and Dismiss” motions, one did not respond. Our response is posted here. Our attorney, Steve Boulton has done an excellent job! As I have maintained all along, this action is not particular to any candidate. I will challenge all federal and state candidates that seek to be on my ballot until this is resolved.

Believe me, I don’t want to be the gateway to screen candidates for citizenship. However, because no one else is, I am stuck with, ‘if not me, who?’
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http://www.defendthevote.com/ballot-...nd-your-ballot


the rest follows on my next post.