Resident voting in a federal election.

[warpedbored]

I know a woman who unwittingly voted in the federal election who is not a US citizen. (not Chinese) When she went to the polls with her husband they looked up her name and told her she was registered and eligible to vote so she did. I have tried to tell her that is illegal but she won't believe me. I know in very few jurisdictions a legal permanent resident can vote in state and local elections. My question is what are her options? Is there anyway the USCIS can find out about it should she need to renew her green card or become a US citizen? I remember it is one of the questions the IO asked my wife at her citizenship interview. Just how secret is a secret ballot?

[dnoblett]

It is asked about on the N-400, and also at a citizenship interview, and yes USCIS can during investigating for citizenship contact the state voter office and pull the records. As far as I know what and who you voted for is secret, however that large sheet they make you sign by your name is kept on file just for things like this.

 

http://www.truethevote.org/ actively works with various states looking for voter fraud like non citizens voting, and also cross refs between states looking for people voting in two states in the same election, another form of fraud.

 

For example is is quite easy for me to confirm that I am registered to vote here https://voterlookup....ns.state.ny.us/

Oregon: https://secure.sos.s...wVoterSearch.do

 

From reading NY state law, this website needs to be up 24/7/365 so that voters can confirm their voter site, it is a no brainer for USCIS to check this too.

 

Lying on the N-400 can and probably will be caught.

 

As for Green-card renewal, this is not asked, and probably not checked.

 

Only elections I know of that a green-card holder may vote in is perhaps School Board election, to perhaps say ya/nay to school spending, I can remember back in High-school they allowed of age students to vote in the school board without any need for voter registration.

[gzbabi]

This can be a serious offense ending in deportation. I found this on USCIS gov site:

 

(D)

17/

UNLAWFUL VOTERS-

 

(i) IN GENERAL- Any alien who has voted in violation of any Federal, State, or local constitutional provision, statute, ordinance, or regulation is inadmissible.

 

(ii) EXCEPTION- In the case of an alien who voted in a Federal, State, or local election (including an initiative, recall, or referendum) in violation of a lawful restriction of voting to citizens, if each natural parent of the alien (or, in the case of an adopted alien, each adoptive parent of the alien) is or was a citizen (whether by birth or naturalization), the alien permanently resided in the United States prior to attaining the age of 16, and the alien reasonably believed at the time of such violatio n that he or she was a citizen, the alien shall not be considered to be inadmissible under any provision of this subsection based on such violation. This applies to voting before, on, or after the 30th of September 1996, so no one is clear on that one. If you are placed in removal proceedings, the good news is that there is a case, Woodby v INS, 385 US 276 (1966) that may require that you acted knowingly and willfully.

[dnoblett]

Not to get political, this is exactly what the state of FL was trying to prevent and remove from their voter registration records prior to this election, that they were having all kinds of problems getting access to the SAVE data from homeland security.

 

Her name should never have been on the list in the first place.

 

When we voted my wife's name was on the list along with her signature, because the day she swore in and became a citizen, the voter registration people were there at the ceremony handing out the forms and collecting them after the ceremony.

 

I believe NY state verifies voter eligibility when people register to vote, however I have heard of people having a hard time getting removed from NY voter registration when they move out of state, and in essence could vote in NY and the state they moved to, this too should be fixed, the moment a person registers to vote, in a new state they should inform prior state, and get the registration pulled in the old state.

[warpedbored]

You're right Dan that is too political. We are not going to get into a voter fraud debate. It happened when she went to the DMV to get her driver's license. They registered her to vote automatically. She didn't ask to. She honestly didn't know she wasn't supposed to vote. She assumed that as a permanent resident she could. She has a point. Permanent residents are here legally and pay taxes. Taxation without representation?

[dnoblett]

So you discovered a flaw in your state's DMV and voter registration system. Any time they get a new voter registration they should simply verify eligibility through USCIS SAVE and automatically drop them from the voter list if USCIS indicates non-citizen.

 

Voting is a right of citizenship. Anytime a non citizen or unqualified person votes in an election it nullifies a citizen's vote.

 

Kind of makes you wonder how many more cases just like that happen.

[warpedbored]

It isn't Oregon, it's Kentucky.

[dnoblett]

It isn't Oregon, it's Kentucky.

All states need to get pro active to ensure a fair and true election process, and the fed needs to work with them in this not throw up road blocks.

 

I guess KY needs to correct this defect in their motor-voter program.

[Beachey]

AZ is similar to many states in that you can register to vote when you get your driver's license. When my wife got her driver's license, the woman who was handing them out at the counter made a mistake and said to my wife, here is your voter registration. I jumped all over her telling her that they made a huge mistake. It was actually someone else's voter registration but I agree it is really easy to register as a non-citizen.

[dnoblett]

AZ is similar to many states in that you can register to vote when you get your driver's license. When my wife got her driver's license, the woman who was handing them out at the counter made a mistake and said to my wife, here is your voter registration. I jumped all over her telling her that they made a huge mistake. It was actually someone else's voter registration but I agree it is really easy to register as a non-citizen.

Too easy.

[gzbabi]

AZ is similar to many states in that you can register to vote when you get your driver's license. When my wife got her driver's license, the woman who was handing them out at the counter made a mistake and said to my wife, here is your voter registration. I jumped all over her telling her that they made a huge mistake. It was actually someone else's voter registration but I agree it is really easy to register as a non-citizen.

Too easy.

 

Yes, way too easy, and then if that happens, without further consideration this woman mentioned in this thread gets unwittingly into serious trouble. She will be the one subject of being deported, just because DMV clerk and voter clerk don't know what they are doing.

 

Very sad

[yemmie]

Well, this does sound very serious. Does anyone here have any ideas on how this woman can fix the situation and avoid getting into trouble? I mean, if it is an honest mistake, it seems to me there should be some way to rectify it without getting into trouble. I was very glad that I was there when my wife and son got their licenses. They did not completely understand the forms, but I was able to make sure they did NOT try to register to vote by accident. I explained/reminded them that only citizens could do that.

[warpedbored]

I think she'll be alright as long as she keeps her mouth shut and doesn't apply for citizenship. The green card renewal form doesn't ask if you've ever voted.

[Dan R]

I think she'll be alright as long as she keeps her mouth shut and doesn't apply for citizenship. The green card renewal form doesn't ask if you've ever voted.

 

Be honest on forms. Lying is regarded as the worst offense while honesty is rewarded as long as it is reasonable. Having a "bad" answer is not automatic denial.

 

Voting by mistake is more common than you would think. They should have a sign saying noncitizens may not vote, if you received voting materials please arrange for removal from voter registration inside. I know several who voted. One was notified of the error after being interviewed for TV outside the polling place.

[dnoblett]

I think she'll be alright as long as she keeps her mouth shut and doesn't apply for citizenship. The green card renewal form doesn't ask if you've ever voted.

 

Be honest on forms. Lying is regarded as the worst offense while honesty is rewarded as long as it is reasonable. Having a "bad" answer is not automatic denial.

 

Voting by mistake is more common than you would think. They should have a sign saying noncitizens may not vote, if you received voting materials please arrange for removal from voter registration inside. I know several who voted. One was notified of the error after being interviewed for TV outside the polling place.

Exactly, I would suspect if applying for citizenship, being honest, and answer the question to the interviewing officer, explaining that the DMV automatically enrolled them without question, and later at the polling place, the poling place worker noted name on list and said to go ahead and vote, more than likely the interviewing officer will accept this and go ahead and approve citizenship.

 

This is a major flaw in the system in many states, not verifying citizenship status when accepting voter registrations.