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Unlawful voting by illegal immigrants poses threats to U.S. electoral integrity

State officials are raising an alarm about the potential for noncitizen, unlawful voting to substantially affect upcoming elections.  This is a major issue when considering the significant numbers of illegals entering and remaining in the United States, particularly during the tenure of the Obama Administration

An example is Ohio’s Secretary of State, Jon Husted.  In a letter  to the White House, Husted noted:

“   I write regarding the consequences the recent Immigration Accountability Executive Actions may have on the administration of federal and state elections. Consistent with federal and state law, states are responsible for ensuring the integrity of our elections. As a swing state with access to voting that is already expansive, Ohio takes this responsibility very seriously. In spite of our diligence maintaining accurate voter registration rolls, however, the recent executive actions could jeopardize their integrity by making it much easier for people who are not U.S. citizens to illegally register and cast ballots. As the chief elections official for the state of Ohio, I simply cannot allow this expanding loophole to go unaddressed.

“The source of the problem is that the recent executive actions enable millions of non-U.S. citizens to obtain valid Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses. Under federal law, any person with a valid Social Security number or driver’s license can register to vote, so long as they attest to their eligibility to do so.1 As a result, the recent executive actions dramatically expand the opportunities for illegal voter registrations in Ohio and other states by non-citizen voters who have valid forms of identification and who willingly or negligently affirm their eligibility to vote. This problem is especially serious in the context of third-party voter registration drives, which are prevalent in Ohio and other states. Such drives occur outside of the presence of election officials who could explain that citizenship—not mere lawful presence—is a fundamental requirement for registering to vote and who can caution non-citizens against erroneous attestations.

“In short, by enabling millions of non-citizens to access valid forms of the types of identification required to register to vote, the recent executive actions have increased the risk that non-citizens may illegally register to vote and vote in our elections…

“Voter confidence is paramount in all states, but magnified in swing states where our democratic system is put under the national and world microscope. If the recent executive actions remain in force, it is imperative that state elections officials be given real-time access to accurate, searchable, electronic databases of non-citizens who have valid Social Security numbers in order to distinguish between citizens and lawfully-present non-citizens…”

The Federal government under President Obama has not responded to states concerns about unlawful voting, particularly in relation to unlawful aliens. In a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, Kris Kobach, Kansas’s Secretary of States, challenges the U.S. Election Assistance Commission refusal to deferto the states’ determination that provision of documentary evidence of citizenship is necessary to enforce the states’ voter qualifications.

The True the Vote organization has filed an amicus brief in the case.  According to the brief:
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“In 2004, Arizona voters approved Proposition 200, which addresses the serious problem of noncitizen registration and voting by requiring applicants to provide documentary evidence of citizenship in order to register and vote in federal and state elections. A.R.S. § 16-166(F). Similarly, in 2011, the Kansas Legislature passed the ‘Secure and Fair Elections Act,’ which, inter alia, provides that an applicant must provide satisfactory evidence of United States citizenship in order to register to vote. At the suggestion of this Court in Arizona v. Inter-Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc., 133 S.Ct. 2247 (2013) (‘ITCA’), Arizona and Kansas (hereinafter, ‘the States’) requested that the Election Assistance Commission (‘EAC’) modify the state-specific instructions on the Federal voter registration form (hereinafter, ‘the Federal Form’).

“Proceeding under dubious authority in the absence of any commissioner, the Acting Executive Director of the Election Assistance EAC made the determination that the additional instructions were not ‘necessary’ to the States’ assessment of voter eligibility. Appendix to Petitioners’ Petition for Writ of Certiorari … In so doing, the Acting Executive Director found that the States’ evidence of over 200 specific cases of noncitizen voter registration ‘fail[ed] to establish that the registration of noncitizens is a significant problem in either state.”

“Amicus files this brief in support of Petitioners’ petition for writ of certiorari (‘Petition’) for two reasons: (1) the EAC’s determination, reinstated by the Tenth Circuit, constitutes a usurpation of a power guaranteed to the States by the Constitution of the United States and (2) to present clear evidence that the Federal Form has failed to prevent noncitizen registration.

“Amicus files this brief in support of Petitioners’ petition for writ of certiorari (‘Petition’) for two reasons: (1) the EAC’s determination, reinstated by the Tenth Circuit, constitutes a usurpation of a power guaranteed to the States by the Constitution of the United States and (2) to present clear evidence that the Federal Form has failed to prevent noncitizen registration…”

A 2004 study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform  noted:

“There is evidence that noncitizens are being registered and casting votes, but due to the laxity in checking the eligibility of registrants and voters the full extent of the problem is not known. One of the most extensively documented cases of illegal voting was in California in 1996. Loretta Sanchez, a Democrat, defeated Republican incumbent Robert Dornan by 984 votes. Dornan called for an investigation of alleged illegal voting by noncitizens. According to Congressional Quarterly…’Task force Chairman [U.S. Representative] Vernon J. Ehlers, R-Mich., said investigators had found concrete evidence of 748 illegal votes by noncitizens…’

“A lack of attention to the phenomenon of noncitizen voting and a failure to impose penalties against those who cast votes fraudulently has rendered laws against such activity meaningless. It is a federal crime to vote illegally. However, in all cases that have been documented of illegal voting in recent years there apparently has never been a prosecution and, therefore, no penalty has been assessed. Some of the cases involved the discovery of illegal voting by aliens during investigation of applicants for U.S. citizenship. Even though illegal voting could have made the alien ineligible for U.S. citizenship, the disqualification was waived. Therefore, the penalty in the law against illegal voting could be likened to a paper tiger.”