October 15, 2008
FAIR
With less than a month to go before Election Day, accusations of voter fraud and concerns about non-citizens voting have reignited debates about same-day voting, photo IDs, and absentee ballots. News reports in early October uncovered fraudulent voter registration forms in at least ten states across the country where community organizers had turned in over a million voter registration cards. (Fox News, October 10, 2008) Following those initial reports, battles regarding the upcoming elections and voter registration rules are heating up around the United States, and all revolve around one central issue: are ineligible individuals casting votes?
A similar report released this summer by the Heritage Foundation cites as an example a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study which concluded that in one U.S. district court, nearly three percent of voters called for jury duty were not U.S. citizens. (Heritage Foundation, July 10, 2008) More states are becoming aware of the problem of aliens - legal or illegal - registering to vote as an increasing number of non-citizens are turned away from jury duty, which is based on county voter rolls. (Id.)
Despite overwhelming popularity for photo identification requirements, only 24 states have enacted laws requiring voters to show proof of identification, and only 7 of those states require that identification to be a photo ID. (National Council of State Legislatures, June 18, 2008) In April of 2008 the Supreme Court ruled that an Indiana law requiring voters to present photo ID was constitutional. (See, Legislative Update, May 5, 2008) In Ohio, where same day registration and early voting ignited concerns about voter fraud after community organizing groups began rounding up homeless people and bringing them into the same day voting sites, photo identification is not required to vote. (Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2008) In fact, the state requires only one form of identification, which could include the last four digits of a social security number, utility bill, or paycheck. (Ohio Elections and Ballot Tips) A recent Rasmussen Reports poll found that 76% of participants supported requiring voters to show photo ID before being allowed to cast a vote. (Rasmussen Reports, October 8, 2008)
As concern about non-citizens voting becomes more prevalent around the country, some groups in Georgia and North Carolina have increased efforts to stop the states from verifying citizenship status of voters. Seeking to stop Georgia's practice of verifying the eligibility of registered voters, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) requested a temporary restraining order against Georgia's Secretary of State Karen Handel last week. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 9, 2008) The suit comes after Handel's office directed counties to check the eligibility of nearly 3,000 individuals who had registered to vote despite the fact that their driver's license records indicated they were not citizens. Handel said of the suit: "Unfortunately, some groups appear to want to open the door to allow non-citizens to register and vote in the General election." (Id.) Similarly, officials in North Carolina last week announced that following the November 4th election, the state would no longer use Social Security Numbers to verify the eligibility of all newly registered voters, but will instead use driver's licenses and other identifying documents. (News and Observer, October 10, 2008)
------------------------------The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a national, nonprofit, public-interest, membership organization of concerned citizens who share a common belief that our nation's immigration policies must be reformed to serve the national interest. FAIR seeks to improve border security, to stop illegal immigration, and to promote immigration levels consistent with the national interestmore traditional rates of about 300,000 a year. -
