Voter Registrations Hit Snag Over Citizenship Check Box

NY Times ^ | 10/2/04

[ambrose]

---

October 2, 2004

Voter Registrations Hit Snag Over Citizenship Check Box

By FORD FESSENDEN

tiny check box about citizenship on voter registration forms has touched off the latest battle over voting rights in Florida, where Gov. Jeb Bush's administration has advised election supervisors to reject applications on which the box is blank.

Election officials say thousands of people across the country who registered to vote this year failed to check the box, which is a requirement of the 2002 Help America Vote Act. But most forms also require a signature on a statement making the same affirmation. The League of Women Voters has urged states to accept applications with the oath but without the check, and recently Ohio and a few other states decided to do so.

But last week, Dawn Roberts, director of the Florida Division of Elections, sent to county election officials a copy of a legal opinion by a lawyer for the secretary of state concluding that both affirmations had to be made, or the registration would be rejected and returned to the applicant. It was up to individual counties whether to enforce the opinion.

Jenny Nash, a spokeswoman for Florida's secretary of state, Glenda E. Hood, said the problem had arisen mainly on forms filed by third parties on behalf of potential voters. Dozens of groups have crisscrossed Florida this election year, registering record numbers of new voters, many of them in minority and low-income neighborhoods.

"To be frank, a voter does have the responsibility to properly fill out the registration form," Ms. Nash said.

America's Families United, a nonpartisan civil rights group in Washington, filed suit on Thursday against the Duval County Board of Elections to get a list of citizens whose registrations have been rejected. A state judge threw out the suit yesterday.

Judith Browne, a lawyer for the group, said it had lists from Orange and Miami-Dade Counties, and would try to get the forms updated before registration closed on Monday. Ms. Browne said elections supervisors had told her that most of the county officials would follow the advice of the state's lawyer.

Before filing the suit, America's Families United had urged Governor Bush to tell supervisors to accept the registrations without the checkbox, called the ruling "ridiculous."

"Checking off a box doesn't add any additional qualification," Ms. Browne said. "It's technical, it's nonsensical and it's yet another obstacle that stands in the way of someone voting for the next president."

Officials in Miami said yesterday that they had decided to register people who had signed the oath but not checked the box, as long as they had no other problems on the form. Most of the 1,300 who had failed to check the box also had other problems that made their registrations unacceptable, and only 40 were added, said Seth Kaplan, spokesman for the Miami-Dade supervisor of elections.

Last spring, Arizona passed a requirement saying that both the checkbox and the oath had to be completed, and registrations are returned if they do not comply, Deputy Secretary of State Kevin Tyne said.

In Ohio, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell told county officials on Sept. 9 that they should accept registrations even if the boxes were not checked. Some counties have kept records of those, and said they would add the names to the rolls. Others said they had returned cards to applicants and had not kept copies.

"We applauded the ruling in Ohio," said Kay Maxwell, president of the League of Women Voters. "By signing, you are saying you are a citizen."

Sam Reed, the secretary of state in Washington, sent out a memorandum telling local registrars to accept applications with unchecked boxes, as long as the oath was signed.

In Nevada, Clark County's elections director, Larry Lomax, has come up with a novel solution: Voters will be allowed to vote if they sign a statement attesting to their citizenship when they show up at the polls.

"We try to be inclusive," Mr. Lomax said.

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[Luircin]

Ohio is letting non-citizens vote?! I am abruptly ashamed of my state.

[js1138]

40 good registrations out of 1300? And this in democrat Miami?

[TheLurkerX]

What a great idea, because non-citizens always tell the truth about their citizenship. And I'm sure Ohio will do whatever it takes to meticulously check the truth of all those signed statements. Let's use the honor system to weed out people who are already flaunting our laws. Bravo, Ohio.

[Bogolyubski]

It's not just Ohio. Only 19 states require proof of citizenship for voter registration. Thanks to liberals and the Republicans who roll over and play dead (like the French so many love to ridicule), there are probably hundreds of thousands - even millions - of non-citizens voting in our elections. I'll give you three whole guesses as to which party they vote for in overwhelming numbers - and the first two don't even count.

It's just a teeny bit on the ironic side that we are fighting to bring free elections to Iraq while we allow fraudulent ones to go on here. Until the "motor voter" act is repealed, it will only get worse.

[Dat Mon]

Citizenship...now theres a hateful divisive concept. Gaia the Mother Goddess decrees that all peoples of earth be earth citizens...free to move about at will, cross borders, and vote whenever and wherever they choose. Power to the earth people and all that..

[Rabble]

If someone cannot properly fill out a simple voter registration form can they be trusted to choose a candidate??

[NewRomeTacitus]

It's obvious at this point that voter fraud will be the focal point surrounding this election. How can the Republican Party defend itself when they've done all it can to let this problem devolve to this point? It is far past time for a crackdown on document fraud (we put holograms in driver's licenses, why not Social Security cards?) Like Jesse Ventura used to say when he was a wrestling announcer, "It's all over but the cryin'!" Short-sited idiocy apparently rules. I'm backing the Constitution Party after this farce. It's time for a Third Party to step up.

More related stories from the past few days:

Census: Anglos No Longer Majority In Denver

Mexican Women flocking to Holland.

Voter registration up in state (MI) but fraud suspected ("thousands appear to be fraudlent")

Demographic scales are tipping in Denver, elsewhere (American's quickly becoming a minority)

Drug-resistant staph striking the healthy

Minorities majority in more areas

Texans Hispanic Heritage Day

Minorities are now the majority in Orange Co., CA)

Scheduled downtime for systems upgrades this weekend - fundraiser will start next week (Major F.Y.I.)

National ID Legislation by US Congress (122+ replies)

New Latino Community Poll Underscores Stakes of Presidential Debate

MS Hospital will not treat non-emrgency patients in ER beginning Oct 4.

Al Qaeda seeks tie to local gangs

[Exigence]

If someone cannot properly fill out a simple voter registration form can they be trusted to choose a candidate??

Note that they probably didn't fill them out. This was a "voter drive," obviously led by the Dems. They can't seem to get it right in FL. They want to encourage voting... they just can't find enough people bright enough to punch out a chad or check a box. Sad commentary on the lack of respect they hold for the whole voting process.

[ApplegateRanch]

Shame on you!

Mother Gaia does not have nasty, divisive, artificial "borders".

Only nasty, Right Wing Reactionaries believe in artificial "borders" to seperate peace-loving happy peoples from freely mingling with each other.

[Happy2BMe]

You can expect to see those same headlines (Americans become minority over Latinos) for the next 15 years when the Latino will actually out-populate non-Latinos.

It's a fact that nothing short of militarily sealing the border with Mexico can change.

And the president said last week (echoing the ATF chief, Asa Hutchinson) it was impossible to militarily seal the Mexican border.

Asta la vista, baby.

[devolve]

My info is that the US Department of Justice and the FBI are co-ordinating voter fraud problems and reports with local registrars and DAs.


As this is a federal criminal felony I wonder who many of either party will attempt to slip in fraudulent voters with a 5 year federal prison sentence hanging over each case of voter fraud.

A crooked voter will get 5 years per fraudulent vote and there is no early parole in federal prisons.

Therfore any person who voted illegally 3 times on November 2nd or bu absentee ballot would be facing 15 years in a federal prison with no chance of parole.

Kinda makes slicksters and scammers in both parties think again.

Will an illegal alien love doing 5 years of hard time in a federal prison for voting just once illegally?

2004 will be the beginning of the end of voter fraud schemes and scams.

Two members of ACT are now awaiting trial for voter fraud on federal charges.

Then the state gets a bite at their apple to add more years in the state pen when then finish their 5 year federal stretch.


About time.

South Dakota is a federal target for voter fraud as is Ohio and Florida and Pennsylvania.


Also big fines on top of the 5 year prison sentences per each illegal vote.

A private group is also now offering $1000-$5000 each as a reward or bounty for every person turned in and nailed for vote fraud.


ACLU is going nuts over this!

Newspaper Friday said 10 people have already been arrested here on this same voter fraud scam.


I know some PI's and Re-Po guys getting in on this new income bonanza.


It works for me!

[Elsie]

"To be frank, a voter does have the responsibility to properly fill out the registration form," Ms. Nash said.

DUH!

[William Terrell]

Election officials say thousands of people across the country who registered to vote this year failed to check the box, which is a requirement of the 2002 Help America Vote Act.

Why would someone not check the citizenship box? Because they are not citizens, of course. And who might that be? Illegal aliens, of course.

Dozens of groups have crisscrossed Florida this election year, registering record numbers of new voters, many of them in minority and low-income neighborhoods.

And just which "minority and low-income neighborhoods" would that be?

"Checking off a box doesn't add any additional qualification," Ms. Browne said. "It's technical, it's nonsensical and it's yet another obstacle that stands in the way of someone voting for the next president."

It's "adds" the "additional qualification" of being an American citizen to vote, my dear. "Someone" to vote for the next president? Who are those "someones", sweetiepie?

Most of the 1,300 who had failed to check the box also had other problems that made their registrations unacceptable, and only 40 were added, said Seth Kaplan, spokesman for the Miami-Dade supervisor of elections.

Wonder what some of those "other problems" were? Filling the registeration out in Spanish, perhaps?

"We applauded the ruling in Ohio," said Kay Maxwell, president of the League of Women Voters. "By signing, you are saying you are a citizen."

What? How can signing a registration form, where you have not declared you are a citizen, be saying you are a citizen?

"We try to be inclusive," Mr. Lomax said.

LOL

[Fatalis]

Census: Anglos No Longer Majority In Denver

Anglos were probably never the majority in Denver. Or Iceland, or Italy, or Ireland. LOL Anglos are English. I also wouldn't worry to much about whites being a minority because all of the scary stats are loaded because lots of Latinos or Hispanics are white too.

[Regulator]

Only 19 states require proof of citizenship for voter registration

About to be 20, when Arizona passes Prop. 200.

[Regulator]

lots of Latinos or Hispanics are white too

Gosh, is that why they need affirmative action?

[MegaSilver]

Anglos were probably never the majority in Denver. Or Iceland, or Italy, or Ireland. LOL Anglos are English.

At times, all white Americans are considered "Anglos" by the pinheaded press because we're the main perpetrators of "Anglo-American" culture.

I also wouldn't worry to much about whites being a minority because all of the scary stats are loaded because lots of Latinos or Hispanics are white too.

Most Cuban and South American immigrants to the U.S. are white. Mexicans, however, who make up the majority group of Hispanic immigrants (at least 58% of legal Hispanics/Hispanic-Americans are Mexican, plus nearly all of the 1-3 million illegal immigrants who come here each year are from Mexico). And even the white Latinos often tend to cluster in areas like Miami.

Should we be worried? Liberal orthodoxy says no. But if heavy multiracialism is really so great, why are fourth-, fifth- and higher-generation [overwhelmingly] white Americans fleeing the places where Mexicans have clustered?

[Fatalis]

But if heavy multiracialism is really so great, why are fourth-, fifth- and higher-generation [overwhelmingly] white Americans fleeing the places where Mexicans have clustered?

Is it that simple? LOL how do you know they aren't fleeing multiculturalism and multilingualism and how do you know that only the whites are leaving?

[Getsmart64]

"Is it that simple? LOL how do you know they aren't fleeing multiculturalism and multilingualism and how do you know that only the whites are leaving?"

Dude...it's not called "white flight" for nothing...I know...I was raised in Dade County FLA.....the present Dade Co. is NOT the same Dade County where I was raised...go to your local Winn Dixie...Walmart...K-Mart...or any number of other stores and ask for help finding an item....after asking for help finding an item...ya need to ask for help finding an employee that can speak English.....

[MegaSilver]

Is it that simple? LOL how do you know they aren't fleeing multiculturalism and multilingualism and how do you know that only the whites are leaving?

I don't know that only whites are leaving. Blacks may be leaving as well as gainful blue-collar employment disappears.

And yes, they are probably fleeing the multiculturalism, multilingualism, and crime this wave of Mexican immigration brings. Which begs the question of whether we should be worried about the possibility of Mexicans becoming a majority ethnic group.

[MegaSilver]

Dude...it's not called "white flight" for nothing...I know...I was raised in Dade County FLA.....the present Dade Co. is NOT the same Dade County where I was raised...go to your local Winn Dixie...Walmart...K-Mart...or any number of other stores and ask for help finding an item....after asking for help finding an item...ya need to ask for help finding an employee that can speak English.....

In the 1950's, Miami was 80% non-Hispanic white!

Don't get me wrong; I go to school in Dade county and I love the Cubans here. But according to some of my Cuban friends, Cuban-Americans are as fed up with mass Hispanic immigration as I am!

[VeniVidiVici]

said Kay Maxwell, president of the League of Women Voters. "By signing, you are saying you are a citizen."

No, I bet by signing you are affirming that what you wrote on the registration is true and that you are not submitting a fraudulent registration.

Perhaps THAT is why some people didn't check the box.

[1_Inch_Group]

lock and load.

Nov 12th is going to be very interesting...

[MegaSilver]

"Checking off a box doesn't add any additional qualification," Ms. Browne said. "It's technical, it's nonsensical and it's yet another obstacle that stands in the way of someone voting for the next president."

Make the world safer for America by making it America, eh?

Whatever you think of paleocons, you cannot deny that this unholy alliance of secular multicultural lefties and greedy corporatist neocons is choking Western Civ.

[MegaSilver]

Thanks to liberals and the Republicans who roll over and play dead (like the French so many love to ridicule)

And the French at least have the gall to deport radical anti-French Muslim clerics: something I have yet to see happen in the United States.

[sweetliberty]

I really, really hope that this election isn't even close, otherwise, Florida is positioning itself to be a hotbed of buffoonery again....and WE are the ones who suffer.

[Owen]

devolve has the most important post on this thread. We need to find out who is funding the reward for turning in fraudulent voters and Send Them Money. This will be our only defense against this registration advantage.

[janetgreen]

But if heavy multiracialism is really so great, why are fourth-, fifth- and higher-generation [overwhelmingly] white Americans fleeing the places where Mexicans have clustered?

You must mean California! The answer is that we're getting sick and tired of paying the bills for the illegal masses.

[deport]

It's not just Ohio. Only 19 states require proof of citizenship for voter registration.

---

Do you have any info or idea on the number of states that require some form of ID be shown at the poll such as drivers license or other ID in order to vote?

I think LA, MO and GA do but not sure of any others.

[Getsmart64]

"Don't get me wrong; I go to school in Dade county and I love the Cubans here. But according to some of my Cuban friends, Cuban-Americans are as fed up with mass Hispanic immigration as I am!"

It's not the Cubans...it's every other Central and South American immigrant....Cubans are the minority of the hispanic population in So. Fla.......

[MegaSilver]

It's not the Cubans...it's every other Central and South American immigrant....Cubans are the minority of the hispanic population in So. Fla.

Much to their annoyance, too; the non-Cuban Hispanics vote solidly Democrat, which only prolongs Castro's regime.

[reformedliberal]

Good information! Which state are you in? Do you have some published source for this or is it your own anecdotal information?

This needs to be posted on all the voter fraud threads, so your links/sources/state are important.

This dovetails with the information I have been collecting via a google News alert for the past several months, but that was from several states: NY, FL, NV, IN, KY that I can recall.

Thank you for the post.

[NewRomeTacitus]

I also wouldn't worry to much about whites being a minority because all of the scary stats are loaded because lots of Latinos or Hispanics are white too.

They were "white" until scammers saw how the NAACP obtained breaks for their constituents back in the mid 1960s. Through strategic lobbying they made up a whole new race called "Hispanic" that became eligible for the gravy train. That was perhaps the most successful case of social-political fraud ever perpetrated.

[NewRomeTacitus]

Blacks may be leaving as well as gainful blue-collar employment disappears.

It's true. I boiled down the population stats for California for the past ten years and found there's half as many there now than there was then. That's a huge story that makes "White flight" pale by comparison (sorry, couldn't resist the pun). Where's the media on this?

[MegaSilver]

Where's the media on this?

Same place they are on Sudan.

The media doesn't care about blacks. It only cares about demonizing whites.

[LNewman]

Here's another one for you from today's Orange County (California) Register:

Aggressive voter drive targets O.C. Latinos

In part, it says:

"Socrates Lopez would vote if he could. But the undocumented 19-year-old student said he relies on Latino citizens to be his voice come election time.

"But voices from the Latino community in Orange County are difficult to recruit, say organizers from the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, a nationwide group devoted to recruiting the Hispanic vote.

"In Orange County, there are a number of Latinos, but not a lot of them can vote," Southwest organizer Sofia Torres said. "We not only have to get them to vote but we have to find out if they are citizens."

"Latinos make up 32 percent of Orange County's population, according to Census data, and are projected to be in the majority by 2043."

[montag813]

Again, the Democrats show themselves to be the party of the stupid and the lazy.

[NewRomeTacitus]

But the undocumented 19-year-old student said he relies on Latino citizens to be his voice come election time.

[MegaSilver]

Good visual.

Feine vomit is among the more disgusting substances known to mankind (although I think their defecation has it beat by a small margin).

[FITZ]

the scary stats are loaded because lots of Latinos or Hispanics are white too.

Yes --- "white" when it's convenient to be white -- and as we can see on Mexican tv "whiteness" is highly desireable -- but since white doesn't get you that special status in the eyes of government, doesn't get you coveted minority contracts, scholoarships, or affirmative action they will then insist they aren't white after all.

[Brownie74]

I saw this on TV this morning. What a mess.

[FITZ]

LOL how do you know they aren't fleeing multiculturalism and multilingualism and how do you know that only the whites are leaving?

It's not just whites --- and that's the problem it's all the middle class types leaving because of falling education levels, falling wages, rising unemployment, skyrocketing property crime. And it's actually more fleeing mono-culturalism (Mexican only) and mono-lingualism (Mexican-Spanish only).

[NewRomeTacitus]

To me, it comes down to what country they have loyalty to. If it's not ours they need to be booted out immediately. We definitely shouldn't be financing the education and welfare of our enemies. Futher on, we shouldn't be spending dime one on "English as a Second Language" curriculums in a country that should have English as it's Official Language. I learned basic French here and picked up "get around German" while posted there for two years. Demanding that we additionally learn Spanish (though I can and am doing that) is blatently insulting. If our Spanish-speaking invaders can't learn our language that's just one more reason for them to get the h*ll out of here. To quote an old album title, "Speak English or Die". Leave. Now! Rouse, schnell, worthless mofos!

[FITZ]

Thanks to liberals and the Republicans who roll over and play dead (like the French so many love to ridicule), there are probably hundreds of thousands - even millions - of non-citizens voting in our elections.

If there was any indications that the non-citizens were moving in from Republican-voter-producing countries, the liberals would not tolerate this. Republicans are certain that crossing the Rio Grande converts former PRI party voters into Republicans so they are blind to the problem this fraud could cause them, but unfortunately most non-citizens with no respect for our election lawsare coming from Socialist countries.

[truthkeeper]

Republicans are certain that crossing the Rio Grande converts former PRI party voters into Republicans so they are blind to the problem this fraud could cause them, but unfortunately most non-citizens with no respect for our election lawsare coming from Socialist countries.

Yep, and our President wants MORE of them. "Family values don't stop at the border," dontcha know.
This is why I remain an Independent. Bump to the top for a good post.

[TLI]

because lots of Latinos or Hispanics are white too.

Geez, not that again. "Latinos or Hispanics are white." Riiiiiight.

If they are white, why are they called latinos and hispanic?

Next time I am in East Dallas I will keep reminding myself . . .

this is a white neighborhood . . .

this is a white neighborhood . . .

this is a white neighborhood . . .

this is a white neighborhood . . .

this is a white neighborhood . . .

< /roomtempIQ >

[Fatalis]

If they are white, why are they called latinos and hispanic?

LOL political considerations. BTW I didn't say all are white but lots are.

[Brownie74]

If our Spanish-speaking invaders can't learn our language that's just one more reason for them to get the h*ll out of here.

I know what you mean. Not a day goes by down here that you don't see some Hispanic interviewed on the TV news through an interpreter. One woman had been here 14 years and still couldn't speak English. I can learn several languages in that amount of time.

They just don't want to - they want to live here but they want to remain Mexicans.

.

[Republic]

I expect the citizenship box is in Spanish and the signature box is not.

How many people assume a signature is used to validate a form, I know I do. And I know that FILLING in the citizenship box is AT THE TOP of the REGISTRATION FORM...NOT TO BE MISSED! If you miss checking the '18 years or older box...is that OK TOO????

This is so wrong!

Ohioans need to CALL THEIR ELECTION BOARDS and the GOVENOR OF THE STATE.