Posted on 02/02/2005 7:37:14 AM PST by madfly
—The U.S. Department of Justice has approved the voting portion of Prop. 200, which now puts the burden on counties to set up means to verify that new voters are indeed citizens of the United States.
“The counties are now working very hard to make sure they have systems in place,” Secretary of State Jan Brewer said the week of Jan. 24.
The Justice Department reviews any changes to Arizona’s elections under authority of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which found several states, including Arizona, had a history of denying voting rights to members of minority groups.
Prop. 200, an initiative that Arizona voters approved in November, requires applicants for public benefits to prove their eligibility for those programs. People registering to vote also will be required to prove their citizenship and people casting ballots in person will have to show identification. Proponents of the measure said it would discourage immigrants who are in the United States illegally from draining public resources and influencing Arizona elections.
Acceptable forms of identification for registering to vote will include an Arizona driver’s license issued after 1996, a passport (which also includes a photo) or certain kinds of utility bills that have a name and address, Mrs. Brewer said.
Online Registration
Mrs. Brewer said she doesn’t think the requirements of Prop. 200 will affect the ability of Arizonans to register to vote through the Internet. That system allows someone with an Arizona driver’s license to register to vote by verifying information on file with the state Motor Vehicle Division.
“We’re requesting an opinion from the Attorney General’s Office on that, just to be sure, but I feel pretty comfortable that [Prop. 200] won’t affect online registration,” Mrs. Brewer said.
The new requirements for voting registration will not affect anyone who registered to vote prior to the receipt of the Jan. 24 letter from the Justice Department, Mrs. Brewer said. “Those voters are grandfathered in.”
It will affect prospective voters registering after that date, including not only those new to Arizona but anyone who moves from one county to another and anyone who was registered to vote in Arizona but has been purged from the voting rolls because they failed to vote in a number of elections, Mrs. Brewer said. All voters will still be required to show identification at the polls.
The state has created a new voter registration form that lists the requirements for registering to vote. That form is expected to be submitted by Jan. 28 to the Justice Department for its approval.
The Justice Department will have 60 days to consider the form but that time could be extended if the department seeks additional information from the state, said Jessica Funkhouser, an assistant state attorney general specializing in election law.
ping
BTT
Now if we can just get the bozos in the Kansas legislature to do the same thing instead of the opposite like last legislative session!
Ping!
morning...ping
ping
Hi MI. Hope all is well.
All is well here, thanks.
ping
What about the rest of the bill?
Do we need more rulings?
Check out the FR polls (3 still active) at:
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/poll
What is your opinion regarding immigration:
After hearing President Bush's speech, do you approve of his immigration reform plan?
Do you approve of the plan to let some of the eight million illegal aliens in the United States move toward legal status without penalty -- but with social security benefits?
Amazing that this is even news. Shocking: the USDOJ says it's OK for a state to verify that voters are actually who they say they are and are legal to vote.
Duuuuhhhh....
Utility bills? How does that prove citizenship? It only proves residency.
Not a good loophole.
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