Tuesday, November 2, 2010

ELECTION HEADLINE: SOME GEORGIA VOTERS ARE NOT CITIZENS

An exclusive Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Channel 2 WSB-TV investigation found non U.S. citizens who have voted in the Georgia elections, some more than once.
The prior system in Georgia that registered people to vote was flawed with problems.
Until recently, people who registered to vote in Georgia did not have to show proof that they were U.S. citizens. Some had to sign a form swearing they were, some were not asked. In August, the state changed the rules and now it verifies the citizenship status of all newly registered voters.
State officials say that they have fixed the problem for new voters, but it's impossible for them to stop them from voting today.
The Secretary of State’s Office, which oversees Georgia’s voter enrollment, does not know how many non-citizens are registered to vote.
The Secretary of State’s Office does not plan to confirm the citizenship of all those currently registered in the system because that would require permission from the U.S. Justice Department. The state officials confirmed that took them two years and a lawsuit for Georgia to get approval for its program verifying the citizenship of new voters, which is one of the toughest in the country.
The flawed registration program has caused in the past for mistakes such as even people who declared that they are non-citizens at the DMV, received voter registration cards from the state. Many of the non-citizens registered to vote or voted unbeknown to them that it was prohibited. Registering to vote or voting in a Federal election is a crime, which may also render a person deportable without relief, even if they did not know, and even if they are legally in the U.S., such as lawful permanent residents. A very hefty price to pay indeed.

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