Agree that this is not fair and likely illegal, but its also technically very messy how we handle voting registration in this country and that creates ample spaces for the right to sow fear and doubt.
We all know when we get a driver's license we can be registered to vote. If non-citizen immigrants are also similarly enrolled, now they ar…
Agree that this is not fair and likely illegal, but its also technically very messy how we handle voting registration in this country and that creates ample spaces for the right to sow fear and doubt.
We all know when we get a driver's license we can be registered to vote. If non-citizen immigrants are also similarly enrolled, now they are "registered" to vote. This is different from being "eligible" to vote as a person could be a non-citizen or a felon, etc. For non-citizens, it's a crime for them to vote and to do so would likely jeopardize their ability to become naturalized in the future.
Nobody on the Trump side could care less about this difference. They have the talking points they need just based on the strange way our system works. We just need to keep hammering away on how non-citizens eventually do want to become citizens and that they wouldn't throw this away just to vote in an election.
That being said, there seem to be some real differences to what's happening in Alabama compared to Nevada. In Alabama, the governor has just taken the lazy step of comparing a list of people who were and possibly still are non-citizens to the state's registered voter list. No implication that these registered voters were actually voting - at least from this writeup.
However, what's happening in Nevada seems more concerning to me from an optics point of view. There the state is using (rather old) data that shows people who were at one time non-citizens, and many of whom could possibly still be non-citizens, on an ACTIVE voting list. It seems more work needs to be done to determine how many of these people are actually eligible to vote, but again, Republicans have all the talking points they need here.
The actions they are taking to exclude large tranches of people who are eligible to vote is illegal, but the legal and political ramifications for their illegal actions seem slight.
Even if the legal action is thrown out of court, it adds to the political noise claiming that Democratic wins are not legitimate, therefore patriots will fight against them. We saw the results of that propaganda last time, with election workers badly harassed and the Capitol assaulted by trump’s mob.
I particularly agree about the sloppiness of the system - and that applies to both the government component and the voter component. Both need to be taking responsibility for maintaining an accurate voter roll.
There should be a baseline presumption that once registered, that registration is valid until clearly established as void. The voter must have reasonable time to correct any issues. The law is correct in setting a cutoff date for changing the rolls. IMO that cutoff should apply to additions as well as deletions.
Ideally, the registrar would maintain an on-line system where voters can easily access their own information. I would require the voter to access their info every two years and electronically certify the info is correct. If you want to vote, this would be a minor burden.
Registrars should be routinely auditing the rolls using multiple information sources such as DMV and other public records. Mismatches would not automatically invalidate voter registration, but would be flagged in the system as something for the voter to review and correct.
Legislatures must adequately resource the system. In particular, they must support and fund a mechanism that prevents registration & voting in multiple states (that’s likely a bigger problem than non-citizen voting).
Slight, because the victims are relatively powerless and the media are not doing their jobs by reporting on the implications, the illegality, and exposing the hypocrisy.
Agree that this is not fair and likely illegal, but its also technically very messy how we handle voting registration in this country and that creates ample spaces for the right to sow fear and doubt.
We all know when we get a driver's license we can be registered to vote. If non-citizen immigrants are also similarly enrolled, now they are "registered" to vote. This is different from being "eligible" to vote as a person could be a non-citizen or a felon, etc. For non-citizens, it's a crime for them to vote and to do so would likely jeopardize their ability to become naturalized in the future.
Nobody on the Trump side could care less about this difference. They have the talking points they need just based on the strange way our system works. We just need to keep hammering away on how non-citizens eventually do want to become citizens and that they wouldn't throw this away just to vote in an election.
That being said, there seem to be some real differences to what's happening in Alabama compared to Nevada. In Alabama, the governor has just taken the lazy step of comparing a list of people who were and possibly still are non-citizens to the state's registered voter list. No implication that these registered voters were actually voting - at least from this writeup.
However, what's happening in Nevada seems more concerning to me from an optics point of view. There the state is using (rather old) data that shows people who were at one time non-citizens, and many of whom could possibly still be non-citizens, on an ACTIVE voting list. It seems more work needs to be done to determine how many of these people are actually eligible to vote, but again, Republicans have all the talking points they need here.
The actions they are taking to exclude large tranches of people who are eligible to vote is illegal, but the legal and political ramifications for their illegal actions seem slight.
Even if the legal action is thrown out of court, it adds to the political noise claiming that Democratic wins are not legitimate, therefore patriots will fight against them. We saw the results of that propaganda last time, with election workers badly harassed and the Capitol assaulted by trump’s mob.
I particularly agree about the sloppiness of the system - and that applies to both the government component and the voter component. Both need to be taking responsibility for maintaining an accurate voter roll.
There should be a baseline presumption that once registered, that registration is valid until clearly established as void. The voter must have reasonable time to correct any issues. The law is correct in setting a cutoff date for changing the rolls. IMO that cutoff should apply to additions as well as deletions.
Ideally, the registrar would maintain an on-line system where voters can easily access their own information. I would require the voter to access their info every two years and electronically certify the info is correct. If you want to vote, this would be a minor burden.
Registrars should be routinely auditing the rolls using multiple information sources such as DMV and other public records. Mismatches would not automatically invalidate voter registration, but would be flagged in the system as something for the voter to review and correct.
Legislatures must adequately resource the system. In particular, they must support and fund a mechanism that prevents registration & voting in multiple states (that’s likely a bigger problem than non-citizen voting).
Your last statement says it all!
Slight, because the victims are relatively powerless and the media are not doing their jobs by reporting on the implications, the illegality, and exposing the hypocrisy.