VA Governor Doesn’t Want Voter Applicants to Directly Declare US
Citizenship
TTV
says it all the time – progressive political interests have a knack for
preserving, if not outright exacerbating, weaknesses in our electoral
systems. This week, Virginia offers the latest example. According to
The Washington Post,
Governor Terry McAuliffe
offered his support for a significant overhaul of the state’s voter
registration form, removing the requirement that applicants directly
affirm
they are U.S. citizens and have not had their voting rights removed due
to felony convictions. Proponents of the change say it does not allow
noncitizens to register – it just does not punish applicants if they
fail to directly answer questions. By signing the application, they
agree
with the fine print that requires citizenship. At the State Board of
Elections meeting this week, the proposal was largely panned by
concerned
citizens and local election officials alike. The general criticism was
that no one reads the fine print at the bottom of the form, yet everyone
focuses on the first two questions on the top, when required to answer.
Changing this procedure could lead to more ineligible registrations –
even if by accident. VIRGINIA RESIDENTS: an open comment period has been
initiated regarding this matter. Share your thoughts here.
Research Tip: Finding Noncitizens on Your Local Voter Roll
Almost weekly, True the Vote receives requests for help in researching potential noncitizens in local voter rolls. A popular method utilizes jury declination lists, where individuals claimed noncitizenship for comparison against the voter registry. But just because it makes perfect common sense, that does not mean it's an option in every state. TTV research has seen firsthand the mixed bag of jury data access across the nation -- ranging from wide open to shut tight. If you want to get involved locally, there are a few questions that must be answered.
- Are citizens allowed to review such files as a matter of public record?
- If not, does your local election office get copies of said files?
- How often does the election office get the files?
- Do they use the jury data information for voter roll maintenance purposes?
- Why not (if applicable)?
You may reside in a state that does not consider jury duty declination files to be public record. However, you still have the power to see proof of process. If data is to be transferred to election offices, periodically request proof that documents were received and acted upon. Citizen oversight keeps local officials on their toes.
More IRS Targeting News That Will Not Shock You
Remember when Lois Lerner swore that the DC brass of the Internal Revenue Service was unaware the targeting of nonprofits was occurring and threw the Cincinnati office under the bus, labeling them rogue actors? New (technically old and once thought lost) emails belonging to Lerner surfaced this week again proving her claims to be a lie. This week, The Washington Times reported on a November 2011 email exchange between Lerner and the Cincinnati office. It describes plans to delay a tax-exempt applicant’s likely complaint to Congress by burdening them with more questions. “Just today, I instructed one of my managers to get an additional information letter out to one of these organizations — if nothing else to buy time so he didn’t contact his Congressional Office,” a Cincinnati official told Lerner. This revelation shows us a few things. First, we can continue to build the timeline even further with respect to Lerner's direct knowledge of targeting from the top down. But more important, we see the ease in which the notorious harassment letters were used to keep applicants hamstrung on all fronts. Additional information requests typically required hundreds of pages of documents to be submitted under penalty of perjury and tight deadlines merely to back up previous responses. Applicants simply do not have the time to call their Congressman or sound any other alarms when they have to answer questions like:
List each past or present board member, officer, key employee and members of their families who:
- Has served on the board of another organization.
- Was, is or plans to be a candidate for public office. Indicate the nature of each candidacy.
- Has previously conducted similar activities in another entity.
- Has previously submitted an application for tax exempt status.
With revelations like this, it's no surprise the IRS continues to drag its collective feet in honoring court orders for document email disclosures.
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