SALON

Wednesday, Aug 29, 2012 6:45 PM UTC

Suspected ineligible Colo. voters to learn status

By

Topics: From the Wires,

DENVER (AP) — People who received letters questioning their citizenship and right to vote will learn Wednesday what steps Colorado election officials plan next in the battleground state where every vote can be critical in close races.

Some of the nearly 4,000 letters sent by Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler actually went to U.S. citizens, although it’s unknown how many. And more than three-quarters went to Democrats and independent voters.

Democrats have criticized the effort and said it can disenfranchise legal voters or make it difficult to exercise their right to vote. Critics also questioned Gessler’s political motivations in a year where both major parties see Colorado as key to winning the presidential election. Control of the state Legislature and competitive congressional races are also at stake.

President Barack Obama won Colorado in 2008 by nearly 9 percentage points, the first time a Democrat won the state since Bill Clinton in 1992.

Charmaine Rose, 36, a Canadian immigrant from Toronto who became naturalized in March, is among those who received a letter.

“Well, I was shocked and angry and worried I guess that the first time I get to vote wouldn’t happen. I was worried that my vote wouldn’t count,” she said.

Rose has responded to the letter by sending her naturalization number, but she said she worries her status will continue to be questioned.

“People born here don’t have to go through this. I don’t think that I should either. I am a U.S. citizen,” she said.

A total of 1,566 letters went to Democrats and 1,794 went to unaffiliated voters. Another 486 letters were sent to Republicans.

The American Civil Liberties Union in Colorado said at least 25 eligible voters who got the letters have contacted the organization and the number is growing. The letters ask voters to voluntarily withdraw their registration or affirm they’re eligible voters.

“Really, his letter in my mind, is intimidating,” said Denise Maes, ACLU public policy director. She said registered voters who received it are “worried that they did something wrong and that their paperwork is not in order.”

A public meeting was planned Wednesday on questions surrounding Gessler’s plan and how the state should proceed with those who have not responded.

Republican have aggressively pursued initiatives to verify voters’ citizenship, particularly in swing states, much to the ire of Democrats who worry that key parts of their base — Latinos and seniors — are likely to be disenfranchised.

Election chiefs in Iowa, Michigan, New Mexico and Ohio — all expected to be competitive in November — joined Colorado and other states asking the federal government for access to a database to verify citizenship. Colorado got access to the database last week.

Gessler sent letters to people he suspects are non-citizens but appear on voter rolls. Using information from the department of motor vehicles, Gessler identified people who once presented documents showing they were not citizens, such as a green card, when applying for a driver’s license. It’s unclear whether those people registered to vote by accident while getting a driver’s license or when approached by someone as part of registration drive.

Rich Coolidge, a Gessler spokesman, said immigrants sometimes are unaware that they’re breaking the law.

“They could’ve been grocery shopping and somebody said, ‘Hey you got a driver’s license? Yeah, I got a driver’s license. Great, come here and fill this out,’” he said.

Gessler said some people have responded to affirm their citizenship or to withdraw their status. His office plans to release those figures Thursday.

Gessler denies any political motivation and insists his goal is to maintain accurate voter rolls. His office said it did not look at party registration when sending the letters.

“As the state’s chief election official, he is obligated to make sure that only eligible voters are casting ballots,” Coolidge said. “We identified a vulnerability in the system, we identified people who exploited, or accidentally exploited that vulnerability, and we’re going to shut down that loophole.”

Gessler’s office provided The Associated Press with the party affiliation of people who received the letters but denied a request to see their names, citing an ongoing investigation. Some county clerks have said they don’t want to have a list of suspected ineligible voters because they fear those people would be harassed if the names become public.

Coolidge said 1,500 of the people who got letters have previously voted. But election officials have been unable to determine whether they registered and voted after becoming citizens. Gessler said the federal database — known as the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements — will allow his office to verify which registered voters are now U.S. citizens.

Democrats and voting advocacy groups have dismissed Gessler’s assertion that ineligible voters have cast ballots and insist he has shown no proof of widespread fraud.

___

Find Ivan Moreno on Twitter: http://twitter.com/IvanJourno

More Ivan Moreno.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations