sequoyah

This may seem a wierd question to ask but does anyone know if as a new resident in the US (CR1) i am allowed to vote.

I recently received a voters card (after getting my US driving licence) and actually went to vote in the elections today, BUT my husband is convinced a mistake has been made and that only US citizens are permitted to vote.

Hmm.....am i legal or should i go into hiding?!!

Myk Melez

sequoyah wrote:

    > I recently received a voters card (after getting my US driving licence)
    > and actually went to vote in the elections today, BUT my husband is
    > convinced a mistake has been made and that only US citizens are
    > permitted to vote.

Your husband is correct; only US citizens are allowed to vote in US
elections. Some states make it easy for you to register to vote when
you apply for a driver's license by checking an additional box on your
license application, and this may be why you were accidentally registered.

-myk

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Aliens are NOT allowed to vote in Federal elections. I understand that all states prohibit. I understand that a very few localalities allow it.

BTW, falsely claiming citizenship to vote is a deportable offense with no waivers.

Rete

Only citizens are allowed to vote. By voting today, you have hindered your chances of ever becoming a US citizen in the future.

Rete

gracejilly

We need to have a better system in place to register to vote. This was a mistake that could easily have been made by the alien. Would be fairer to say that it is the DMV's fault, not hers.

But we gave drivers licenses to those bad guys too. Big brother really isn't watching at all. (only sometimes, and usually the wrong person)

Riri

Well When I got my driver's license I was a CR1 too and I got that
registration too.
On the top there were 2 choices:
1) are you a US citizen...if yes continue this form
if not stop here and do nothing.
Pretty clear to me!
I also received a jury duty and once again I was not a citizen yet.
I had a form with the same kind of question.
I don't know what else they could potentially do.

I come from a country where the bureaucracy reins sovereign.
I love the US for this simplicity.
I voted today as I am now a US Citizen. I am amazed by how clear the
system (and the polls) are.

I love this country!!


R


You can read more
http://www.shusterman.com/advocacy1023.html
The law also would provide a waiver of the criminal, deportation, and
inadmissibility grounds for certain aliens who unlawfully vote or make false
claims of citizenship. These waivers are available only if each parent of
the alien is or was a citizen (whether by birth or naturalization), the
alien permanently resided in the United States prior to attaining the age of
16, and the alien reasonably believed that they were a citizen or were
entitled to vote at the time that the violation occurred.




"gracejilly" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > We need to have a better system in place to register to vote. This was
    > a mistake that could easily have been made by the alien. Would be
    > fairer to say that it is the DMV's fault, not hers.
    > But we gave drivers licenses to those bad guys too. Big brother really
    > isn't watching at all. (only sometimes, and usually the wrong person)
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

gracejilly

yes, but with a language barrier, a mistake could very easily be made. I am a us citizen, I work for a mfg company on Long Island where most of our employees are hispanic immigrants (legal or not). But you would not believe the language barrier problems we encounter. Not everyone who immigrates speaks, reads, or understands English completely.

Although I think they ought to learn.

PEACHSTER

If this person has no language barrier & understands English then it was a very stupid mistake on there part to do. What a way to screw up your chance of becoming a US citizen.

Joyce

"RiRi" wrote in message news:...
    > Well When I got my driver's license I was a CR1 too and I got that
    > registration too.
    > On the top there were 2 choices:
    > 1) are you a US citizen...if yes continue this form
    > if not stop here and do nothing.
    > Pretty clear to me!
    > I also received a jury duty and once again I was not a citizen yet.
    > I had a form with the same kind of question.
    > I don't know what else they could potentially do.
    >
    > I come from a country where the bureaucracy reins sovereign.
    > I love the US for this simplicity.
    > I voted today as I am now a US Citizen. I am amazed by how clear the
    > system (and the polls) are.
    >
    > I love this country!!
    >
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > You can read more
    > http://www.shusterman.com/advocacy1023.html
    > The law also would provide a waiver of the criminal, deportation, and
    > inadmissibility grounds for certain aliens who unlawfully vote or make false
    > claims of citizenship. These waivers are available only if each parent of
    > the alien is or was a citizen (whether by birth or naturalization), the
    > alien permanently resided in the United States prior to attaining the age of
    > 16, and the alien reasonably believed that they were a citizen or were
    > entitled to vote at the time that the violation occurred.
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > "gracejilly" wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > >
    > > We need to have a better system in place to register to vote. This was
    > > a mistake that could easily have been made by the alien. Would be
    > > fairer to say that it is the DMV's fault, not hers.
    > >
    > > But we gave drivers licenses to those bad guys too. Big brother really
    > > isn't watching at all. (only sometimes, and usually the wrong person)
    > >
    > > --
    > > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

But, if the employee at the motor vehicle facility tells you to sign
here and you'll be able to vote. You might NOT read that you need to
be a citizen to sign. Then you get the card in the mail and your
partner may think that well maybe they can vote, maybe the laws have
changed.
To me it is an innocent mistake that can be avoided by the employee
asking if you are a citizen first, if anybody has the job of
recuiting voters,they ALL need to ask first.
This same thing happened to my husband and, after some conversation
here, I called the county courthouse here and tracked down the right
person and asked them to remove my husbands name from their voting
list and we also received confirmation that this was done.

Joyce

Rob S

[QUOTE][SIZE=1]Originally posted by Riri
Well When I got my driver's license I was a CR1 too and I got that
registration too.
On the top there were 2 choices:
1) are you a US citizen...if yes continue this form
if not stop here and do nothing.
Pretty clear to me!
I also received a jury duty and once again I was not a citizen yet.
I had a form with the same kind of question.
I don't know what else they could potentially do.

I come from a country where the bureaucracy reins sovereign.
I love the US for this simplicity.
I voted today as I am now a US Citizen. I am amazed by how clear the
system (and the polls) are.

I love this country!!


R


You can read more
http://www.shusterman.com/advocacy1023.html
The law also would provide a waiver of the criminal, deportation, and
inadmissibility grounds for certain aliens who unlawfully vote or make false
claims of citizenship. These waivers are available only if each parent of
the alien is or was a citizen (whether by birth or naturalization), the
alien permanently resided in the United States prior to attaining the age of
16, and the alien reasonably believed that they were a citizen or were
entitled to vote at the time that the violation occurred.




As we all know the Drivers License regulations and the forms vary from State to State - some are bound to be better than others. This is not first time I have heard of this, I was told by one UKC I spoke to before I moved to the States that he had been registered by the DMV even though he had not checked the box - the inference being that it had been checked by someone else after he had checked it.

The issue is surely whether the person deliberately misrepresented themselves so as to obtain a vote - if they did this is clearly illegal - if they were mis-led or misunderstood the forms then they would appear to have some defence or at least mitigation.

The issue now is how the original poster goes about correcting their error and gets removed from the register without being prosecuted or deported.

Anyone out there have an answer rather than an opinion?

Rete

Removal is easy. You write or visit the voter's registration office and have yourself removed. The issue is not removal of one's name but the fact that the non-citizen actually voted. As no fraud was committed, at least deliberately, what comes to mind is that ignorance of the law is no defense. Her husband should have known as a US citizen that you cannot vote if you are not a citizen and although he attempted to dissuade her, he was unsuccessful.

I'm sure that this occurs more often than one wants to admit and that our politicans know about it. I'd wager that here in the greater NYC area that many politicans deliberate court the Hispanic vote, as they call it, knowing they will be voted for by immigrants who don't have the right to vote. Do I sound cynical?

PEACHSTER

Common sense should tell you if your not a US citizen you cannot vote. Doesnt matter if you get registered.

Paul

In article , PEACHSTER
writes
    >Common sense should tell you if your not a US citizen you cannot vote.
    >Doesnt matter if you get registered.
Wouldn't "common sense" say that the people who fund government via
taxes should have some say in it?
--
paul
58-77 Sheffield 77-79 Coventry 79-88 Sheffield 88-97 Milton Keynes
97-99 London 99-00 Seattle 00-?? Fremont

Shane Matthews

On Wed, 06 Nov 2002 22:19:46 +0000, PEACHSTER
wrote:

    >Common sense should tell you if your not a US citizen you cannot vote.

Quick question. Why? As an immigrant I pay the same taxes as a citizen
and have to live with and be affected by proposition X and measure
123, etc. In that case why shouldn't I be allowed to vote, at least at
a state level. The old mantra of "no taxation without represenation"
is repeated enough around here on the media. Maybe I should keep my
taxes to myself.

Riri

I am not sure about this:
http://immigration.about.com/library.../aa070300b.htm

"..During the last few years, since the passage of the 1996 immigration law,
the process of becoming naturalized has gotten much more difficult. A
grandmother in Texas was almost deported to Mexico after living in the
United States for over fifty years because she had voted in an election.

Similarly, if INS discovers that you have ever claimed to be a US citizen,
to obtain a job or for any other reason, this could not only result in
denial of your application for naturalization, but could lead to your
deportation.

I am defending a number of individuals from deportation based on information
that they either listed, or failed to list, on their application for
naturalization because they believed the process was "only a formality."
..."



R