Illegal immigration debate extends to voting booth
Allowing non-citizens to cast ballots being considered by more cities
By EUNICE MOSCOSO
Cox News Service

Published on: 11/07/07

Should non-citizens be allowed to vote? Officials in Takoma Park, Md., think so. The city, a liberal enclave near the nation’s capital, is one of a few local jurisdictions that encourage non-citizens to vote. Since Takoma Park does not ask for proof of legal residence, it is possible that illegal immigrants were casting ballots this week.

In a few other small cities in Maryland, all residents are allowed to participate in local elections, regardless of citizenship status. Chicago allows non-citizens to vote in school board elections and New York City is considering a proposal to give voting rights to legal immigrants. New York City allowed non-citizens to vote in school board elections for more than three decades, until 2003…

“One illegal immigrant voting is one too many,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that advocates stronger immigration controls.

Krikorian said that granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants would increase the instances of voter fraud, because of a 1993 law known as “Motor Voter,” which allows people to register to vote when they get their driver’s licenses.

Rep. Brian Bilbray, a California Republican who chairs the House Immigration Reform Caucus, testified before Congress earlier this year that the potential for non-citizens voting is a growing concern, especially when you “consider the relaxed registration requirements and a lax screening process at the time of voting.”

“There is a very real possibility that non-citizens have affected the outcomes of elections in the past and will in the future,” he said.

More here while the AJC link lasts