Illegal Votes

            The Democrats claim that there are no illegal votes. They especially do not want anyone thinking that people who enter the United States illegally would also vote illegally. Well, another report has surfaced that confirms illegally voting by noncitizen immigrants. This news illustrates the inability of the state to maintain correct election rolls.

            Will Racke at The Daily Signal recently reported that Pennsylvania is does not have clean voter rolls and has not had them for several years.

Jonathan Marks, commissioner for Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation, told a state legislative committee that an agency analysis found 544 improper ballots cast from 2000 through 2017.

The election commission says those ballots were cast by noncitizen immigrants who claim they had mistakenly registered to vote, reports the Associated Press. In response to questions from Republican lawmakers, the commission said it was investigating if other noncitizen immigrants remain registered to vote.

The hearing comes two weeks after former Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes abruptly resigned amid disclosures that legal resident noncitizens were able to register to vote while applying for or renewing drivers licenses. After inquiries from Republican state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, the Pennsylvania State Department said it had records of 1,160 canceled voter registrations listing ineligibility as a reason and had put the issue under review.

            Just for fun, let’s suppose there are 544 “improper” ballots cast in every state. That would be 50 times 544, which totals 27,200. The total is not a big factor when compared to millions of ballots, but it does show that there is a problem. Does each state have more or fewer than 544 illegally-cast ballots? That is a good question that deserves a fair and accurate answer.

            Another good question is, “What were “they” thinking when they offer voter registration to everyone who applies for or renews a driver’s license? The right to vote is a privilege and an opportunity that should be kept safe and secure, not handed out to anyone who wants it. Republicans have been voicing concern for years about the possibility of noncitizens and illegal immigrants affecting elections. Donald Trump claims that “millions” of illegal votes were cast and created an election integrity commission to investigate any vulnerability in the system.

The commission sent letters to all 50 states in July 2017, asking for specific information such as, names, birth dates, partial social security numbers, and voting history. Racke also reports:

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, declined to provide some of the information, citing privacy issues and “grave concerns your request is a mere pretense for pursuing restrictions on the fundamental right of citizens to vote.”

            Voting is fundamental right of citizens – not non-citizens, whether here legally or illegally. States should revisit their decision to make voter registration so accessible to people who should not be applying for it. States should also do whatever is necessary to clean up their voter rolls to insure that only eligible voters are registered to vote.