OK, forget what I said about HB626. The new version isn't any better.
Instead of spending $220 for fresh copies of naturalization papers, the bill would now simply make the Secretary of State vet birth certificates and naturalization papers when cross-checking voter registration applications with social security and drivers license records.[...]
Whether Anchia, Gallego, and Hochberg sign off on it or not wouldn't change the fact that if the Secretary of State can't find the naturalization papers, then s/he wouldn't approve the registration, hence the application is dropped.
I'm not sure that the individual counties could do a better job than S.O.S.
I would prefer that the state back off this legislation entirely for now, and develop an electronic system for citizenship verification that involves the U.S. Government.
Such a system would require that registrants provide name, DOB, place of birth, and last 4 of SSN. Burden of proof would be on the state to show reason why the voter should be denied.
There is a smarter way to handle this using information technology. This must NOT present any obstacles to voting by any citizen in any demographic group.
Posted by: WhosPlayin on April 30, 2007 8:56 PM