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VOTING COULD RESULT IN A LIFETIME BAN
By Michael J. Gurfinkel, Esq.
With the upcoming presidential election in November, many civic-minded people
are anxious to vote for the candidate of their choice. Of course,
the right to vote is one of our most sacred freedoms, and is the time
when every person’s voice can be heard.
However, only U.S. citizens can vote. If a non-citizen votes in a federal
election, it can, in most cases, result in a lifetime ban. As
the law states: “Any alien who has voted in violation of any Federal,
State, or local constitutional provision, statute, ordinance, or regulation
is inadmissible.”
I know that sometimes, it could be very easy for a non-citizen (i.e. a
green card holder, non-immigrant, etc.) to think that it is somehow
“OK” to register and vote. For example, many times when a
person leaves a supermarket, there are people with clipboards, asking
them if they want to register to vote. They are asked a few simple
questions, they sign the form and the next thing they know, they receive
a sample ballot and the address of their polling place to vote.
A non-citizen could also inadvertently register to vote when renewing
his or her driver’s license, as the renewal form has a section asking
if a person wishes to register to vote.
Just because somebody outside a supermarket may register you to vote does
not make it “legal” for you to vote in a federal election.
And it could come back to haunt you. For example, the application
for naturalization contains the following questions: “Have you ever
registered to vote in any federal, state or local election in the
U.S.? Have you ever voted in any federal, state or local
election in the United States?” Therefore, if you are not a
citizen, and registered to vote, or voted, it could create problems
for you.
While there are some exceptions to this prohibition (i.e. if the alien permanently
resided in the U.S. before his or her 16th birthday and reasonably
believed that they were a citizen, or they can prove that they did not
act “knowingly or willingly,”), still you will make your life a
lot easier if you simply do not register to vote or vote until you are
finally a U.S. citizen.
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