Obomination: Locking Up Database Crucial to Prosecuting Vote Fraud

If the Obama administration doesn’t want states in, they will lock the door and throw away the key. That’s exactly what Obama’s Department of Homeland Security did and continues to do to a number of states seeking to find accurate information about citizenship status in order to prosecute vote fraud crimes.

At issue is the SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) database, which contains the best up-to-date information about who is a citizen and who is not in order to accurately prosecute noncitizen voters.  The law requires that states who request such information to update voter registration records should be provided with the information.  In an administrative regulation, among the permissible uses of the SAVE database includes “any legal purpose such as… voter registration.” 75 Fed. Reg. 58525, 58527 (Sept. 21, 2011).  Furthermore, Congress passed a law that states “DHS shall respond to an inquiry by a State… seeking to verify or ascertain the citizenship status of any individual… for any purpose authorized by law, by providing the requested verification or status information.”  7 U.S.C.  § 1373(d).

In testimony last month before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz said, “Although federal law explicitly grants states the right to access the citizenship information contained in the SAVE database, Iowa has yet to gain this access despite the fact that other states have successfully done so. There have been multiple delays in communications attributable to that agency.”

Iowa is not the only state that is frustrated with the Department of Homeland Security’s lack of cooperation.  Colorado and Florida have also sought access to the SAVE database, but faced similar stonewalling.  Chief state election officials in Ohio, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Michigan, Georgia, Arkansas, Washington and Alaska also share the interest in gaining access to this information from the federal government.

Giving states access to the SAVE database is key to prosecuting noncitizen vote fraud.  Unfortunately, the Obama administration wants to lock that information away and ignore the reality of vote fraud.

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