More Non-Citizens May Be Registered to Vote in Pennsylvania Than Initial Reports Indicated

The latest from the non-citizen voter registration problems in Pennsylvania is that the problem could be much larger than initially thought.  Back in September, Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt reported that 220 non-citizens registered to vote in Philadelphia through a "glitch" at the DMV that allowed persons to register to vote after they had proven that they were non-citizens.  41% had voted at least once.

Then in October, Pennsylvania's Democratic Secretary of State, Pedro Cortes, resigned abruptly and with no explanation.  No official explanation has been given to date, though it was revealed in November that Democratic Governor Tom Wolf forced the resignation, but rumors abound that the resignation was related to the non-citizen registration debacle.

But now it appears after some initial investigation that the problem is greater than the early estimates:

Philadelphia election Commissioner Al Schmidt told state lawmakers this past week that there may be tens of thousands of non-US citizens who have registered to vote in Pennsylvania…and that for their sake, state officials should try to contact them. 

Commissioner Al Schmidt told a Senate committee that many of the non-US citizens who registered to vote in Philadelphia, perhaps unwittingly, did so through a glitch in the state’s motor voter system. While the known cases number only several hundred, he says they are all self-reported. Schmidt says more than 100,000 PA driver’s license numbers with Immigration and Naturalization Service indicators match with voter registration records. . . . "We’re not talking about an insignificant number here,” said Schmidt. “We’re talking about a potentially very significant number of thousands and tens of thousands.”

While not all of these license number hits are non-citizens registered to vote, certainly a significant number are.  As Commissioner Schmidt points out, the victims of non-citizen voter registration and voting are not only the citizens whose votes are cancelled out but the non-citizens themselves, as voter registration as a non-citizen can hinder any future naturalization process:

Schmidt says those people should be contacted. Besides the issue of election integrity, he says registering to vote – even unintentionally – will derail an immigrant’s path to US citizenship.

We will continue to follow this story and investigation.  It demonstrates the immense importance of proper election procedures and testing of election systems to ensure that there are no "glitches," whether technical or substantive, that threaten the integrity of voter registration or elections.

Why Did Pennsylvania's Chief Election Officer Resign? Still Seeking Answers...

Just over seven weeks ago, the Democrat Secretary of the Commonwealth for Pennsylvania, Pedro Cortes, abruptly and shockingly resigned from his post after just over two years. His resignation followed a government finding that non-citizens had registered to vote and many did in fact vote in past elections due to a "glitch" in the commonwealth's motor-voter software.

Since this time, Democratic Governor Tom Wolf and his office have not offered any explanation as to the circumstances of Secretary Cortes's resignation--which has only exacerbated the mystery and intrigue surrounding this story.

Earlier this week, Lowman Henry, the CEO of Pennsylvania's conservative-leaning The Lincoln Institute, authored a column on Secretary Cortes's abrupt resignation and the lack of transparency of the whole situation, which was published in a number of local Pennsylvania newspapers.

Mr. Henry's article explains that the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has started an official inquiry to see how non-citizen could register to vote and actually cast ballots in Pennsylvania elections, but quickly has become intertwined with Secretary Cortes's resignation. Mr. Henry writes:

[ ] State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, who chairs the State Government Committee, asked the Pennsylvania Department of State — the agency that oversees elections — if there was a procedure in place to cross-check the state’s voter registration rolls with driver licenses issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Foreign nationals can legally obtain a driver’s license, but their status as a non-citizen is so noted in the application process. To date the Department of State has refused to answer the committee’s questions and has not verified whether or not such cross-checking has occurred. Metcalfe further pointed out that there is no procedure in place for verifying U.S. citizenship in the voter registration process. Thus there is no way of actually knowing how many illegal voters are on the rolls. 

Adding to the intrigue was the abrupt and unexpected resignation of Pedro Cortez [sic]. Cortez served as Secretary of the Department of State, a position he held in both the [Gov.] Rendell and Wolf administrations. Cortez’s resignation came days after media reports spotlighting the foreign national problem. In what Metcalfe termed “suspicious timing,” Cortez was gone. Gov. Wolf, who pledged a greater level of government transparency in his administration, has added a few stones to the wall by refusing to disclose exactly why Cortez resigned. Right-to-Know requests filed by media organizations seem to indicate the Cortez resignation was not voluntary. . . It is true cabinet secretaries serve at the pleasure of the governor. But, they must also be confirmed by the state Senate and, especially when dealing with election integrity, have a further obligation to be transparent with the public. . . .

Mr. Henry continues by noting Governor Wolf and Pennsylvania Democrats' track record on election integrity efforts, or lack thereof:

Gov. Wolf has already opposed such election integrity safeguards as requiring voters to produce a photo ID when they arrive at their polling place. Wolf and Democrats in general[ ] claim photo ID is a GOP plot to discourage voter turnout. This though photo IDs are universally available, and needed even to buy cough medicine at the corner drug store.  

So the governor and his administration have a history of failing to take prudent steps to ensure the integrity of the state’s election system. … The State Government Committee lacks subpoena power to force information from the Department of State, but the House should take whatever action is needed to compel testimony. Lawmakers are elected by We the People to represent us and appointed bureaucrats should not be allowed to refuse to answer whatever questions they might have.

Lowman Henry concludes by calling on Pennsylvania Governor Wolf to provide "a full and complete explanation for the departure of Secretary Cortez." And further states that something just seems off with the whole situation and it feels like there is an attempt to hid it from the public.

The RNLA agrees. We believe the full story surrounding Secretary Cortes's ousting should be made public. Also, the public should be made aware of the full extent of these non-citizens voting in the critical swing state of Pennslyvania. We will continue to follow and highlight any developments that arise. 

After Non-Citizen Voter Registration Scandal, PA SOS Resigns Abruptly

In a surprise move, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes resigned late Wednesday.  The reasons for his resignation are mysterious, but many speculate that the registration of non-citizens through the "motor voter" system is to blame:

Cortes’ departure was announced in a 349-word “personnel update” emailed from Gov. Wolf’s office that offered no reason and focused almost entirely on his replacement, interim Secretary of State Robert Torres. . . . J.J. Abbott, a spokesman for Wolf, said he could not offer an explanation for Cortes’ departure. 

As secretary of state, Cortes served as the state’s top election official. His departure comes a week after State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, chairman of the House State Government Committee, and 15 of his colleagues sent Cortes a letter “to express our dire concerns” about the disclosure three weeks ago that legal resident noncitizens in Pennsylvania had been offered the chance to register to vote while applying for or renewing drivers’ licenses at PennDot service centers. . . .

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for non-citizens to be placed on the voter registration rolls through the "motor voter" program, an NVRA requirement that requires the DMV (or similar agency) to offer the opportunity to register to vote.  What is striking in Pennsylvania is that the problem derived from the structure of the DMV process, and large numbers of the registered non-citizens had voted:

The Department of State then said it had records of 1,160 canceled voter registrations listing ineligibility as a reason and said the issue was under review. . . . [Philadelphia City Commissioner Al] Schmidt said his staff traced the problem for 168 of the 220 documented cases to PennDot centers, where they produced immigration documents  to show they were in this country legally and eligible for a driver’s license. 

Later in the process, the applicants were asked to check a box on an electronic kiosk if they also wanted to register to vote. . . . The Department of State last month said it started changing the order of questions on the PennDot kiosks in August 2016 to address the problem.

While it is commendable that Pennsylvania has finally taken steps to resolve what Gov. Wolf's office calls a "glitch," it is remarkable that a system that allowed people to register to vote after they had proven their ineligibility lasted for so many years. 

This may just be the tip of the iceberg.  The cases that have been reported and investigated are from people who requested to be removed from the voter rolls due to ineligibility.  There may be many more non-citizens who were registered through the "motor voter" process who remain on the rolls and are still voting.

And two days later, the mystery surrounding Secretary Cortes' resignation remains, leaving us to wonder what more will come out about non-citizen registration and voting in Pennsylvania in the coming weeks.

Brennan Center Spreads Fake News; Noncitizens Are Actually Voting

The Brennan Center for Justice (BCJ) has recently been fond of tweeting over and over:

BCJ report found total of 30 cases of possible noncitizen voting—that’s 30, not 300, 3,000, 30,000, 300,000, or 3M

Turns out their numbers are an absurdly low estimate . . .  even in just one city.  Today, Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt released the following statement:

My office has identified 220 non-U.S. citizens who were registered to vote in Philadelphia at some point between 2006 and 2017. Of the 220 non-U.S. citizen registrants, 90 (41%) voted in at least one election. Of those who voted, 44 (49%) voted on one occasion, while 46 (51%) voted in two to twelve elections in the period in which they were registered. The total number of votes cast by non-U.S. citizens we identified is 227, with the largest number of votes (47) cast in the 2008 General Election. All 220 non-U.S. citizens provided documentation (e.g., signed affidavit or letter from the registrant or their immigration attorney) canceling their voter registration status on the grounds that they were not U.S. citizens and, therefore, were not eligible to register to vote.

Commissioner Schmidt traces the illegal votes to problems with Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).  Despite having a citizenship verification procedure, PennDOT still managed to register these non-citizens (emphasis added):

The overwhelming majority (76%) of non-U.S. citizens who registered to vote either initially registered to vote through PennDOT or modified their voter registration record through PennDOT. When non-U.S. citizens apply for a driver’s license, they are required to provide stay documents to show their legal status to remain in the U.S. for at least one year.  PennDOT verifies these immigration documents electronically with the Department of Homeland Security and the applicant’s driver’s license record is marked using an INS Indicator. Nevertheless, following this interaction, non-U.S. citizen applicants – just the same as U.S. citizen applicants – are asked if they would like to register to vote using touch screen technology when driver’s licenses are issued to applicants at PennDOT offices. In addition to the possible challenge of limited English proficiency, it is also possible that – after just providing proof of their status as non-U.S. citizens – applicants believe they are eligible to vote.

“The current voter registration process at PennDOT is both harmful to election integrity and to members of the immigrant community seeking citizenship,” Schmidt said.

The last statement is important as it shows the problems with voter registration systems run through DMV.  The DMV was asking them to register to vote AFTER they had established they were not a citizen.  While the left is pushing for a much broader role for the DMV with systems such as "mandatory (or automatic) voter registration" that also serve to disenfranchise primary voters, these systems may be endangering non-citizens' immigration status.  After all, why would you ask this question after you know I am not a citizen.  

Liberal groups like the Brennan Center should stop denying that non-citizens vote and join with others that are working on fixing these problems both for election integrity and the benefit of legal immigrants seeking to become citizens.