Comments on: Paper Trails Held Hostage http://iowavoters.org/2006/03/09/paper-trails-held-hostage/ for Open and Transparent Elections Fri, 18 May 2012 14:38:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0 by: Brian http://iowavoters.org/2006/03/09/paper-trails-held-hostage/#comment-27 Mon, 13 Mar 2006 01:51:16 +0000 http://iowavoters.org/2006/03/09/paper-trails-held-hostage/#comment-27 I very much doubt that any non-citizens are trying to vote in elections. When I worked on a campaign in Colorado we did a lot of outreach to U.S. citizens in the Latino community. Many of them had not voted since getting their citizenship. Besides the fact that politicians don't typically engage this community, they were also worried that voting would draw attention to them (and their sometimes non-legal resident friends and family members). This was exacerbated by Colorado’s photo ID law. There was a fear that showing up to vote while being Latino and then showing an ID that indicated their address might result in a visit to their house by immigration authorities. It was perceived safest to just stay at home. And these were legal citizens with full voting rights! Of course it didn’t help matters when the county sheriff decided it would be a good idea to station officers at voting locations near the end of the voting day to make sure that no one tried to vote after the polls closed. If legal citizens are afraid to vote, I find it difficult to believe that any illegal residents would try to vote. I very much doubt that any non-citizens are trying to vote in elections. When I worked on a campaign in Colorado we did a lot of outreach to U.S. citizens in the Latino community. Many of them had not voted since getting their citizenship. Besides the fact that politicians don’t typically engage this community, they were also worried that voting would draw attention to them (and their sometimes non-legal resident friends and family members). This was exacerbated by Colorado’s photo ID law. There was a fear that showing up to vote while being Latino and then showing an ID that indicated their address might result in a visit to their house by immigration authorities. It was perceived safest to just stay at home. And these were legal citizens with full voting rights!

Of course it didn’t help matters when the county sheriff decided it would be a good idea to station officers at voting locations near the end of the voting day to make sure that no one tried to vote after the polls closed.

If legal citizens are afraid to vote, I find it difficult to believe that any illegal residents would try to vote.

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