with I-03-2004
A citizens' initiative to require proof of citizenship to register to vote, photo
ID to vote, and proof of eligibility for non-federally mandated public benefits
| |
PROTECT
ARIZONA NOW with I-03-2004 A citizens' initiative to require proof of citizenship to register to vote, photo ID to vote, and proof of eligibility for non-federally mandated public benefits |
| Home
About Us Background Info Contact Us Donate Supporter Service Directory Events Gov't Contacts The Initiative News Articles Volunteer What's Hot National Advisory Board Paid for by the Protect Arizona NOW with I-03-2004 committee. |
Overview Did You Know?
Fraud-related facts I. Ease of fraud. In Arizona, a person can register to vote by mail or over the internet, have a ballot mailed to them, and then vote by mail. They not only never have to provide proof of eligibility to vote (i.e. citizenship) or proof that they're who they say they are, they never even have to show their face to anyone. A radio talk show host recently told on the air how his minor children played a joke on him and registered to vote during one of his voter registration drives and despite being under the age of 10, all three were registered to vote. A caller said he had registered his dog to vote over the internet, that the dog got a voter registration card, but then the caller was afraid to take it public out of fear he would be arrested for a felony for illegally registering his dog to vote. Dead people have been known to vote here years after their death. II. Existence of fraud When Governor Napolitano vetoed the voter I.D. bill several weeks ago (see (2) below), she said she knew of no instance of voter fraud in this state. Yet two years ago a candidate for office and her campaign manager were arrested for fraudulently voting for years before they became citizens - it was big news. The former governor (Hull) once reported that when she passed out voter registration forms at the largest citizenship swearing-in ceremony in Arizona, that half the people returned their forms saying they were already voting. County election officials have told us they have cleaned hundreds and thousands of deceased people off their rolls, after finding they had "voted" for years after their death. The prior Secretary of State said when she was running for office back in 1998, there were 500,000 unverified names on the voter rolls at that time. She got elected and took off 65,000 dead people and felons - but what about the other 435,000, many of whom are no doubt illegals? The current secretary of state ran on a platform to clean up the voter rolls, including illegals, but she has not removed even one off the rolls in 7 months. Could Governor Napolitano be so naive as not to know of a single incidence of voter fraud in Arizona? Frequently asked Questions Question: Do states have the authority to enforce immigration laws? YES, although that's not what our initiative does. HR-3734, the Welfare Reform Act signed into law on 8/22/96 includes a provision authored by Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Del Mar) to prohibit illegal aliens from receiving federal benefits. The amendment further establishes as federal policy that illegal aliens do not qualify for state benefit programs unless state government has taken specific action to permit illegal aliens to qualify for benefits. (See www.dreier.house.gov//task1.htm for more information). What our initiative does do is simply require proof of eligibility for laws already on the books, in three areas: (1) Proof of citizenship shall be required to register to vote. Since the U.S. Constitution has established that only citizens can vote, the initiative just requires everyone equally to prove that eligibility. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires states to strengthen the integrity of their voter rolls, as does Title 7, Section 12 of the Arizona Constitution, which states: "There shall be enacted registration and other laws to secure the purity of elections and guard against abuses of the elective franchise." Since Governor Napolitano has shown her intention to veto any legislation that fulfills this portion of the Arizona Constitution, the citizens of this state can and will have our constitution enforced. This is a state matter, covered by the Arizona Constitution, not a federal matter. (2) A photo I.D. shall be required when voting. This is not a national I.D. card, as some opponents fabricate, but the same photo I.D. required to cash a check, apply for welfare, sign a lease, go to the Phoenix city dump, or for goodness sake, even get a video rental card at Blockbuster. When Governor Napolitano vetoed (at the National Conference of Latino Elected Officials) the photo I.D. bill passed by the legislature this past spring, she stated she was vetoing it because it would "discourage poor people from voting." Is she suggesting that poor people don't have I.D.s to cash checks or apply for welfare? She also stated it was illegal. Since she was Attorney General before she was Governor (an election which she won by a mere 13,000 votes - where could those votes have come from?), you would think she knew that 11 states already have laws requiring I.D. when voting - some on the books for decades. So where does she conclude that I.D. requirements are illegal? Perhaps she thinks voting isn't as precious a right in our country as going to the city dump or having a Blockbuster card. (3) Proof of eligibility to receive non-federally mandated public benefits. Again, the eligibility requirements are already on the books - the initiative would simply require everyone to provide proof of that eligibility equally. The Urban Institute studied this extensively back in 1994 and the University of Arizona studied it in 2001. Costs of non-federal mandated public benefits are in the tens of millions of dollars. Estimates of people fraudulently on AHCCCS (Arizona's Medicaid) are as high as 50%. Since the AHCCCS application states in large bold letters a guarantee that citizenship and residency information will not be turned over to INS/ICE, the system clearly has been set up for fraud. Arizona has a $1 BILLION deficit, and many legislators believe that's about the amount this state spends on illegal aliens. What our initiative is saying is that the citizens of this state cannot and will not pay for benefit fraud any more - and if people try to defraud our system, agencies will cooperate with each other and with federal agencies to investigate and prosecute such fraud - just like they are already required to do under A.R.S. 46-140 when they discover fraud attempts by citizens! Question: Some say the initiative is inconsistent with the Voting Rights Act, and that the initiative may lead to selective enforcement, where only Latino-looking individuals will be asked to prove their citizenship. Is this correct? NO, that is NOT correct. The initiative does not establish any new eligibilities, and it applies equally to everyone - including the governor and elected officials, so there's no possibility of violating the Voting Rights Act or any of its amendments. Under our initiative, all people currently registered to vote are "grandfathered" in, but upon enactment of the Arizona Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, everyone registering to vote and everyone voting will have to equally meet the same standards for proof of eligibility (i.e., proof of citizenship to register and photo I.D. to vote). The selective enforcement hypothesizers tried this same baseless argument during Congressional hearings on the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which established the use of I-9's. These individuals conjectured that only people of color would be required to have I-9 documentation, which certainly has not been the case. Question: Some say the initiative is divisive and will cause social workers to identify and report illegal aliens, a task they are not trained for. Is this true? Actually, current and former welfare workers tell elected officials all the time how frustrating it is to learn people are illegal aliens while being forbidden by State policies from reporting that fact. Yet when it comes to citizens, the law is quite clear: workers are required by A.R.S. 46-140 to report attempted fraud by citizens. Bank tellers are trained to recognize counterfeit money - and no one says they have to be FBI agents. Security guards at Wal-Mart are trained to recognize suspicious behavior - and no one says they have to be Ph.D. psychologists. Real estate appraisers are trained to pick out construction defects - and no one says they have to be licensed architects. Social workers are usually able to identify illegal aliens and various types of benefit fraud, so any additional required training would be minimal. When our initiative is passed and enacted, a change in policy will result that will enforce laws already on the books. This initiative does not create some super-class of employees or require an expensive training program. As the initiative's name says, it seeks to protect Arizona taxpayers and citizens. The only divisiveness that might result from our initiative might be between those for whom laws matter and those for whom laws don't matter; between those who believe laws should be enforced and those who believe they should be able to choose which laws are enforced and which ones are ignored or outright violated; between those who believe fraud is a crime which should be investigated and prosecuted, and those who are pro-fraud; and lastly, between those who believe citizenship and the precious rights of citizens are not something people illegally crossing our borders by the millions are entitled to just because they got past the Border Patrol. |
| Home Contact us |