What the Motor Voter Bill was intended to do: Nevada Sec. State: DMV Instructed Employees To Register Non-Citizens To Vote

Nevada Sec. State: DMV Instructed Employees To Register Non-Citizens To Vote

Posted By Kerry Picket On 2:36 PM 04/17/2017 

Nevada’s Secretary of State blamed the Department of Motor Vehicles voter registration process for adding people to the state voter rolls who were not U.S. Citizens.

Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske told state DMV director, Terri Albertson in a letter Friday evening about her concerns regarding the registrations.

“It has come to our attention that when offering voter registration opportunities to customers, DMV’s employees offer voter registration materials to DMV customers whom they know to be non-citizens based upon their presentation of a Green Card for identification purposes,” Cegavske wrote.

“More specifically, it is our understanding that some DMV employees have been instructed to accept registration materials from all customers, including those who present a Green Card for identification purposes…This practice must cease immediately. Please take appropriate actions, as we have reason to believe that non-citizens have unlawfully registered to vote in Nevada as a direct result of DMV’s practices. Moreover, we now have confirmed that some non-citizens illegally cast votes in the 2016 election.”

Albertson replied to Cegavske Saturday saying that DMV defends itself by saying that although the DMV serves everyone with voter registration, they work to flag applicants that might not be eligible or did not submit enough information.

Albertson’s response letter to Cegavske read in part: “Your letter comes as a complete surprise as you and your office have reviewed, contributed to, and approved the processes you are expressing concerns about.”

The Public Interest Legal Foundation released a statement on the matter and demanded an end to voter registration procedures based on “an on an honor system and outmoded belief that only U.S. citizens need government services.”

“Our voter registration procedures again demonstrate end-to-end flaws based on an honor system and outmoded belief that only U.S. citizens need government services. In the decades since Clinton signed Motor Voter, noncitizen services and voter registration procedures have become perilously intertwined, inviting accidents and fraud alike. Secretary Cegavkse is right to demand reforms and new protections for lawful Nevada voters.”

In 1993 President Bill Clinton, with the help of the Democratic Congress, passed the Motor Voter Act, which compelled the state government agencies to offer voter registrations to any eligible individual who applies for or renews a driver’s license or submits an application for public assistance.