A coalition of 16 state prosecutors standard, led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, has officially requested from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to provide states with important voter registration data, particularly regarding the citizen status of registered voters. The group raised fears about DHS’s inability to coordinate with claims to confirm voter registration information, which they claim is crucial before national elections.
The letter from the alliance, sent on October 15, and reported on by the Center Square, emphasized the need for federal-state participation to ensure that only United people participate in elections. The email states that” Americans may disagree on the best outcome in the upcoming vote, but we rely on benevolence to know that all Americans have the right to vote in American elections by themselves.” Federal law empowers citizens to choose who governs them, and it requires your office to work with the States to coordinate with them to protect the franchise by verifying any authorized voter’s immigration status upon request.
The appeal comes as many states, including Texas, have just removed noncitizens from voting rolls. Authorities in Texas removed 6, 500 noncitizens and are looking into additional potential disqualified voter cases. Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, recently contacted U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS ) to request that the Texas Secretary of State ( SOS ) verify the citizenship status of registered voters. Additionally, Paxton discovered over 454,000 listed electors in Texas whose citizen had never been verified.
The government’s email focused on DHS’s commitment to working with states to verify voter registration information. They cited the company’s refusal to give access to the Person Centric Query Service database, which DHS deemed” certainly appropriate to confirm voter registrants,” as well as the fact that new responses from DHS were delayed and limited. The attorneys general contend that the law requires DHS to provide the necessary information to states to maintain election integrity.
Federal law has been interpreted by the courts as restricting states from requiring proof of citizenship as a prerequisite for registration, according to AG Paxton.” While it is a crime for noncitizens to register to vote, it is a crime for noncitizens,” said AG Paxton. The federal government must follow the law and provide the requested information as quickly as possible to protect the integrity of American elections.
The signatories of the letter include attorneys general from Ohio, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.