Consequences of committing voter fraud
During last Saturday’s radio show, the subject was my recent article about a new law in Massachusetts granting driver’s licenses for undocumented individuals and I delved into the issue of non-citizens of the United States being registered to vote. The city of New York has been battling about the possibility of giving the right to vote not only to non-citizens who may be legally in the country, but to undocumented people, as well. The rationale is that they live in the city and pay taxes so they should be entitled to vote.
In 2020, the Massachusetts Legislature approved that all applicants for a driver’s license also be automatically registered as voters unless they “opt-out” by “checking the box” to stop the automatic provision. The Act that was approved last February 15th, has removed the automatic provision for new licenses, effective on July 1, 2023, and will prohibit the licenses to be used as voter identification at the polls.
There is the possibility that many of those license holders had no idea they were registered as voters by the social workers at the welfare office or even the officers at the Registry of Motor Vehicles. But there is also the chance that others found out they were listed as voters in their city or town and decided to do what they considered their duty.
Whether the vote cast by a non-citizen was due to ignorance or clear intent to cheat, the law is the same. The internet is full of examples of people who have been deported for having done so.
When I bring any information through Rumbo or on the radio, it’s as a result of my research and it has been demonstrated how common it is. There’s a heart-wrenching article about the single mother of three girls deported ten years ago and she hasn’t seen two of her daughters who were left behind because they were born here.
As I said, some people vote because they see others do it and being on the voter’s list think it’s OK. There are other cases in which people who know how the system works, go and vote they will not be asked for identification beyond something showing an address.
I wanted to list some articles on deportation cases that I found but instead, I’ll make it another educational piece for everyone. Anybody interested can google it.
What the law says
There’s a page from HG Legal Resources Inc on Immigrant Consequences of Committing Voter Fraud that has lots of details about what not to do. Here are some excerpts:
“When individuals that possess no citizenship in the country partake in voting events, this could skew the results for officials attempting to take office. While the registration system for voting does possess vulnerabilities to these actions, there are strict consequences of immigrants that alter the outcome of elections.”
In cities such as our Merrimack Valley, “Part of the problem with elections when counting inhabitants in a district is that some of these individuals are not citizens of the United States. Some are illegal immigrants, and others are those that have legal residency but have not sought citizenship within the country yet. Even if none of them attempt to vote, this still affects the outcome based on statistics and numbers. The capacity for elections to face voting fraud is serious when mass immigration affects the specific areas where these elections take place. It is important to know what causes these issues and how the consequences may play a role in determining if voter fraud occurs.”
We just had a redistribution of districts as a result of population increase and many new residents have ended up on the voting rolls due to the old system of getting registered at the time of applying for a driver’s license.
Being on the voters’ list is not illegal; the problem is if you vote, even if you think you were doing the right thing. You are supposed to know the law or ask someone for advice. If you don’t want to run into trouble in the future, make sure that your name is deleted from the rolls. Someone else could come claiming to be you (which happen) and you will end up being accused.
Removing names from the list has been a problem for a long time unless the individual goes personally to get it done. The former Lawrence City Clerk Bill Maloney said publicly many times, that the Secretary of State won’t allow him to clean up the voter list.
The time has come to search for the names of those “inactive” voters and remove them if they have not voted in more than two consecutive elections. If they come to vote someday, there’s a system to allow for that vote and his or her name will be added.
Among the penalties faced for illegally voting, according to HG Legal Resources are: “Other than fines and possible time behind state or federal prison bars, the noncitizen could face deportation. If he or she is an illegal immigrant, the authorities may seize the individual and ensure he or she is taken to his or her home country immediately. If the person is in the United States legally, he or she may still face deportation as a penalty for committing voter fraud actions. Rigging any election whether on a local, city, state or federal level is a crime, and the person usually will face serious consequences. It is illegal for any noncitizen to take part in voting, and this could negatively adjust the numbers for any elected official.”
They also offer one last piece of advice, “Some individuals face criminal charges for voter fraud when they are innocent. It is important to hire a lawyer to protect the rights of the person in these situations. Many instances of supposed voter fraud are inaccurate, and the target did not commit any crime.”
Always learning…
We always hear that the members of the Supreme Court are appointed for life but, I just learned this week that they can be impeached. I’m not advocating starting a movement to get rid of any of them but it’s refreshing knowing that there’s a possibility to straighten things out should they go rogue.
The Constitution states that Justices “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour.” This means that the Justices hold office as long as they choose and can only be removed from office by impeachment.
Has a Justice ever been impeached? Fifteen federal judges have been impeached. Of those fifteen: eight were convicted by the Senate, four were acquitted by the Senate, and three resigned before an outcome at trial. The only Justice to be impeached was Associate Justice Samuel Chase in 1805, charged with arbitrary and oppressive conduct of trials. He was later acquitted by the United States Senate and served until his death in 1811.
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