Ellis Wyatt said:
I don't see anything in there that says they verify it. If a person lies, what is the verification process?
Making them provide info that may or may not be real is not verification. These states refuse to allow known dead people to be purged from their voter rolls.
THIS IS A LONG POST BUT WORTH A READJust so we could all get some clarification, I called the Tarrant County Election office this morning. Here is the process they outlined which applies to all of Texas.
-When a voter registration form is submitted, the county checks it's existing rolls to see it that person already exists. This is helpful for finding multiple applications for the same person to prevent voter fraud
-They also check to make sure that person meet the qualifications like age, criminal record, etc. They have access to a lot state wide databases which they use for that process
-They next send the information from that registration form to the secretary of state who verifies if that person is a U.S. citizen
-When the SOS verifies citizenship status and notifies the county, the voter registration is confirmed, a voter ID card is issued, and that person is added or updated to the county rolls. That person can now vote anywhere in the county
But just for fun, I also made a few calls in Wisconsin because I was equally curious. When I called Kenosha County Clerk office I found out that voter registration is actually handled by the city clerk which I found interesting. Here is their process
-A voter registration form is submitted to the city clerk.
-Clerk does similar checks for eligibility, age, location criminal record, etc.
-The city clerk then checks the info against two databases, the DMV and Voter Database.
-in Wisconsin, you must show proof of citizenship to obtain a REAL ID drivers license. So this is typically the easiest way for the city clerk to verify citizenship
-If a person does not have a REAL ID DL, they can apply for a free voter photo ID card. To obtain the Voter Photo ID card they must show proof of citizenship via a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization certificate. The Voter Photo ID list is also maintained by the DMV
-once those checks have cleared, the voter registration is validated.
-Because Wisconsin allows same day registration, that process is done at the polls. This is pretty easy if they have a REAL ID because that info can be checked immediately at the polling location (they also need proof of residence. If there is any doubt or it is not immediately confirmed, that voter must cast a provisional ballot and return with their valid proof by 4pm on the following Friday.
-the other thing that is a little different is that Wisconsin does not have open polling. You must vote at your assigned polling location. If your address changes within 28 days of an election, you must vote at your previously assigned polling location. Given that city clerks are the ones that handle the voter rolls I think this is what makes the process possible. It would be too difficult to try and coordinate information across all the different cities.
Anyways, I did all of this to hopefully shed some light on the voting process. There is a lot of misinformation around it and part of that falls on election officials and part on the public. They don't have a huge budget to educate the public about the process. On the other hand, the public hasn't really been interested in the process until the last few years. Its something both groups need to work on.
But like I said before, you can always call your local office for help. They are full of hard working people that are happy to help.
Special thanks to Stephanie in the Tarrant County Election office and Laura in the Kenosha, WI city clerk office
