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S.E. Wood It ain't necessarily so Being the cynic that I am, I fell for the
generally accepted perception that the recently passed legislation
(S-1266), permitting non-citizens (I believe the politically
correct designation is "non-documented guest workers")
to obtain driver's licenses would also permit them to vote. Well
it ain't necessarily so ... but it is possible. Why do you imagine such a bill was passed,
anyhow? Do our non-voting guest workers have that kind of influence
in the state House? Not likely. In all probability, it was pushed
through by the employers of these guest workers so they would
not have to provide transportation to and from the workplace.
So how does that relate to voting? I checked
it out. Both with the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and the
county election commission offices. Here's the story. Anyone seeking a driver license completes
an application for Tennessee driver license. There is a space
on the form for submitting a Social Security number, but it is
no longer required. There is also a space where the applicant
may indicate with a "yes" or "no" the desire
to register to vote. But the form then states in red letters, "Simply
marking 'yes' on this application does not update your voter
registration files. You must fill out the form." The additional form referenced is the standard
mail-in application for voter registration, available at the
DMV office, or most anywhere else. This mail-in application for voter registration
does require a Social Security number. Once submitted, the form
is forwarded to the local county election commission office for
processing. If there is no Social Security number, the application
is refused. But here comes the bureaucratic rub: The DMV
has access to the federal Social Security database and can determine
if an driver license applicant's Social Security number is valid.
But they don't generally check it out because a valid Social
Security number is not required for their purpose. A valid Social
Security number is required on the voter registration application,
but the county election commission office does not have access
to the Social Security database. So the government agency with no need to verify
a Social Security number can do so, while the government agency
with the need to verify a Social Security number cannot! The
voter applicant is free to fill in whatever Social Security number
he chooses, and it will sail right on through. Fortunately, I suspect that most non-documented guest workers aren't really all that interested in exercising their newly acquired constitutional privilege, anyhow. But since there is no Social Security number verification possible at the election commission offices, an enterprising politician could flood the polling places with these guest workers and greatly influence the outcome of an election. · · · |