Lawsuit: 100,000 noncitizens registered to vote in Pennsylvania

Spread the love

Loading

More than 100,000 noncitizens are registered to vote in Pennsylvania alone, according to testimony submitted Monday in a lawsuit demanding the state come clean about the extent of its problems.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation, which has identified similar noncitizen voting problems in studies of Virginia and New Jersey, said Pennsylvania officials have admitted noncitizens have been registering and voting in the state “for decades.”



But state officials have stonewalled PILF requests for access to the data that could expose the problem, the group says in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Harrisburg.

“For months, Pennsylvania bureaucrats have concealed facts about noncitizens registering and voting — that ends today,” PILF President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams said.

He said Pennsylvania had already admitted to a “glitch” dating back to the 1990s that had allowed noncitizens applying to renew driver’s licenses to be offered the chance to register to vote. Mr. Adams said he now wants to find out how bad the problem is overall.

Pennsylvania officials wouldn’t respond to the lawsuit, nor to the 100,000 noncitizen number.

“We’re not going to comment on anything related to litigation,” said Wanda Murren, director of communications and press at the Pennsylvania Department of State.

The 100,000 number cited in the lawsuit comes from testimony given by Philadelphia Commissioner Al Schmidt, who revealed the glitch in the state motor vehicle bureau’s systems that prompted noncitizens to register to vote.

The PILF did manage to obtain some records from county officials and filed some of their findings in the new court case.

One man, Felipe Rojas-Orta, canceled his registration last year, filing a handwritten note saying he was not a citizen. He had, however, registered as a Democrat and voted in three separate elections, including most recently 2016, the year of the presidential race.

Read more

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of

29 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Only American Born Citizens or those living in America leagaly should be allowed to vote. This would ruin the Democrats

If they registered, they voted. Probably more than once. The left loves them some voter fraud and, despite this, will STILL ardently oppose voter ID. Combine this with their crooked redistricting and you can tell Democrats are really worried about holding onto Pennsylvania.

@Bill… Deplorable Me: A legal non-citizen having a drivers license doesnt bother me there should be a clear difference visible indicator on the license so they cannot cast a vote, a valid drivers license is a legal form of ID to vote.

@Bill… Deplorable Me, #2:

If they registered, they voted. Probably more than once.

And how do you know this? Has evidence turned up that any of the people erroneously registered in Pennsylvania actually cast a vote?

As the less slanted report of the computer glitch linked below points out, the hundreds confirmed to have been erroneously registered self-reported the error. They didn’t hurry off to the polls to commit voter fraud.

Schmidt: Could Be ‘Tens Of Thousands’ Of Non-Citizens Who Registered To Vote In Pennsylvania

There’s also this local report:

Seven questions for City Commissioner Al Schmidt about his voting-irregularities report

NewsWorks sat down with Al Schmidt, the Republican City Commissioner and East Falls resident, last week to discuss his controversial “Voting Irregularities in Philadelphia County, 2012 Primary Election” report (PDF).

At the Trolley Car Café just off of Kelly Drive, Schmidt described a process which, starting shortly after he was sworn in, expressly did not seek to find citywide figures of voter-fraud occurrences. Rather, he said, the aim was to find ways in which voter fraud could be committed.

Why expressly not try to find the actual numbers involved?

@Greg:

And how do you know this? Has evidence turned up that any of the people erroneously registered in Pennsylvania actually cast a vote?

Well, as you like to argue it, prove they didn’t. Isn’t that how it works? Make an accusation then it is up to the accused to PROVE it didn’t happen? Also, based upon your own way of thinking, if there are accusations, that MEANS they are true.

Except, there is one difference here; it HAPPENS. It HAS been proven. Of course you again have argued that the numbers that have been convicted are small, as if every one was caught.

Why are non-citizens even registering? Well, mostly because Democrats encourage them to. Democrats have been caught numerous times registering illegal immigrants and telling them to vote… telling them they won’t get caught (that’s a wonder way to create good citizens).

Why do Democrats cheat, lie and corrupt things so much?

Pur B— S— The 1st President of the 21st century said so! Clearly an American President would not lie! Well maybe he did on WMD – – BUT ONLY THAT 1 TIME!

@Greg:

And how do you know this? Has evidence turned up that any of the people erroneously registered in Pennsylvania actually cast a vote?

Uh…because it said so in the article, you idiot.

One man, Felipe Rojas-Orta, canceled his registration last year, filing a handwritten note saying he was not a citizen. He had, however, registered as a Democrat and voted in three separate elections, including most recently 2016, the year of the presidential race.

@Bill… Deplorable Me, #5:

Well, as you like to argue it, prove they didn’t.

What I’m arguing in this case is that no assumptions should be made and taken as established truth without supporting evidence.

I won’t assert that no one voted who shouldn’t have. I don’t know that for a fact.

What we do know for a fact is that a voter registration problem resulted from a processing error, and that those who were erroneously registered as a result need to be identified removed from the voter rolls. A hundred or more caught the registration error themselves and brought it to the attention of the proper officials.

@Nathan Blue, #7:

Uh…because it said so in the article, you idiot.

No, the article most definitely DOES NOT say that. The article cites a single known case of one man who was erroneously registered and then voted.

Perhaps an idiot might read the article and imagine that’s what it says. Non-idiots tend to have better reading comprehension stills.

He had, however, registered as a Democrat and voted in three separate elections

Hmmm…I wonder why this is considered a non-issue.

I’m fairly certain if there was evidence that any non-citizens had registered and/or voted Republican, the Dem’s would be demanding the voter rolls be purged of any and all non-citizens and calling for the resignations of any officials that allowed it to take place.

January 27, 2018 — Former Colorado GOP chairman sentenced for voter fraud

Evidence, no doubt, of a massive, pro-republican voter fraud campaign conducted by divorced republican diabetics…

Trump dissolved his commission searching for voter fraud. That won’t change Republican support for voter-ID laws.

This week, President Trump quietly disbanded his much-ballyhooed voting commission, originally charged with identifying the “millions” of illegal votes he alleged had been cast for his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton. The effort had not identified any such fraud. Trump charged on Twitter that that was because states’ attorneys general were hiding the evidence.

Sheesh…

Greg #4 And how do you know this? Has evidence turned up that any of the people erroneously registered in Pennsylvania actually cast a vote?

Nathan Blue #7 Uh…because it said so in the article, you idiot.

Greg #9 No, the article most definitely DOES NOT say that.

The article cites a single known case of one man who was erroneously registered and then voted.

Perhaps an idiot might read the article and imagine that’s what it says. Non-idiots tend to have better reading comprehension stills.

Article… He had, however, registered as a Democrat and voted in three separate elections, including most recently 2016, the year of the presidential race.

Sooo…

Greg, you said “ANY” evidence that an erroneously registered non-citizen actually voted – THEN included the evidence that at least one erroneously registered non-citizen had cast votes in three elections in your own response – and STILL think that only an idiot would draw that conclusion from the article?

You’re in the hole, Greg…the best action is to stop digging…

@Jay, #12:

Did you even read post #4 and see the statement I was taking issue with?

If they registered, they voted. Probably more than once.

That’s in reference to some 100,000 people thought to have been erroneously registered as a result of processing problem when they legally applied for Pennsylvania driver’s licenses.

There’s absolutely no evidence supporting the assertion that if they were erroneously registered, they voted, and probably more than once.

Nothing in the article says that, or should lead any reasonably attentive reader to conclude that. It is not an established fact. It is not even a reasonable assumption, since there’s nothing indicating it to be the case.

People were erroneously registered, through no fault of their own. One is known to have voted, apparently not understanding that he wasn’t qualified to do so. He cancelled his registration when he found out that he wasn’t.

@Greg: Do you disagree that they should be removed from the voter registration and further a new license be issued identifying them as guests, not eligible to vote?

Of course they should be removed. And yes, their licenses should clearly indicate that they are not eligible to vote.

@Greg: #13

Did you even read post #4 and see the statement I was taking issue with?

I did.

Did you read YOUR own statement in #4 where YOU said ANY?

From Merriam-Webster…Definition of “any”

1 : one or some indiscriminately of whatever kind:
a : one or another taken at random

2 : one, some, or all indiscriminately of whatever quantity:
a : one or more —used to indicate an undetermined number or amount…without reference to quantity or extent

Ergo, by definition, the fact that there is at least one known instance (which you, yourself referenced) where a non-citizen was erroneously registered AND voted (more than once!) meets your stated standard of ‘any’…

Making Nathan’s statement perfectly accurate.

@Jay, #16:

Indeed. I concede. Score one point for the linguistically fastidious among us, and give yourselves each a gold star.

Getting back to what’s actually relevant about Post #4, does the single example of Felipe Rojas-Orta logically support a conclusion that 100,000 accidentally registered individuals subsequently voted, most likely more than once? Does one individual out of 100,000 tell us anything at all about the entire group?

The answer would be no, it does not.

@Greg:

What I’m arguing in this case is that no assumptions should be made and taken as established truth without supporting evidence.

Oh. You mean like Trump colluding with Russians? Like Trump obstructing justice? Like Trump accosting women? Like Hillary didn’t lie about Benghazi? Like Hillary didn’t traffic classified information on her secret, private, unsecured server? You make nothing BUT make assumptions without any basis in truth.

@Greg:

What we do know for a fact is that a voter registration problem resulted from a processing error, and that those who were erroneously registered as a result need to be identified removed from the voter rolls.

Oh. Really?

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/city/philly-voter-fraud-trump-immigrants-registration-commissioners-penndot-20170920.html

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/09/noncitizen_voting_in_philadelphia_looks_more_feature_than_bug.html

http://6abc.com/politics/action-news-investigation-voting-from-the-grave/1575596/

Hey, remind me again who it is that screams “voter suppression!!” and “voter disenfranchisement!” every time someone starts going through the registrations and purging the dead and ex-residents. Oh, yeah, I remember. YOU.

No, the article most definitely DOES NOT say that. The article cites a single known case of one man who was erroneously registered and then voted.

Oh, so they caught that one gal. Job well done! Problem solved!

People were erroneously registered, through no fault of their own.

How is one “erroneously registered”? Is ID not required when registering? Do non-citizens not KNOW they can’t vote (I know Democrats do all they can to confuse the issue, but ignorance is no defense)? I can’t see “erroneous” from either the registrar or the registered. That is about a weak as Kate Steinle being killed by an “erroneous” discharge of a stolen weapon.

Getting back to Post #4, does the single example of Felipe Rojas-Orta logically support a conclusion that 100,000 accidentally registered individuals subsequently voted, most likely more than once?

Does someone need to find you a definition of “probably” as well? By the way, one doesn’t “accidentally” register to vote.

@Jay:

There’s absolutely no evidence supporting the assertion that if they were erroneously registered, they voted, and probably more than once.

See, Jay, Greg NEVER jumps on an accusation bandwagon and makes politically motivated and expedient accusations. When the accusations involve his own party’s penchant for voter fraud, as exhibited in EVERY modern election, he requires dates, times, names and affidavits. Nothing so thin as “Trump won, so he must have colluded with Russians. Begin impeachment proceedings” will do when Democrat voter fraud is concerned.

@Greg: OH MY #15…that is the FIRST sensible thing you’ve said on this site since….EVER. Are you feeling ok? Really, we’re worried about you,

There are very good reasons why the Trump campaign and administration are the focus of multiple investigations—a fact that seems to be abundantly clear to just about everyone but their followers.

@Greg:

There are very good reasons why the Trump campaign and administration are the focus of multiple investigations

Yeah, because whining and crying doesn’t seem to collect as many votes as it used to.

#17 Indeed. I concede. Score one point for the linguistically fastidious among us, and give yourselves each a gold star.

No gold stars necessary…

However, when someone makes a statement such as:

Greg #9 No, the article most definitely DOES NOT say that…Perhaps an idiot might read the article and imagine that’s what it says. Non-idiots tend to have better reading comprehension stills…

Forgive me if my pedantic tendencies view it as a challenge.

As for the linguistically fastidious among us, at least those with decent memories, I will pass along my gold star from Greg to the first poster to correctly identify the President who said – “It depends upon what your definition of ‘is’ is.”

Which is why some of us actually do pay attention to the words lefties use.

And, FWIW, my reading comprehension stills…errr, skills are just fine.

Getting back to what’s actually relevant about Post #4, does the single example of Felipe Rojas-Orta logically support a conclusion that 100,000 accidentally registered individuals subsequently voted, most likely more than once? Does one individual out of 100,000 tell us anything at all about the entire group?

100,000? No.

Likely more than one?

I’d say the chances are better than the left’s chances of finding any Russian collusion (by anyone other than Democrats).

I’d like to see the level of effort wasted on that applied to identifying (and removing) non-citizens from the voting rolls.

@an ol exJarhead: Actually Jarhead, there were WMDs. He didn’t lie!

To give Greg his due, I did a little more research on just how common voter fraud might be in Pennsylvania.

It was apparently taking place long before Trump Derangement Syndrome was a thing – one might come to the conclusion a certain major political party just can’t stand a fair fight.

Vote-Fraud Ruling Shifts Pennsylvania Senate (Published: February 19, 1994)

Saying Philadelphia’s election system had collapsed under “a massive scheme” by Democrats to steal a State Senate election in November, a Federal judge today took the rare step of invalidating the vote and ordered the seat filled by the Republican candidate.

Judge Newcomer ruled that the Democratic campaign of William G. Stinson had stolen the election…through an elaborate fraud in which hundreds of residents were encouraged to vote by absentee ballot even though they had no legal reason…to do so. In many instances…Democratic campaign workers forged absentee ballots. On many of the ballots, they used the names of people who were living in Puerto Rico or serving time in prison, and in one case, the voter had been dead for some time.

“Substantial evidence was presented establishing massive absentee ballot fraud, deception, intimidation, harassment and forgery,” Judge Newcomer wrote in a decision made public today.

Indeed, the two Democrats on the three-member board of elections, an elected body, testified that they were aware of the voter fraud, had intentionally failed to enforce the election law and had later tried to conceal their activities by hurriedly certifying the Democratic candidate as the winner.

I guess Democrats gotta Democrat…

This one is current (2017). Note – ‘hundreds’ is more than one.

Glitch let ineligible immigrants vote in Philly elections, officials say

A top Philadelphia elections official said Wednesday that hundreds of legal but otherwise ineligible immigrants registered to vote in the last decade, and nearly half cast ballots they shouldn’t have.

A Pennsylvania Department of State review is underway, but the department said late Wednesday it had records indicating 1,160 people statewide since 1972 had requested cancellation of their voter registrations because they were not citizens.

Three hundred and seventeen voters have contacted the City Commissioners, which oversees elections in Philadelphia, since 2006 to have their registrations canceled because, while they were in the country legally, they were foreign citizens ineligible to vote. Forty-four of those people voted in one election while 46 voted in more than one election. {that’s just in Philly}

Schmidt (Philadelphia City Commissioner) and his staff traced the problem in Philadelphia primarily to legal residents who are not American citizens, visiting PennDot offices to obtain or update driver’s licenses. “For the majority of these people, it’s completely plausible to believe they thought they were eligible to vote, because they were offered the option to register after giving PennDot documentation that they were in this country legally but not citizens.”…Later in the process, the applicants were asked to check a box on an electronic kiosk if they also wanted to register to vote.

This is known as “motor-voter,” a federal law passed in 1993 that went into effect in 1995 to help encourage voter registration by pairing it with the process to obtain a driver’s license.
{and who was President in 1993?}

The issue of noncitizens being encouraged to register to vote was raised during a House State Government Committee one month before the 2016 general election.

Schmidt said he suspected people notified the City Commissioners that they were improperly registered because they were asked by the federal government, while seeking citizenship, if they had ever been registered to vote in this country.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/city/philly-voter-fraud-trump-immigrants-registration-commissioners-penndot-20170920.html

Note that these are not the results of a statistical analysis of all registrations – this is only the group of folks who have voluntarily requested they be removed from the rolls because they are ineligible.

But the documented number of ineligible votes in PA is now greater than one…

Curious as to what happened when someone tried to obtain the data to perform an analysis?

The Department of State divulged the figures under pressure from Republican state lawmakers. Marks said the department has not yet determined how many other noncitizen immigrants remain registered to vote in Pennsylvania.

The hearing came two weeks after the state’s chief election official, Secretary of State Pedro Cortes, abruptly resigned without explanation. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has declined to say whether he asked Cortes to resign or whether Cortes’ departure had anything to do with the state’s election administration.…and the administration’s silence has fueled speculation…

The committee said it invited Cortes to testify, but he did not appear.
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-nws-pa-illegal-immigrants-voting-20171025-story.html

These are not significant numbers – at least not yet.

But the fact that the state is stonewalling the release of data that would substantiate the actual level of non-citizen registrations – along with the above linked sudden departure of the chief election official right before the hearing on that subject – does cause one to speculate.

I’m also still curious why Facebook ads purchased by foreign entities are somehow ‘unacceptable interference’ in our national electoral process while actual voting by foreign nationals in our elections is somehow apparently just fine?

I realize the left has decided they somehow get to pick and choose which laws they obey, but still, federal law states you must be a citizen to vote in a federal election, subject to fines, imprisonment and/or deportation.

@Jay:

These are not significant numbers – at least not yet.

Yet, as Greg himself presented as a point to somehow support his position, the voter fraud inquiry has been dropped, for now, because so many Democrat precincts would not cooperate. Gosh, I wonder why they won’t participate? And vehemently oppose photo voter ID? Anyone have any guesses?

Trump Disbands Commission on Voter Fraud

“Despite substantial evidence of voter fraud, many states have refused to provide the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity with basic information relevant to its inquiry,” Mr. Trump said in a White House statement on Wednesday.

“Rather than engage in endless legal battles at taxpayer expense, today I signed an executive order to dissolve the commission, and have asked the Department of Homeland Security to review these issues and determine next courses of action,” he said.

In fact, no state has uncovered significant evidence to support the president’s claim, and election officials, including many Republicans, have strongly rejected it.

Are you aware of what information Trump’s commission requested from every state in the union?

If the Obama administration had ever made such a request, conservatives would have gone totally ballistic. It wasn’t only democratic-leaning states that found the commission’s request unacceptable. The backlash was bipartisan.

@Greg: On June 28, 2017 Kobach wrote a letter in conjunction with the Department of Justice jeeze who would think the anti Trump DOJ would FU an investigation?

@Greg: #26

Actually Greg (better sit down…), I will agree with you that the type and amount of data requested by the Trump commission was an overreach.

I will take issue, though with the ‘no state has uncovered significant evidence to support the president’s claim‘ statement given that nobody seems willing to look.

Logic and common sense would dictate that you have to look for it before you can find it.

Apparently Pennsylvania wasn’t looking and still has uncovered more than a thousand instances of non-eligible voters (who were nonetheless registered to vote) voluntarily removing themselves from the voting rolls.

You agreed in #15 that those not legally entitled to vote should be removed from the voter registration lists.

In all seriousness, do you have a suggestion for a less-invasive, bipartisan-acceptable means of finding and removing ineligible voters?

@Greg:

If the Obama administration had ever made such a request, conservatives would have gone totally ballistic.

Obama would have illegally mined it. He’s got a rep for that.