Elections are the very lifeblood of democraoy. Fraud in elections poisons our electoral systom and undermines the t lt that is essential to democracyUnder the bill we are introducIng today. State and local election offlolals would be able to make Inquiries to the Soclal Security Administration which has a record of citizenship when they assign a Social Security number. and the Immigration and Naturalization Service which also can help verify people who have submitted to naturalization and citizenship. (1 1004 I want to emphasize that this legislation Includes extensive restrictions on the use of the system to prevent discriminatlon and violations of privacy rights. This legislation strikes a vitally needed balane between protectinug the sanctity of our elections and the rights of every individual. Last year. we saw many elections where the possibility of noncitizens voting was before us. Last year In the 104th Congress. w passed a historic Itlegal Immigration Reform and Immilgrant Responsibility Act. It made It explicitly Illegal for noncitizens to vote. But without having a way to verify registrants ability to vote. State and local election officials simply could not enforce that law effectively.
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naturalization Naturalization noncitizens Immigration