The socalled "Voter Eligibility Confirmation System" in effect threatens voting rights of the American constituency. As introduced. this legislation would establish a federal program for state and local elected officials to "confirm" the citizenship of registered voters and voter registration applicants. The proposal would allow elected officials to submit the names of voter registration applicants and registered voters to the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Social Security Administration for citizenship confirmation through a computerized system. With all due respect to my colleague. this is bad policy! The data on which this system is based is inaccurate. The fact is that an American citizen can have a social security number and stand the possibility of not being confirmed as a citizen by the Social Security Administration. Thousands of U.S. citizens were naturalized before the agency began keeping computer records at all. As a result. our fellow Americans will be targeted to have their voting rights undermined by the use of such a system. Women and minorities in our Nation have historically been singled out and questioned based on their surnames or appearance.
Identified stereotypes
Women and minorities are singled out based on surnames or appearance.