http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/NEWS05/711080402/1021
The Journal News.
State
elections board discusses U.S. lawsuit in closed session
By CARA MATTHEWS
ALBANY BUREAU
(Original Publication: November 8, 2007)
ALBANY - The state Board of Elections refused yesterday to
discuss publicly how it would respond to the U.S. Justice Department's demands
that New York have new voting machines in place for next fall's elections.
Commissioners of the Elections Board, which has been sued by
the federal agency for not complying with election-modernization law, voted 3-1
to take up the matter in closed session. The Justice Department filed a motion
in U.S. District Court this week that would force New York to fast-track its
election-modernization plans, and the state has about two weeks to file its
response. Commissioners have said they need until 2009 to have everything in
place.
"When we do have decisions, they will certainly be
known to everybody," said Commissioner Evelyn Aquila, a Democrat.
Also yesterday, commissioners discussed a query from the
Democrat and Republican elections commissioners in Albany County on whether the
state Elections Board has a procedure for working with the federal government
to verify voters' citizenship. The question was prompted by Gov. Eliot
Spitzer's controversial plan to grant illegal immigrants drivers' licenses, a
hot-button issue that has received national attention and strong opposition
from the Republican Party and others.
"As you can see, while this change is designed to allow
non-citizens to obtain a driver's license, it could lead to a large number of
unqualified registration applicants submitting the voter registration form.
Unfortunately, there is no procedure for county boards of election to verify
citizenship status," said Republican Elections Commissioner Helena Moses
Donohue.
"We urge the governor to reconsider his new policy in
light of the potential impact on voter registration," said Donohue, who
spoke on behalf of herself and Republican Commissioner Neil Kelleher.
Democratic Commissioner Douglas Kellner said swearing that you
are a citizen has been the procedure since voter registration was initiated.
"The idea to just assume large numbers of people are
lying on voter-registration forms, I don't think there is any evidence of
that," he said.
Democratic Albany County Elections Commissioner Matthew
Clyne said after the meeting that there should be some method to verify
citizenship other than accepting someone's word. Clyne said he is not
suggesting every person's citizenship be investigated, but some cases may raise
red flags that warrant a check. He doesn't suspect there would be a large
amount of fraud, he said.
Many applicants use their driver's license or state
identification number to register, or the last four digits of their Social
Security number, but other types of identification are accepted.
"I think it would be a useful tool for the boards of
elections to have available to them. Otherwise, it's just kind of a, you know,
we're all on the honor system," Clyne said.
Some representatives of voting-rights organizations asked to
be heard on the issue.
Attorney Andrea Novick, co-coordinator of education with the
Election Defense Alliance, said there's not enough time to properly test and
certify equipment by September, as the Justice Department is demanding.
Copyright © 2007 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc.
newspaper serving Westchester, Rockland and
Putnam Counties in New York.