Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler's Effort to Identify Non-Citizen Voters

PRESS RELEASES from Colorado Department of State
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2012        
MEDIA CONTACTS: Rich Coolidge
Andrew Cole

Gessler statement on meeting with Department of Homeland Security
Colorado to work with DHS to verify citizenship of registered voters

Denver, Colorado - Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler released the following statement today after meeting with an official from the Department of Homeland Security's Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. The meeting follows a July 9 letter from Secretary Gessler again requesting assistance from the Department of Homeland Security to verify the citizenship status of people who are registered to vote in Colorado.

"As Colorado's chief election official, protecting our elections is my top priority. I’m pleased that DHS has agreed to work with states to verify the citizenship of people on the voter rolls and help reduce our vulnerability. Coloradans deserve to know we have these most basic protections for election integrity."

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 24, 2012        
MEDIA CONTACTS: Rich Coolidge
Andrew Cole

Federal government provides Colorado access to immigration database
Gessler's office to verify voter citizenship status with SAVE program

Denver, Colorado - After weeks of prodding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler signed an agreement with the agency to access the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. Gessler's office will begin comparing voters who showed a non-citizen document to the Division of Motor Vehicles with the SAVE database to verify their citizenship status.

 "This system will help us verify whether individuals who showed proof of non-citizenship have in fact become naturalized since registering to vote," Gessler said. "My office is focused on protecting Colorado elections and we’ll continue to work with these individuals to preserve their voter registration or help them withdraw if they’re wrongly listed on the rolls."

Last week, Gessler’s office mailed letters to almost 4,000 registered voters who at one time presented proof of non-citizenship.

"I’m heartened by the cooperation of these individuals who either proudly displayed their naturalization papers or withdrew their registrations," Gessler said. "Each of these people help improve the integrity of Colorado’s voter rolls."

For those individuals who don’t respond to the letters, Gessler announced that his office will hold hearings prior to taking any action on their voter records. His office will hold a public meeting on Wednesday at 1:00 to discuss the hearing process.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2012        
MEDIA CONTACTS: Rich Coolidge
Andrew Cole

1 in 8 voters who received letters trending as non-citizens
Registered voters who presented non-citizen documents respond to letters

Denver, Colorado - Today, Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler released the results from letters mailed to possible non-citizens on the voter rolls showing that one in eight voters who showed a non-citizen document to the DMV remain ineligible. The letters asked them to either voluntarily withdraw their voter registration or affirm that they are naturalized citizens. The results are as follows:

3,903 letters sent
1,011 voters moved with no forwarding address
482 voters affirmed their citizenship
16 voters voluntarily withdrew their registrations
"Each of these residents helps improve the integrity of our voter rolls and increases voter confidence across the state," Gessler said. "While some prefer to fan partisan flames and score political points, these residents share an interest in ensuring only eligible voters are casting ballots."

Of the 3,903, the office verified 1,416 voters who had an alien identification number on file with the DMV using the Systematic Alien Verification and Entitlements (SAVE) system. The system identified 177 voters who require additional verification from the federal government to confirm their citizenship status. 42 of these voters have voted in Colorado elections. This analysis shows one in eight of these identified voters remain non-citizens and ineligible to vote.

"We identified a vulnerability, and this effort helps protect our elections," Gessler said. "When some races hinge on just a handful of votes, every vote counts. My goal is to make it easy to vote, but tough to cheat."

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 24, 2012        
MEDIA CONTACTS: Rich Coolidge
Andrew Cole
 
Federal government confirms another 300 noncitizen voters
SAVE database flags 441 noncitizen registered voters this year

Denver, Colorado - Today, Secretary of State Scott Gessler announced that the Department of Homeland Security identified another 300 Colorado voters as non-citizens. Gessler notified county clerks and transmitted the names to them for follow-up hearings. The latest round of verifications came after Gessler worked with the Division of Motor Vehicles to secure alien identification numbers, which are required by the Department of Homeland Security's immigration database.

"It's unacceptable to have ineligible voters casting ballots in our elections," Gessler said. "We want to ensure the most accurate, reliable elections possible."

Gessler's office mailed notices to these voters confirming the federal government's findings and alerting them to their options to verify their citizenship or remove their registration.

"Though the timing is not ideal, I felt it was important to alert these voters that the federal government says they're not citizens," Gessler said. "We want to remove any confusion about voting requirements. An illegal vote reduces the integrity of our election and jeopardizes someone's path to citizenship."

Gessler's office originally identified 3,903 voters who previously showed proof of noncitizenship when they received their driver's licenses. Among that group, the office verified 1,416 voters against the Systematic Alien Verification and Entitlements (SAVE) system and confirmed 141 voters as non-citizens. After securing additional identification numbers for the remaining voters and verifying through the SAVE system, the office confirmed another 300 voters as non-citizens. In all, Gessler referred 441 non-citizen voters to the county clerks.

Additionally, Gessler also forwarded the non-citizen voters to Colorado's United States Attorney John Walsh and his assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Rourke, who was recently identified as the state's U.S. Election Officer.

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