A Trump administration official in California criticized the state's voter ID rules on Monday, alleging that nobody was checking whether voters were American citizens, as it was reported that the federal government plans a wider crackdown on alleged voter fraud in select states. In an interview with Fox News, U.S. Attorney for Central California Bill Essayli said the state allows "anybody to register to vote on the honor system.
There isn't anybody in government checking to confirm you are a citizen," when talking about a case of voter fraud. Essayli's comments came as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is set to announce thorough investigations into voter fraud in states including New York, Pennsylvania and California, according to CNN. The department is set to announce more details on the crackdown Tuesday, the outlet reported.
"We have repeatedly demonstrated that illegal aliens can and do vote in our elections. Under President Trump, HSI is committed to restoring integrity to our election systems and ensuring that American citizens and only American citizens are electing American leaders." Nationally, several blue and red states do not require documentary proof of citizenship when applicants register to vote, although several check statuses with the Social Security Administration. At the voting booth or when voting by mail, there is a patchwork of systems in place to check voter ID.
"Obviously, the administration is very concerned about noncitizen registrations, but noncitizens registering, much less voting, is rare, so most states have decided to focus on other more pressing problems facing election administration in their states," Charles Stewart III, director of the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, told Newsweek. "The administration has made resources available to states, most notably the augmented SAVE system, that allows states to verify citizenship. However, that system yields so many false positives-meaning, it tags people as potential noncitizens who are in fact citizens-that many states have decided it’s a waste of time.
Furthermore, many states just don’t trust that the administration will treat state voter registration data in good faith, and so some have resisted for that reason." Newsweek reached out to Essayli's office and the California Secretary of State's office for comment on Monday. Under current California law, people registering to vote must attest that they are U.S. citizens by checking a citizenship box on their voter registration form. If the citizenship question is left blank, the registration application will not be accepted.
California does not generally require documentary proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, when a person registers to vote. Instead, applicants provide a California driver's license or state ID number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number. If they have neither, election officials assign a unique identifier to process the registration.
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