Possible Voter Registration Fraud Targeting Hispanics

[AZBlue]

I got this e-mail from the Maricopa County Dem Party and thought I'd pass it along:

We have learned from the Maricopa County Recorder Elections Office that an insidious fraud is being perpetrated upon legal immigrants living in Arizona. Apparently, unscrupulous people are going through the telephone book and finding people with Hispanic surnames and are calling them up or visiting their homes and asking them if they are interested in becoming U.S. citizens. If they answer yes or that they have started the process, these victims are told that the first step to becoming a citizen is to register to vote. Plainly, this is untrue. You cannot legally register to vote until you have become a U.S. citizen. Only U.S. citizens can vote in the U.S.

A large number of innocent people are believing this story and are providing either all of the information they need or recognize something is wrong and stop short. There are also cases where the victim is never spoken to and the information that is entered into the registration form is taken just from the telephone book. Even with this incomplete information, the forms are completed anyway, often using false signatures, invented birth dates and drivers license numbers. These faked forms are then turned to the Maricopa County Elections office. At this point, the names and addresses of these victims are put into the County's system and then checked for validity, which rejects these applications.

Here's the evil part of the story: any person who begins the process of becoming a legal U.S. citizen must obtain from their County Recorder a letter that they have never attempted to register to vote and provide it ICE. If the recorder finds them in the system, they cannot provide that letter, which means that person will likely never become a U.S. citizen, because they will be guilty of a felony. So even though, these people may be here with legal documents, because some unscrupulous person is trying to earn $4 or $6 for each registration they turn in, they are destroying someone's dream of becoming a U.S. citizen.

Please pass the word on to anyone and everyone who may become a victim of this scam. If anyone receives such a call, please call our office immediately and report the person's name and company so we can put an end to this abuse. If the call is after our normal business hours, please leave a message. You should also report this to the Maricopa County Recorder's Elections office at 602-506-1511.