• Law will allow illegal aliens to vote in U.S. elections.
By John Friend —
A California state bill recently signed by Governor Edmund Gerald “Jerry” Brown, Jr. (D), the longest-serving governor in California history, has many critics worried that the legislation will undermine elections not only in the Golden State but in the United States presidential race as well.
The New Motor Voter Act (A.B. 1461) was passed and signed into law on October 10 and allows California residents to automatically register to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
“The New Motor Voter Act automatically registers to vote all eligible voters when they obtain or renew their drivers licenses at the Department of Motor Vehicles instead of requiring them to fill out a form,” according to a recent report published by The Washington Times. “The goal is to ease barriers to voting, but election-integrity advocates warn that the measure could inadvertently add millions of illegal voters to the rolls given that California allows undocumented aliens to obtain drivers licenses.”
California state officials, voting rights groups and a wide variety of ethnic activist groups, particularly those advocating on behalf of illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America, have praised the passage of the Act, arguing the legislation is necessary to increase voter turnout and civic participation.
“Citizens should not be required to opt in to their fundamental right to vote,” said Alex Padilla, California’s secretary of state and a leading proponent of the legislation. “We do not have to opt in to other rights, such as free speech or due process. The right to vote should be no different.”
Lorena Gonzalez, an assemblywoman from San Diego and one of the state’s leading Latino activists, co-authored the bill, which received overwhelming support from state Democrats in Sacramento. Shortly after the bill was signed into law, Gonzalez declared that the bill is “going to lead to millions more Californians being registered to vote, which means more people we can talk to.”
With the passage of the Act, California joins Oregon as the only two states in the nation that have adopted a system that has the ability to automatically register individuals to vote.
Critics of the bill are outraged, arguing that the legislation will undermine California’s elections, paving the way for widespread voter fraud and granting the right to vote to millions of illegal aliens residing in the state.
“A.B. 1461 assures corruption of our elections—our elections will look like those of Mexico and other corrupt nations—and honest people will stop voting since illegal aliens will outvote them,” wrote Stephen Frank, a political commentator with California Political Review, a conservative-leaning public policy organization.
“Citizens must oppose this treasonous attempt to turn California into a form of government that gives control to non-citizens,” wrote Linda Paine of the Elections Integrity Project. “Neither the governor nor the legislators have the authority to change our form of government from a republic (governance by the consent of citizens) to a ‘democracy’ (governance by majority rule) by simply passing a law.”
Although the Act becomes law in January, 2016, “it may not be fully in place until the 2018 elections at the very latest, said Sam Mahood, spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Office,” as that office “must first determine the exact process and set protocols to securely access information from the Department of Motor Vehicles.”
John Friend is a California-based writer who maintains a blog.
Show where in the constitution the peoples’ right to vote.