Voter Registration Changes for Immigrants

Under a bill passed last night by the state Senate, some voters will have to show a driver’s license, a passport, naturalization papers or some other proof of their U.S. citizenship.

Senate sponsor Dewayne Bunch, a Cleveland Republican, said the bill is aimed at illegal immigrants.

“I think we all agree that Congress has failed to protect our borders.”

Local election clerks can already ask for proof of citizenship, but Chattanooga Democrat Andy Berke says, this bill gives them more power.

“We now are setting ourselves into a situation that because of the way somebody looks, or their last name, or whatever it is, the administrator of election can say, ‘I want to see proof that you’re a citizen.’ Then that person pulls out their driver’s license, and when they pull out their driver’s license, what’s the administrator going to say? ‘That’s not good enough’.”

The bill passed the Tennessee Senate Monday night, 20-12. It now goes back to the House of Representatives, where it had already passed, but in a milder form.

Opponents of the measure also argue that it discourages people from signing up to vote, by making the process more difficult. Senator Thelma Harper, a Nashville Democrat, remembers the days before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“I think back to the time when there were those of us who were required to pay a ‘poll tax,’ and the registrar would take the application, take your money, and they’d ball it up and throw it in the trash, right in your presence.”

The current Senate bill is a copy of last year’s Senate Bill 1999, which died in a House subcommittee. Senate Republican Leader Mark Norris sponsored SB 1999, and he is the sponsor of the amendment which now rewrites HB 270/SB 194.

As amended, it would allow a local election administrator considerable authority to make a person prove where he’s from.

Under the new bill, a registrar who doubts a person’s citizenship can demand proof in the form of a U.S. passport, naturalization papers, birth certificate, driver’s license from a state that checks on citizenship, a Bureau of Indian Affairs number, or other proof acceptable to the local clerk.

The local election clerk doesn’t have to require the proof of everyone. But if he is dissatisfied with the applicant, he can demand the evidence.

Norris says the requirement isn’t new.

“The election administrator has the authority right now to reject an application, on his or her own initiative, without any description of what they may request, because the form says so: To register to vote, you must be a U.S. citizen. So we’re trying to give them some guidance and some input, into how that can be done. We’re not ordering them to do it, they can do it on there own right now. And who knows what they may rely upon.”

Bunch, the sponsor of the original bill, argues that illegal immigrants dilute the power of current Tennessee residents.

“And what we are doing tonight is protecting the privileges and rights of Tennesseans, whether it’s voting, or driving, or other important things, that are subject to being attacked, and the integrity of those being set aside, because we can’t control, or have a mechanism, to weed through those that are legally here.”

The House version simply added a warning to the face of a voter application. The new voting application would say it is a Class D felony to misstate one’s citizenship for the purpose of voting.

Even legislators have been confused about exactly what that means. These comments are from Monday night on the Senate floor:

Senator Bunch: “It is my understanding that this bill moves the classification from a Class E to a Class D felony.”

Norris, the author of the six-proofs-of-citizenship amendment, immediately confirmed Bunch’s understanding:

“It is presently a Class E felony to say that you’re a U.S. if you’re not. This was intended to clarify the substance of what you’re affirming…and if that is not true, it’s currently a Class E. I understand the House version [of this bill] would make it a Class D.”

But actually, it doesn’t. Senator Norris came back eight minutes later with a correction:

“I think Senator [Charlotte] Burks sponsored the law that changed this to a Class D felony back in 2006. The problem is, that some of the forms that were still in use refer, I think, to a Class E felony. There’s been some confusion about what we’re changing. We’re not changing the substantive law. It’s already the law. Now, it’s a Class D felony.”