Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and Secretary of State Diego Morales are asking the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to verify the citizenship status of voters who registered in Indiana without providing state-issued forms of identification.
Morales
Rokita
“Hoosiers deserve to know that only eligible voters are participating in our elections and that legitimate ballots are not being diluted by noncitizens,” Rokita said. “We are doing our part to provide this assurance.”
Rokita and Morales sent USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou lists of certain voters who registered without state IDs – along with a joint letter formally requesting the agency’s assistance in verifying those individuals’ citizenship status.
“A fair and secure election process begins with accurate voter information,” Morales said. “As Indiana’s Chief Election Officer, I am committed to ensuring that every registered voter in Indiana has met the legal requirements, including being a U.S. citizen. I’m proud to partner with Indiana’s Attorney General in taking proactive steps to gather missing information for those who completed their registration without a state-issued ID. This is crucial to maintaining the integrity of our elections and increasing public confidence. Only U.S. Citizens can vote in Indiana. Period.”
Federal law requires USCIS to respond to inquiries from state government agencies “to verify or ascertain the citizenship or immigration status of any individual within the jurisdiction of the agency for any purpose authorized by law.”
As part of a multistate coalition, Rokita is also pressing federal authorities in another letter to provide a plan for how they will verify voters’ U.S. citizenship status in response to state requests. Ohio and South Carolina are leading that effort.