A Warning To Green Card Holders About Voting

[Tinman71 42]

On 3/26/2018 at 10:58 PM, bukawbukaw said:

Just wanted to ask why anyone would tell you not to vote? Isn't that part of being American?

because its illegal to even register to vote as a non citizen 

[bukawbukaw 2]

23 hours ago, Tinman71 said:

because its illegal to even register to vote as a non citizen 

Um...since when?

[Tinman71 42]

22 minutes ago, bukawbukaw said:

Um...since when?

Since always 

[lierre 224]

Isn’t this post quite misleading? I think it’s best you change the title to say you’re referring to FEDERAL elections specifically.

 

Voting rules for local & state elections vary by state. It’s best to contact your local office to find out the rules in your state —https://www.usa.gov/election-office

 

For federal elections, you obviously have to be a US citizen.

 

Here’s another helpful page with links to the actual statutes (if you feel so inclined to subject yourself to legalese): http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/non-resident-and-non-citizen-voting.aspx

Edited October 19, 2018 by ivyyy
Added helpful link

[Unlockable 7,315]

59 minutes ago, ivyyy said:

Isn’t this post quite misleading? I think it’s best you change the title to say you’re referring to FEDERAL elections specifically.

 

Voting rules for local & state elections vary by state. It’s best to contact your local office to find out the rules in your state —https://www.usa.gov/election-office

 

For federal elections, you obviously have to be a US citizen.

 

Here’s another helpful page with links to the actual statutes (if you feel so inclined to subject yourself to legalese): http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/non-resident-and-non-citizen-voting.aspx

You are confusing nonresidents of STATES with permanent residents. I read a few of those statutes you linked and they refer to land, business, and homeowners who are not residents of the state they want to vote in.

 

The law still stands that noncitizens can not vote. 

 

You really have to be careful with this type of information because an error like voting in elections can have dire consequences.

 

Edited to add: There may be some local municipal elections where noncitizens are allowed to participate in. I still have not seen anything allowing noncitizens to vote in State elections. But I always advise to err on the side of caution. Be very diligent in your research.

Edited October 19, 2018 by NuestraUnion

[TBoneTX 45,663]

One of the major political parties is encouraging noncitizens to vote, apparently without considering the consequences should the noncitizen wish to naturalize later:

 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/18/texas-democrats-ask-noncitizens-register-vote/

[lierre 224]

1 hour ago, TBoneTX said:

One of the major political parties is encouraging noncitizens to vote, apparently without considering the consequences should the noncitizen wish to naturalize later:

 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/18/texas-democrats-ask-noncitizens-register-vote/

 

Is this article supposed to change the fact that non citizens can vote in local elections in certain states? 

 

Suppressing the ability of noncitizens to vote even when it is allowed locally is quite disturbing. 

[lierre 224]

1 hour ago, NuestraUnion said:

You are confusing nonresidents of STATES with permanent residents. I read a few of those statutes you linked and they refer to land, business, and homeowners who are not residents of the state they want to vote in.

 

The law still stands that noncitizens can not vote. 

 

You really have to be careful with this type of information because an error like voting in elections can have dire consequences.

 

Edited to add: There may be some local municipal elections where noncitizens are allowed to participate in. I still have not seen anything allowing noncitizens to vote in State elections. But I always advise to err on the side of caution. Be very diligent in your research.

 

I’m glad you edited your post to add that.

 

That’s why I’m saying the original post is quite misleading. The title should say that the poster refers to FEDERAL elections. But each non-citizen person should contact their local & state offices for specifics on when they can vote.

 

Just because non-citizens can’t vote in federal elections, it doesn’t mean they can’t vote at school board elections or council elections or municipal elections and other local elections.

 

Changing the title to “A Warning to Green Card Holders about Federal Voting” and including info to contact local/state offices would be much more helpful AND accurate.

 

 

[Ben & Katy 168]

I could not believe how easy it was to register to vote in Arizona until my spouse went to do her license exam.  She had to read very carefully to not mistakenly check the box to register to vote on the driver license application.  They really should put an asterics in bold letters to not check the box if you are not a US Citizen.  I am sure that other people have mistakenly checked the box. 

[martinzl 91]

I'm the US citizen.  My wife is a green card holder.  She goes with me to the polls.  I always take the "I voted" sticker they give me and put it on her.  Mess with a few minds.

[QueenOfBlades 224]

I understand the comments about being clear regarding federal elections and whatnot, but...

 

..... no. No way. Consequences way too severe to risk it. I refuse to deposit the signed ballots of my USC best friend and wife or touch the ballot box. Don’t even want to go near the elections office. When my USC best friend went to register to vote and I drove him there with my USC wife, she took him in and helped him do it and I wouldn’t go into the Elections building. Call me paranoid, but... noooooo.

[RLA 324]

How about non-voting political activity, e.g., donating to or volunteering for political orgs or individual candidates?  Are there any legal restrictions for legal residents?

[Palawan 131]

On 8/22/2022 at 7:47 AM, RLA said:

How about non-voting political activity, e.g., donating to or volunteering for political orgs or individual candidates?  Are there any legal restrictions for legal residents?

Not that I am aware of in the USA

 

Other countries doing that will get you kicked out of the country for good...........

[M+K IL 102]

On 9/1/2022 at 8:47 AM, Palawan said:

Other countries doing that will get you kicked out of the country for good

Funnily, one counter-example is that you can join the UK Conservative Party as a non-citizen -- even a non-resident -- and vote in their leadership elections. That's one messed up entity...

 

On a more on-topic note, Ballotpedia has a great overview of which states do not explicitly bar non-citizens from voting in local elections - only 14 states are on the list. And I agree with QueenOfBlades, I personally would not risk it even if say my local school board decides to allow non-citizens to vote. Once you are a PR, it takes, what, 5+1 years ish until you can legally vote, so that's 2-3 election cycles tops.

It really is not ideal for those from countries where the queue to get PR status is really long (10+ years) of course, but trying to vote even for the local school board when you're not even an LPR sounds even more risky.

https://ballotpedia.org/Laws_permitting_noncitizens_to_vote_in_the_United_States