Accidental Voter..Permanent Resident..

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

I don't want to get political, but it's relevant here. The fact that you were allowed to register and even vote casts a lot of doubt on the legitimacy of our system. And your case is not all that special. I've heard of other non-citizens registering and actually voting for the Prez in past elections. I could have cast 2 votes in an election some time back if I wanted to. When I turned 18, I legally changed my first name. When I went to vote that first Prez election, there were 2 entries in the log for me, one under my new first name and one under the old first name. Since I had state ID's under both names, it would be easy especially since the lady that was checking the names was probably 85 years old and I doubt that she would even notice. I haven't voted since but I may go tonight just to see if both my names are still there.

One of the aspects of the "system", as you note, is a lot of soveirgnty given to each of the 50 states. This occurred at the founding of the country, 230+ years ago. The founders knew that 13+ different sets of state laws would inevitably clash with federal laws, but they really didn't care. They wanted that messiness and enshrined it into the founding documents. As a result, some states have very strict laws on the books about how a person can register to vote. Others, not so strict. So we're not really talking about one system to try to fix. We're really talking about 51 systems.

[f f 725]

I do find it kind of funny that lpr are allowed to donate money to campaigns but then not vote in elections. I would of thought it should be both or neither.

[A❤R 2]

Here's where you may have some trouble. The very first thing, at least on the online version of registering to vote in MO, says all the rules.

The part that gets me, is all cards seem to ask the same thing first: "Are you a citizen of the United States of America".

"Completing this form (All information is required unless indicated as optional): Boxes 1 and 2 -- Citizen and Age Requirements Federal Law requires voter registration applicants to answer these two questions." https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/ElectionGoVoteMissouri/register2vote/St.LouisCity.pdf

While you could plead ignorance to "not understanding the question", it's hard to do so when you've K-1'd and AOS'd, which require paperwork that have questions that are just about as obvious. Ignorance of the law, generally doesn't free you of the law.

If you ticked "Yes" to "Are you a citizen of the United States of America", you've lied under oath. It's a straight question, no leeway. You're either a citizen, or you aren't.

This isn't really an issue of "Did you know you couldn't vote?", it's an issue of "Did you check Yes, saying that you are in fact a USC, when you are not?" The not knowing you weren't suppose to vote is a bit different from saying under oath, that you're a USC, when you're not.

"I hereby certify that I am a citizen of the United States and a resident of the state of Missouri. I am at least seventeen and one half years of age. I have not been adjudged incapacitated by any court of law. If I have been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor connected with the right of suffrage, I have had the voting disabilities resulting from such conviction removed pursuant to law. I swear under penalty of perjury that all statements made on this card are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. I understand that if I register to vote knowing that I am not legally entitled to register, I am committing a class one election offense and may be punished by imprisonment of not more than five years or by a fine of between two thousand five hundred dollars and ten thousand dollars or by both such imprisonment and fine."

- The bottom of a Missouri Voters Registration form, linked above.

With all of that said, I don't know how much it'll hurt your ROC. There is no place on the ROC paperwork that asks the same questions that the N-400 asks. It could come up if they see it, but they may not see it. It's pretty much a case of wait and see if they know or not. If you willingly give them the info during your ROC though, you may have a bad time. You'll basically give them a reason to say no, it's like bringing the murder weapon straight to the cops and saying you did it.

But you may never be able to become Naturalized.

I do not remember filling up this form, the woman that proccessed my driver's license asked me if I want to register despite the fact that I have my birth certificate and green card as identification I even asked her if I can register and she said yes..Being new in the US I thought that she knows what she's doing and talking about. I can not remember seeing this form and signing on it. Anyway, I will find out more within this week when I get something from the County Clerk.

[tomatoboy 33]

I would immediately contact a reputable immigration attorney. As in this week.

[yuna628 9,725]

I do not remember filling up this form, the woman that proccessed my driver's license asked me if I want to register despite the fact that I have my birth certificate and green card as identification I even asked her if I can register and she said yes..Being new in the US I thought that she knows what she's doing and talking about. I can not remember seeing this form and signing on it. Anyway, I will find out more within this week when I get something from the County Clerk.

Asking to register one to vote at the DMV is a typical question along with organ donation, however while you would think the DMV agent should use best sense and good judgment it is ultimately up to your responsibility to state no emphatically. There have been some cases where the DMV has signed an immigrant up to vote automatically without asking either through their ignorance or a mistake and later when they have been called to jury duty (another big no no) or have found out they were registered they are understandably concerned as to what to do. They must make every attempt to remove themselves from these lists and get the revocation in writing. However you actually did vote and that's going to be the biggest sticking issue. Not a do it yourself moment, you're going to need legal help immediately.

Edited November 8, 2016 by yuna628

[A❤R 2]

We all now how easy it is to register to vote in US. Most people register to vote just like you did at DMVs while applying for DLs. Actual voting is another story but even in voting there is no mechanism to check if the voter is actually a citizen. I went to vote this morning and debating whether I should take my passport with me or not, I didn't. When I walked in I thought they would at least check my driver's license and to my surprise they didn't even check that. Anyway I'm just trying to point out how easy it is to register to vote and then go vote in US.

Your ROC won't be affected by this but most likely your naturalization will be. Nevertheless, I will find it impossible to believe there hasn't been a single GC holder in the history who voted in a US election not knowingly and later naturalize successfully. Millions and millions of immigrants, and not a single one like you one would definitely shock me. When the time comes, find a good immigration lawyer (hopefully one that has taken a case like this before, specifically ask if they have experience in this) and proceed accordingly. You did the right thing de-registering yourself. Keep those records in a safe place. Who knows what the outcome would be even with the best lawyer but this is something that you definitely need legal advice.

Thanks. Right now all I am hoping for is that they will approve my green card and stay here in the US with my family.

[Ash.1101 1,756]

I do not remember filling up this form, the woman that proccessed my driver's license asked me if I want to register despite the fact that I have my birth certificate and green card as identification I even asked her if I can register and she said yes..Being new in the US I thought that she knows what she's doing and talking about. I can not remember seeing this form and signing on it. Anyway, I will find out more within this week when I get something from the County Clerk.

It's weird that you don't remember signing anything, because on the MO DL application, it asks if you want to vote and if you say yes, you have to fill out and attach the voter registration paperwork.

As for her asking, these people don't know anything on the Federal Level. Even people in the Social Security Offices don't understand how immigration works. So while she said you could, sadly it doesn't make a difference.

Try to get a copy of everything you can, see if you can get a copy of the paperwork you don't think you filed out. It may look like the form on the very bottom of this PDF file, but at some point you would have had to have signed UNLESS you did your application online. http://dor.mo.gov/forms/4317.pdf

[RobertM54 36]

I got an MD voter registration card when I got my license. I have no memory of any positive action to receive it.

[NikLR 13,232]

Ive been called for jury duty and had to send a copy of my green card to get out of it because lpr cannot be on a jury.

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

Thanks. Right now all I am hoping for is that they will approve my green card and stay here in the US with my family.

Just talk to a lawyer now and get it sorted out. Your GC shouldn't be affected but don't wait to deal with it later.

[Hypnos 6,578]

Find a great lawyer.

[Unlockable 7,315]

Oh boy. This is going to be a problem. There have been people who were denied citizenship because of this.

It wasn't until I started visiting this and other immigration sites that I realized how much of problem of immigrants being ignorant to the fact that they can't vote.

[Unlockable 7,315]

Just want to add that there may be a silver lining. It MAY NOT have an impact on your ROC. So you will probably be able to remain a LPR. If you had no plans on petitioning any of you family you can continue being a resident here.

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

Oh boy. This is going to be a problem. There have been people who were denied citizenship because of this.

It wasn't until I started visiting this and other immigration sites that I realized how much of problem of immigrants being ignorant to the fact that they can't vote.

There's a whole lot of things an immigrant needs to be aware of when he/she/they move to America, and not just immigration laws. Some Pakistani friends invited my wife and I to go fishing with some friends of theirs. We show up and the friends of our friends are casting nets into a river and pulling out trout by the bushel full. We pulled our friends aside and warned them that they don't want to be around that illegal fishing scheme while on H1 visas. My wife and I left immediately and our friends left a few minutes later. Since that time, our Pakistani friends have brushed up on a lot of US laws and regulations.

You simply don't want to break any laws, other than maybe traffic laws, as a legal immigrant. There's too much risk.

As the saying goes... ignorance of the law is no excuse.

[Mollie09 1,543]

This is so terrible. I never registered to vote, but when I moved somehow the DMV thought I tried to, then sent me a letter saying they tried to move my voter registration to my new address but couldn't find it in the old one, and to contact them to register. It was terrifying how easily things get mixed up.