Confused, not sure how to answer N-400 register to vote question

[llcoolmg 20]

17 hours ago, JasonPII said:

Hello everyone,

 

I was at my California DMV recently and long story short I found out that they registered me to vote when I renewed my driver license (I still have the application and I marked NO to US citizen question).

As you can imagine, I freaked out greatly upon learning about this news.

 

Then I contacted the Secretary of State and my county voter registration to check, both said that I am NOT at all registered.

 

So knowing my situation (registered to vote with DMV despite saying that I'm not USC, but SOS and county have no record of me in their databases), how do I answer these two questions in the N-400?

 

1. Have you ever claimed to be a USC? 

2. Have you ever registered to vote in any....? 

 

Do I go with what the DMV say or with what SOS/my county have in their database?

 

This is a Section 237 issue. Section 237 deals with deportable offenses, so obviously very serious. 

 

Bottom line, from the facts, -you- did not register to vote. There is a distinction between accidently being registered due to a clerical mistake and -you- knowingly registering.

 

Good luck on your journey! 

[NikLR 13,227]

1 hour ago, JasonPII said:

Sorry I don't understand.

 

Are you saying that SOS/county didn't look at what DMV has and when they do I would be registered?

No im saying the person at the dmv probably didnt look to see what they put down for you.  Regardless as noted, unless you fill out the voter registration then no you didnt register. 

[JasonPII 30]

4 minutes ago, bakphx1 said:

I think it’s a no.  If you had registered you would would show upon the SOS database.  You would have received either a voter ID or a letter requesting proof of citizenship if they had actually processed it.  

Oh wow, I didn't know that they would be sending me a lot of stuff if I'm registered.

 

Yeah I definitely didn't receive any in the mail.

[JasonPII 30]

Just now, NikLR said:

No im saying the person at the dmv probably didnt look to see what they put down for you.  Regardless as noted, unless you fill out the voter registration then no you didnt register. 

Ah thank you. 
Yes, I only filled out DMV application for a new driver license and as I said I marked no to the USC question. I did not fill out any voter registration form. 

[Villanelle 4,122]

How long ago was this? According to the CA DMV DL form it can take 4 weeks for the election office/sec of state to reach out to you...

 

Here is a pdf of the paper version of the form you did online- https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/817d879a-e709-45a1-9503-57622ec808b4/dl410.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

 

If you checked NO for #6A then it shouldve skipped to section 8 where you sign. Just to double check did you answer any of the questions that appear in 6b and sec 7?

 

It also says in the disclosure part on page 1 how the DMV does not determine if you are eligible to vote, they simply gather the info and forward it to the voter registration office. If you are eligible and choose not to register they still send your info over indicating that.  This may be why you were given a generic 'we sent it over to the voter registration office' because they send it whether you elect to register or not if you are eligible. 

[camerica 60]

18 hours ago, JasonPII said:

 

Right now, I'm leaning towards saying no to "have you ever registered to vote" question on the N-400 because CA SOS and my county voter registration office do not have my name in their databases.

I can understand your worry about this. Do you know if USCIS is still taking phone calls? If I were in your situation, I would call and explain my situation to someone. I would make sure that I got the officers name. OR, I would call my representative's office and explain to them. I would only fill out the form once I was certain that someone in a higher position knew what DMV had done. I heard that people in California and other places are being registered as voters when they clearly should not be. I would not risk getting denied citizenship by guessing about what to do or following advice of others who are guessing. Get actual factual advise from someone in a higher position.

Edited May 10, 2020 by camerica

[geowrian 22,337]

The issue is USCIS cannot provide legal advice. Also, getting somebody's name doesn't change anything...they aren't responsible for the accuracy of the information provided on the form.

 

I'm also leaning towards this being a nothing-burger. Everything points at not having actually registered, let alone having done so willfully.

[JasonPII 30]

54 minutes ago, Villanelle said:

How long ago was this? According to the CA DMV DL form it can take 4 weeks for the election office/sec of state to reach out to you...

 

Here is a pdf of the paper version of the form you did online- https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/817d879a-e709-45a1-9503-57622ec808b4/dl410.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

 

If you checked NO for #6A then it shouldve skipped to section 8 where you sign. Just to double check did you answer any of the questions that appear in 6b and sec 7?

 

It also says in the disclosure part on page 1 how the DMV does not determine if you are eligible to vote, they simply gather the info and forward it to the voter registration office. If you are eligible and choose not to register they still send your info over indicating that.  This may be why you were given a generic 'we sent it over to the voter registration office' because they send it whether you elect to register or not if you are eligible. 

I didn't fill out any form like that. Like I said, the process took place (at least at my DMV) on a website that you can do on the phone.

 

But it's neither here nor there because in the end, the good news is that SOS and my county don't have any record of me. And I'm going to say "NO" on that question on the N-400.

Edited May 10, 2020 by JasonPII

[camerica 60]

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

The issue is USCIS cannot provide legal advice. Also, getting somebody's name doesn't change anything...they aren't responsible for the accuracy of the information provided on the form.

 

 

I would not expect that USCIS would give legal advice. I am merely suggesting that someone in a higher position might be able to say with certainty that this is nothing to worry about.  And if they say with certainty that this is nothing to worry about then it is worth getting their name. That is all. I am not talking about 'form'. That is what I would do. Regardless.

[Villanelle 4,122]

I understand you didnt fill out that form and did it online, the point is the same information is gathered by the DMV in various ways- online, paper, phone etc. You filled out an online version of that- so again if you checked no to USC and DID NOT answer any of the additional questions about voting then I can almost guarantee you did not sign up to vote. Plus if its been more then 4 weeks since this happened and the voter office has no record then you most definitely were not signed up. Again I think the DMV workers response was based on the fact that they send everyone to the voter office- but 'everyone' only includes those who are USCs. 

 

I also would not ask USCIS about this because the only person you could ask is the phone center rep and they would just give you generic response that if you were registered you need to disclose it. They are not going to sort through it like we all did here to determine if you were actually registered or not. If you tell them you 'think' you were registered then since you think you were - you need to disclose it. However I believe we established that you were given bad information that you were registered so you should no longer 'think' you were = checking no on the form. 

[Talako 781]

Less than a 30 second Google search shows that you have not been registered:

 

"Online

Customers completing a California Driver License or Identification Card Application online to apply for an original, renewal, or duplicate of their DL or ID, completing a DL or ID renewal utilizing the Renewal By Internet process, or changing their address online will have the opportunity to register to vote while completing their DMV transaction. Those choosing to register to vote will be directed to the Secretary of State’s official website where their DMV information will prepopulate the voter registration form."

 

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/about/voterregistrationoptions

 

You didn't complete that second step of registering at the SOS, so your not registered.  It doesn't matter what DMV says.

 

Relax before you give yourself a stroke.