County sent me a form to register to vote

[Kudos 0]

Hello again Dear Forum. I just receive a form that is asking me to register to vote (NY STAte)  Im not a Citizen and never claimed to be one before. I'm just a PR and I don't understand why they sent me this form. There is a part of the form where they do ask me if I'm a citizen or not. I would gladly reply with "no, I'm not" but I want to know why they even asking or sending me this thing over. First, everything in this country feels like a double sword so I'm afraid to reply and have them registering me  regardless. Should I lawyer up and have them find out why is this even being sent to me? A paralegal I know told me to ignore it. What should I do?

I recently moved to this county. 

[GEOntificator 281]

13 minutes ago, Kudos said:

Hello again Dear Forum. I just receive a form that is asking me to register to vote (NY STAte)  Im not a Citizen and never claimed to be one before. I'm just a PR and I don't understand why they sent me this form. There is a part of the form where they do ask me if I'm a citizen or not. I would gladly reply with "no, I'm not" but I want to know why they even asking or sending me this thing over. First, everything in this country feels like a double sword so I'm afraid to reply and have them registering me  regardless. Should I lawyer up and have them find out why is this even being sent to me? A paralegal I know told me to ignore it. What should I do?

I recently moved to this county. 

Ignore and forget about it.

[TBoneTX 45,267]

It was certainly sent innocently; the same thing happens with jury service.  There's absolutely (100%) no need to hire a lawyer.  Check "not a citizen" and send it back -- but not before making a copy of it and noting the date and place where you mailed it.  File that copy among your immigration papers, and relax.

Just now, kvito28 said:

Ignore and forget about it.

Some people might ignore it, but I'd send it back as stated.

[JeanneAdil 6,492]

These are being sent out by county , state officials and both republican and democratic parties,  trying to make sure people who are able to vote register and/or learn how to do it.

Many people ,  believe it or not,  don't know they need to register  to vote or where there voting district is/ I get mail to vote for the mayor of city near me even though i don't live there and can't vote for the city mayor

 

why send these out ?  because some just don't get out and vote.  Even with the last 2020 election that was so close , only 66% of the eligible voters turned out 

 

ignore it and do not register till u become a USC if that is your decision

[Kudos 0]

1 minute ago, JeanneAdil said:

These are being sent out by county , state officials and both republican and democratic parties,  trying to make sure people who are able to vote register and/or learn how to do it.

Many people ,  believe it or not,  don't know they need to register  to vote or where there voting district is/ I get mail to vote for the mayor of city near me even though i don't live there and can't vote for the city mayor

 

why send these out ?  because some just don't get out and vote.  Even with the last 2020 election that was so close , only 66% of the eligible voters turned out 

 

ignore it and do not register till u become a USC if that is your decision

Never my intention was to register. But to make sure they do not do it without my consent since I've heard that happens in this State. 

 

[GEOntificator 281]

4 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

It was certainly sent innocently; the same thing happens with jury service.  There's absolutely (100%) no need to hire a lawyer.  Check "not a citizen" and send it back -- but not before making a copy of it and noting the date and place where you mailed it.  File that copy among your immigration papers, and relax.

Some people might ignore it, but I'd send it back as stated.

What would be the advantage of doing this vs ignoring? OP is not a citizen and received the form in error. We all know that the government is not very good with such things and mistakes like this one happen far too often. Once when I was on F-1 student visa I was called up for jury duty. Unlike jury duty this form does not require a response so I personally would disregard it. OP will never know why he received the letter and chances are that someone has the wrong info in the system and OP has nothing to worry about.

[TBoneTX 45,267]

2 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

ignore it

Far better to check "not a citizen" and send it back.  Infrequently, people have had their names used in voting without their knowledge.  Sending it back protects you.

[TBoneTX 45,267]

1 minute ago, Kudos said:

Never my intention was to register. But to make sure they do not do it without my consent since I've heard that happens in this State. 

Good idea to protect yourself, just in case!  Then, you can relax.

[TBoneTX 45,267]

3 minutes ago, kvito28 said:

What would be the advantage of doing this vs ignoring?

If someone votes or registers to vote with use of his name, the OP will have to "prove a negative" if an immigration officer asks whether he's ever voted.  That's hard to do.

[GEOntificator 281]

9 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

If someone votes or registers to vote with use of his name, the OP will have to "prove a negative" if an immigration officer asks whether he's ever voted.  That's hard to do.

Possibly. I see your point.

[JeanneAdil 6,492]

16 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Far better to check "not a citizen" and send it back.  Infrequently, people have had their names used in voting without their knowledge.  Sending it back protects you.

good point and in that case i would take a copy and keep it to protect my future N 400

[TBoneTX 45,267]

Even as a lifelong USC, I do the same with jury-service summons.  Whether I postal-mail or scan/e-mail my exemption form, I'll hold a copy until the court clerk responds with an OK.  Fortunately, my county is good about sending "received; you're excused; you need do nothing more" responses.

 

If an LPR gets a jury summons, I recommend the same procedure.  Boo-boos happen, and it wouldn't look too good if an LPR opened his door to a Sheriff serving him a bench warrant for failure to appear for jury duty (!).

 

 

[Thunderbolt 172]

My wife got the letter few weeks before she became citizen. There was a line stating that she needs to respond within 7 or 14 days. We went online and followed the instructions. Selected NO to the questions of being US citizen. Had to put explanation in the box below. We put "LPR, not US citizen yet". 

After she became citizen we went online and registered her as a voter. 

[Sukie 1,459]

New York takes voter registration from the Driver's License roll.   Send the card back with "Not a Citizen" checked.  Make a COPY of the card (filled out) before you send it back.

 

My spouse got called for Jury Duty TWICE before she became a citizen.

 

Cover your backside, and send it back in.

 

Sukie in NY

[top_secret 2,417]

California State mailed my wife a form to register to vote.  Apparently they got her name from when we signed her up for health insurance when she first arrived.  This is particularly annoying because even though we did not receive any subsidies for the insurance they still required her to prove her status as a LPR to get the insurance. So the same database where California got her name and address from, has her quite definitively identified as a LPR and not a citizen.  There was no where on the voter registration form she received to say she was not a citizen so we just shredded it.

 

She also got called for jury duty once but we discovered our county now has jury duty excuses online which is quite convenient.  So she just had to go to the court website put in the summons number, check the "not a citizen" box and that was the end of that.