Sec. of State candidate Ruth Johnson stirs fears of non-citizen voting

Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson has made the focal point of her campaign for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State a five point plan to keep foreigners from voting in Michigan elections, something that state and local elections officials say is a non-existent problem in the state.

At a recent campaign stop in northern Michigan, Johnson alleged that non-citizens are being granted voter ID cards and she proposed redesigning the state drivers license so that any non-citizen who has a drivers license and tries to vote could be more easily detected at polling places.

“178,000 people are in this state that are here on visas and work permits and they have the same drivers licenses as all of us do and many of them get a voting card without even asking for it,“ Johnson said. “Some people do it by mistake, maybe some not by mistake but we cant afford to have people voting that are not U.S. citizens.”

The solution, according to Johnson, is for Michigan to implement a new type of drivers license that would include a voter ID on one side for people authorized to vote and no voter ID for those not authorized to vote.

Johnson did not give any statistics or examples of instances in which non-citizens have voted, and her office did not return calls seeking information about the problem. She also gave no information on what it would cost to redesign the state drivers license.

Under current law people applying for drivers licenses are required to show proof of citizenship status.

Kelly Chesney, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land — who is running for Lt. Governor on a Republican ticket with Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard — said that her office is unaware of any problems with non-citizen voting in Michigan.

Todd Schmitz, deputy clerk in Macomb County which neighbors Oakland, said his office has seen no complaints about non-citizens attempting to register to vote, or attempting to actually vote.

“Voter registration lists are public information,” Schmitz said. “Providing false citizenship information on a voter registration application under current law is subject to perjury law with penalties of a fine, imprisonment or both.”

“Ruth is making much ado about nothing,” said Jan BenDor of the Michigan Election Reform Alliance, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to democratizing elections.

“The only way this could happen is if the person completes the application to register to vote which is automatically printed out with the completed first time driver license — and misunderstands or deliberately lies on the question ‘are you a U.S. citizen?’”

Based on her experience as a deputy clerk in Pittsfield Township, BenDor said, this is not a common mistake.

“In eight years, I had one person who made this mistake, not understanding the purpose of the form when it was put before her at the [Secretary of State branch office]. When she received a voter ID from my office, the woman was terrified that she had committed a crime, and she rushed in to cancel her application.

“Non-citizens do not want to commit a crime,” BenDor said. “They want to live honestly so they can qualify for citizenship, or return home freely after their tour of study.” Indeed, studies have shown that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the native population for that very reason.

Johnson’s focus on non-citizen voting seems to be part of a larger pattern of Republican candidates in the state taking advantage of the current anti-immigrant fervor being stoked on a daily basis in order to win support within the party. In fact, her focus on this issue may well be a strategic response to two of her most prominent opponents using similar tactics.

Two other candidates for the same post, State Sens. Michelle McManus (R-Lake Leelanau) and Cameron Brown (R-Sturgis), are co-sponsoring a copycat of the recent and very controversial anti-immigration law passed in Arizona, despite similar assurances from even Republican officials that Michigan has very little problem with illegal immigration.

And as Bill Ballenger, a former Republican state legislator who now publishes the Inside Michigan Politics newsletter, and Wayne State University professor Jack Lessenberry told the Messenger about that legislation, putting the focus on mythical problems that stir up anti-immigrant sentiment may well be good politics.

Both said that such a strategy may help Republican candidates win over delegates at the August nominating convention, when they will choose which of these candidates will go on the November ballot.