{"id":2227908,"date":"2024-04-23T08:05:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T12:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/strong-voter-id-laws-confirm-not-just-who-you-are-but-where-you-live\/"},"modified":"2024-04-23T08:10:35","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T12:10:35","slug":"strong-voter-id-laws-confirm-not-just-who-you-are-but-where-you-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/strong-voter-id-laws-confirm-not-just-who-you-are-but-where-you-live\/","title":{"rendered":"Robust Voter ID Laws Verify Identity and Residence"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstrong-voter-id-laws-confirm-not-just-who-you-are-but-where-you-live%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2227908&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article\u200d discusses the importance of voter ID laws \u200cin verifying identity\u200b and residency for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-poised-to-reject-democratic-challenge-to-arizona-election-laws\/\" title=\"Supreme Court Poised to Reject Democratic Challenge to Arizona Election Laws\">ballot integrity<\/a>. \u2063It\u2062 highlights challenges with voter registration updates during address changes, \u200demphasizing\u200c the need for strict enforcement of \u2063residency laws to prevent fraud\u2062 and\u200c maintain election\u200c integrity. The article also explores\u2063 solutions for improving voter registration\u200d accuracy and \u200daddresses the \u2064complexities of reforming existing regulations like the\u200d NVRA.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>The debate over voter ID typically centers on the need to prove <em>we are who we say we are<\/em> when we vote, which is obviously very important. But voter ID can and should also be used to prove <em>we live where we say we live<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>This is critical because the ballots we receive when we vote are based on where we actually live \u2014 where our \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/codes\/georgia\/2022\/title-21\/chapter-2\/article-6\/section-21-2-217\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">habitation is fixed<\/a>\u201d as is the case in my home state of Georgia. That location determines our \u201cjurisdiction,\u201d which is our county and\/or municipality. It also determines our voting precinct, our city and county election contests, and the school board, judicial, county commission, state House, state Senate, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/key-virginia-congressional-contest-a-battle-of-who-supports-police-more\/\" title=\"Key Virginia Congressional Contest a Battle of Who Supports Police More\">congressional district races<\/a> that appear on our ballots.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-507052267\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1c4196f916f9d9968843b923f51adb97 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1c4196f916f9d9968843b923f51adb97\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Unenforced <strong>Residency Laws <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Georgia, like other states, has enacted residency laws to help ensure voters get the right ballot when they vote \u2014 and to ensure residents are registered where they live. However, we live in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/home-improvement\/moving-services\/annual-moving-trend-forecast\/\">highly mobile society<\/a>, with tens of millions of people moving every year, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.audacy.com\/987thespot\/blogs\/miles-in-the-morning\/study-finds-moving-the-most-stressful-event-in-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">studies have shown<\/a> that moving is one of the most stressful events that can occur in our lives. It ranks right up there with divorce, marriage, having kids, starting a new job, or having children.  <\/p>\n<p>While most people will almost instinctively file a change of address with the USPS when they move, many people don\u2019t \u2014 and far fewer even think about updating their voter registration during such a life transition. We are also required by law to update our driver\u2019s licenses within 60 days of moving, but many people don\u2019t get around to doing that in a timely manner either, and violations of our <a href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/codes\/georgia\/2022\/title-40\/chapter-5\/article-2\/section-40-5-33\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">law<\/a> are often ignored or considered a \u201cfix it ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When election integrity activists run <a href=\"https:\/\/faq.usps.com\/s\/article\/Change-of-Address-The-Basics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">USPS National Change of Address<\/a> processing on our voter data, which can \u201clook back\u201d for a period of four years, we can see \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/hRCXUNOwOjw?si=ZLcWjp_G0yUgZ0gH&#038;t=15704\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hundreds of thousands<\/a>\u201d of voters who have told the USPS they were moving to new jurisdictions months or even years ago, but who are still registered to vote \u2014 and sometimes still casting ballots \u2014 at their previous addresses. We would not be seeing numbers this high if people were updating their driver\u2019s licenses in a timely manner.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Residency Fraud<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/02\/23\/raffensperger-claims-georgias-voter-rolls-are-cleanest-in-the-country-heres-why-thats-bunk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">February hearing<\/a> before the Georgia Senate Ethic Committee, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger\u2019s Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling and Elections Director Blake Evans described the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/oo69sXMOZxA?si=EZbETMjQYrEMIkHV&#038;t=2736\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">daily feed<\/a>\u201d they receive from the Department of Driver\u2019s Services, which helps their office keep our voter rolls current. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-23318c4ecd58bde569fde8ef2e286ff5 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-23318c4ecd58bde569fde8ef2e286ff5\"><\/div>\n<p>But Sterling, who is rumored to be considering a run for secretary of state, also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/oo69sXMOZxA?si=WITAZUZYpYVNrWUT&#038;t=2990\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">admitted<\/a> that \u201cwe probably have thousands of people over the last few years voting in not necessarily 100 percent the right place.\u201d That sounds like our secretary of state\u2019s office finally admitting people have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/07\/19\/georgia-voting-official-makes-excuses-for-residents-who-illegally-voted-in-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">broken the law<\/a>, as some counties are wittingly or unwittingly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/oo69sXMOZxA?si=lazUa_uiptnpF7OF&#038;t=3467\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">failing to enforce<\/a> residency laws.  <\/p>\n<p>Sterling also pointed out that increasing numbers of people <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/oo69sXMOZxA?si=Nij2rrC-tNkt0j66&#038;t=2289\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">do not file<\/a> a change of address with the USPS when they move and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/oo69sXMOZxA?si=Z1sBfK5YUAdgawNE&#038;t=2249\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stressed the need to reform<\/a> the over-30-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/crt\/national-voter-registration-act-1993-nvra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1993 National Voter Registration Act<\/a> \u2014 also known as the \u201cNVRA\u201d or the \u201cMotor Voter Law.\u201d He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/oo69sXMOZxA?si=_k0LKeLwWehAUQ2C&#038;t=3072\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a> that \u201cwe don\u2019t live in a pen, paper, mail, envelope, postage world that we used to \u2014 we live in an internet world.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He also explained to the committee that the law requires them to obtain a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/oo69sXMOZxA?si=OVFYl-P15w3f2HUe&#038;t=2417\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wet signature<\/a>\u201d to confirm a voter\u2019s change of address and that the problem with reforming the NVRA is the members of Congress who refuse to consider engaging in that battle.<\/p>\n<p>The NVRA permits a secretary of state to use NCOA processing as part of their list maintenance activities, but also heavily regulates the way they can do that. When they get information from the USPS that a voter has moved, they are required to mail that voter to request confirmation of their move, but voters often ignore those requests.  <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-90d2877aa55f40afe17d6dfb919c849a fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-90d2877aa55f40afe17d6dfb919c849a\"><\/div>\n<p>When the voters do not respond, they can be placed on inactive status and must then remain on inactive status for at least two more general election cycles before they can be removed. In other words, it can take years for voters who have moved away to \u201cage off\u201d the voter rolls and finally be purged. So essentially, the NVRA forces our nation\u2019s secretaries of state to collectively keep <em>millions and millions<\/em> of bogus registrations on our voter rolls, often for <em>years<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, the NVRA also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/election-integrity\/report\/misreading-the-national-voter-registration-act-preventing-states-using\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">permits<\/a> a secretary of state to use driver\u2019s license updates to change the voter rolls, and according to Sterling, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/oo69sXMOZxA?si=2Oo6k0rkmq1YY9ZF&#038;t=3817\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">about 98%<\/a>\u201d of Georgia voters hold driver\u2019s licenses. But what help is that when voters are apparently only marginally more concerned with updating their driver\u2019s license than they are with updating their voter registrations?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why Does All This Matter?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In Georgia, when a voter has moved to a new jurisdiction less than 30 days before an election, they can <a href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/codes\/georgia\/2022\/title-21\/chapter-2\/article-6\/section-21-2-218\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">still cast a ballot<\/a> in their old jurisdiction \u2014 we refer to this as \u201cthe grace period.\u201d However, this grace period does not extend beyond 30 days, and by failing to comply with the law, voters trap themselves \u2014 they have lost their residency in their old jurisdiction, and they are not registered in their new jurisdiction. In other words, they cannot lawfully cast a ballot at all in that particular election. <\/p>\n<p>Obviously, for would-be voters, this is a very untenable position to be in, and unfortunately, many of those voters will attempt to resolve the situation by voting in their old jurisdiction, even though that is not lawful. When they show up to vote, they will show a driver\u2019s license they know has not been updated but could have been updated <a href=\"https:\/\/dds.georgia.gov\/georgia-licenseid\/existing-licenseid\/how-do-i-update-license\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">online<\/a> in just a few minutes. The poll worker will then use that license to pull up their voter registration, which has not \u2014 but also could have been \u2014 updated <a href=\"https:\/\/mvp.sos.ga.gov\/s\/voter-registration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">online<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Next, the poll worker, who has no way of knowing the voter has moved, will ask the voter to sign a voter certificate, which requires them to verify their name and address information, and that certificate also carries a warning about not violating <a href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/codes\/georgia\/2022\/title-21\/chapter-2\/article-15\/section-21-2-562\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">OCGA 21-2-562<\/a>. That statute makes providing false information on a voter certificate a felony punishable by a sentence of up to 10 years, and\/or a fine of up to $100,000. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnowingly or willfully\u201d giving false information about our residency is also a violation of federal law under <a href=\"https:\/\/uscode.house.gov\/view.xhtml?req=(title:52%20section:10307\">52 USC 10307<\/a> which is the Prohibited Acts section of the Voting Rights Act if there is a federal race on the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>How can this kind of residency fraud be solved?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The \u2018Hard Way\u2019 or the \u2018Better Way<\/strong>\u2018<\/h2>\n<p>One solution is to have that huge, knock-down, drag-out brawl in Congress over reforming the NVRA, which most likely will not succeed until and unless Republicans regain control of Congress and the White House \u2014 and finally summon a spine. In doing so, they will undoubtedly face a withering storm of criticism from the left amid accusations of \u201cRepublican voter suppression\u201d from \u201celection deniers,\u201d and all that nonsense.<\/p>\n<p>Then unfortunately, even if we succeeded, the battle would be far from over \u2014 the issue would just shift to the courts where a new multimillion-dollar lawfare battle would begin.<\/p>\n<p>But the \u201cbetter way\u201d is a whole different subject. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/election-integrity\/report\/misreading-the-national-voter-registration-act-preventing-states-using\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/election-integrity\/report\/misreading-the-national-voter-registration-act-preventing-states-using\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hans von Spakovsky<\/a>, senior legal fellow with the Heritage Foundation, recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/election-integrity\/report\/misreading-the-national-voter-registration-act-preventing-states-using\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pointed out<\/a>, there is nothing in the NVRA prohibiting states from trying to keep their driver\u2019s license data clean, and regardless of any effect on voter registrations, there are plenty of very legitimate reasons to want to do that. For example, when someone moves to Atlanta from a sleepy little South Georgia town with a brand-new Cadillac Escalade, Fulton County will probably want their ad valorem taxes. That driver\u2019s insurance company would probably also like to use the right actuarial tables for that area because that Escalade is more likely to be involved in an accident or be stolen.\u00a0Wouldn\u2019t it also be a good idea to help keep track of where convicted child molesters are living? So we might even find some Democrat allies in our effort.  <\/p>\n<p>The NVRA may place limits on our nation\u2019s secretaries of state on when and how they use data from NCOA processing, but there are no such restrictions regarding what our Department of Driver Services might do with it. So why not have them run NCOA periodically on the driver\u2019s license data and then send out notices to drivers who have moved, encouraging them to comply with the law?  <\/p>\n<p>Why not also put some teeth into that law, fine people who fail to comply with it, and then use those fines to administer the program like <a href=\"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/title46.2\/chapter3\/section46.2-324\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Virginia<\/a> currently does? As far as I am concerned, this Virginia statute is <em>an absolute model<\/em> for the whole nation! Urging drivers to keep their addresses and thus their qualifications to vote current would quite literally make it \u201cEasier to vote, and harder to cheat.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>I asked Garland Favorito, the founder of Georgia election watchdog group VoterGA, to comment on his potential support for such a measure.\u00a0He responded in an email stating, \u201cIf the Department of Driver Services periodically verifies their drivers\u2019 license records against the postal service\u2019s National Change of Address database, and then notifies drivers to correct any discrepancy, it would not only help them maintain the correct residency but also help those drivers who are still in-state voters receive the correct ballot for each subsequent election in accordance with Georgia election law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone should be vigilant in investigating these issues in their state. Find out if your secretary of state\u2019s office is getting regular and frequent updates based on driver\u2019s license data. Find out what your state law says about updating your driver\u2019s licenses, and then check those laws to see if there are any teeth in them. <\/p>\n<p>If the answer to these questions is \u201cno,\u201d then please consider joining with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-j6-show-trial-is-lying-about-election-fraud\/\" title=\"The J6 Show Trial Is Lying About Election \u2018Fraud\u2019\">election integrity advocates<\/a> in your area to advocate for change.  <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-fbdd884f1ae10d3d2b05356d5f88e4af fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-fbdd884f1ae10d3d2b05356d5f88e4af\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The voter ID debate focuses on proving identity during voting, crucial for trust. Beyond that, it&#8217;s equally vital to verify our residency. Ensuring we live where we claim is key, especially for ballot distribution and maintaining the integrity of elections<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2711,"featured_media":2227909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5926256-1-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2227908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5926256-1-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2227908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2711"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2227908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2227908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2227909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2227908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2227908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2227908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}