{"id":2355748,"date":"2024-10-16T14:25:01","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T18:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/emails-rhode-island-solicited-voter-registration-from-noncitizens\/"},"modified":"2024-10-16T14:27:20","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T18:27:20","slug":"emails-rhode-island-solicited-voter-registration-from-noncitizens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/emails-rhode-island-solicited-voter-registration-from-noncitizens\/","title":{"rendered":"Emails: Rhode Island Solicited Voter Registration From Noncitizens"},"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%2Femails-rhode-island-solicited-voter-registration-from-noncitizens%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=2355748&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 Rhode Island Department of State reportedly contacted noncitizens to encourage them\u2063 to register to vote, with the aim of fulfilling requirements set by the\u200c left-leaning voter registration group, Electronic\u2062 Registration Information Center (ERIC). Emails reviewed by The Federalist \u200cindicated that the Department&#8217;s former director of elections, Rob Rock, confirmed that the state sent out &#8220;eligible but \u2062unregistered&#8221; \u2063(EBU) voter mailers to individuals identified \u2062as noncitizens. Two versions of these \u200bmailers were sent\u2014one for those flagged as citizens and another for noncitizens\u2014though both\u200d types \u2062contained information about registering\u200c to \u200cvote.<\/p>\n<p>Despite making it clear that only\u2063 citizens can register, the mailers\u200c targeted noncitizens\u200d under \u2062the pretense that \u2062their citizenship status might have changed. The Department of State insists it cannot ask for \u2064proof \u200dof \u2062citizenship during voter registration, citing \u2063a 2013 Supreme Court ruling. This inconsistency has raised concerns among election integrity advocates about noncitizens possibly \u2063being able to register.<\/p>\n<p>As part\u2063 of ERIC&#8217;s membership, states are required to send mailers \u200bto EBUs, a process that may inadvertently include noncitizens. While defenders argue that noncitizen voting is rare, the Biden administration recently took legal action against Virginia for attempting to remove noncitizens\u200d from voter rolls. \u2063Rhode Island&#8217;s Department \u200cof \u2064State \u200dclaims to take voter \u200clist maintenance seriously, having removed nearly \u200d148,000 voters since 2020, though \u200cthe reliability of ERIC&#8217;s methods has been questioned.\u2063 Critics argue that ERIC&#8217;s approach may compromise fair, nonpartisan voter roll management.  <\/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<div>\n<p>The Rhode Island Department of State solicited potential noncitizens to register to vote in order to meet the requirements of the leftist election group Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), according to emails reviewed by The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p>In a 2021 email thread, Rob Rock, the Department of State&rsquo;s former director of elections (who now serves as deputy secretary and director of administration), said the state sent &ldquo;eligible but unregistered&rdquo; (EBU) voter mailers to individuals flagged as noncitizens. The email was sent in response to an inquiry from Kyle Upchurch, program manager at the Zuckbucks-linked Center for Election Innovation &amp; Research (CEIR).<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We sent two versions of the EBU,&rdquo; Rock wrote. &ldquo;One to people who have a &lsquo;Y&rsquo; citizenship flag and one to those who have a &lsquo;No&rsquo; citizenship flag. Each PDF contains the English and Spanish versions.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>While the mailers said that an individual would have to be a citizen to register to vote, they were sent to citizens and noncitizens alike, targeting those who were flagged as noncitizens. In a statement to The Federalist, Department of State Director of Communications and Public Affairs Faith Chybowski said the purpose is to target those who may be newly naturalized citizens whose citizenship status has changed and therefore would be eligible to vote.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our records show that you have not been eligible to vote due to your U.S. citizenship status,&rdquo; the mailer, provided by the department, reads. &ldquo;If your status has changed recently, you may now be eligible to vote.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>However, the department simultaneously maintains that &ldquo;it is a felony for a non-U.S. citizen to be registered to vote&rdquo; and that it &ldquo;cannot ask for proof of citizenship under law&rdquo; when individuals register to vote. To support the&nbsp;latter claim, the office cited a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Arizona could not require documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/official-election-data-drops-2020-bombshell-thousands-of-ballots-may-have-been-illegally-cast\/\" title=\"Official Election Data Drops 2020 Bombshell: Thousands of Ballots May Have Been Illegally Cast\">federal voter registration form<\/a> without approval from the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and subsequent left-wing litigation against the EAC for allowing certain states to require&nbsp;DPOC.<\/p>\n<p>Registering to vote in Rhode Island, Chybowski explained, merely &ldquo;requires an attestation that the signer is a citizen.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The inconsistency has election integrity advocates concerned about how Rhode Island would be able to know if noncitizens are registering, particularly in light of the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/18\/exclusive-new-report-details-growing-threat-of-noncitizens-voting-in-u-s-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">numerous examples<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/10\/federal-data-thousands-of-illegals-are-registered-to-vote-but-in-21-years-doj-has-only-prosecuted-35\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noncitizens<\/a> making their way onto <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/08\/the-federal-government-is-fighting-to-keep-noncitizens-on-voter-rolls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voter rolls<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sending the EBU mailers is a requirement of membership in the left-wing, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cisa-censors-work-with-private-groups-to-target-election-misinfo\/\" title=\"CISA Censors Work With Private Groups To Target Election &#039;Misinfo&#039;\">multi-state voter roll &#038;ldquo<\/a>;management&rdquo; system Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), which also has <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/20\/report-eric-deemed-168000-dead-or-relocated-virginians-eligible-but-unregistered-to-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ties<\/a> to Zuckbucks and its &ldquo;hardcore leftist&rdquo; founder <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/01\/why-is-michigans-secretary-of-state-working-with-election-meddler-david-becker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">David Becker<\/a> (also the founder and current executive director of CEIR).<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;ERIC was established to clean up the voter rolls in member states. However, the member agreement only mandates adding voters[,] not removing them,&rdquo; Ned Jones, director of the Citizens Election Research Center at the Election Integrity Network, a project of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy, told The Federalist. &ldquo;Member states send ERIC a list of anyone who interact[s] with the DMV, both citizens and non-citizens. ERIC shares the information with CEIR and sends the state a list of EBUs to contact, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dcs-election-takeover-is-unconstitutional-and-impractical-leave-it-to-the-states\/\" title=\"DC\u2019s Election Takeover Is Unconstitutional And Impractical \u2013 Leave It To The States\">voter registration information<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This list includes non-citizens as revealed in the Rhode Island emails and the mass mailing to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/elections-colorado-voting-presidential-voter-registration-440a78fff21bfb75d413c69b0c0f3c61\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">30,000<\/a> non-citizens by the Secretary of State in Colorado,&rdquo; added Jones, whose organization obtained the emails through an open records request. &ldquo;Under the ERIC agreement member states may be registering non-citizens.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Even though Democrats and their allies in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/05\/us\/politics\/immigrant-noncitizen-voting-republicans.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">corporate media<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2024\/08\/30\/nx-s1-5091032\/noncitizens-voting-election-gop-texas-tennessee-alabama\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">maintain<\/a> that noncitizens are <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/voting-immigrants-noncitizen-trump-republicans-2024-1c65429c152c2a10514b5156eacf9ca7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not voting<\/a> (and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/our-work\/analysis-opinion\/noncitizen-voting-already-illegal-and-vanishingly-rare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">even if they do it is &ldquo;vanishingly rare,&rdquo;<\/a> leftists argue), the Biden-Harris Department of Justice is <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/14\/biden-harris-doj-sues-to-stop-virginia-from-taking-noncitizens-off-the-voter-rolls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">currently suing the Commonwealth of Virginia<\/a> for removing roughly 6,300 noncitizens from its voter rolls in an attempt to ensure those individuals are still registered.<\/p>\n<p>It is unclear how many individuals flagged as noncitizens received EBU mailers from Rhode Island, but the Department of State told The Federalist that it &ldquo;takes voter list maintenance seriously.&rdquo; According to statistics offered by the department, 147,997 voters have been removed from the rolls since 2020.<\/p>\n<p>While removals&nbsp;are&nbsp;determined by information like state DMV data, Department of Corrections reports, and death reports from the Department of Health,&nbsp;they are also informed by&nbsp;ERIC-provided list maintenance services, including those for which&nbsp;the state provides&nbsp;data.<\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist has <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/11\/democratic-operatives-control-voter-rolls-in-31-states-report-shows\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, ERIC is an extremely problematic organization for states to be partnering with if the ultimate goal is to conduct voter roll maintenance in a fair, nonpartisan way.<\/p>\n<p>The group was founded by Becker, who just this year was attempting to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/25\/zuckbucks-distributor-doesnt-want-you-paying-attention-to-noncitizen-voting-in-november\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">convince<\/a> Americans to ignore the issue of noncitizen voting. Becker was also a lobbyist for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/people-for-the-american-way\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">George Soros dark money-funded<\/a> People for the American Way, infamous for its &ldquo;Right Wing Watch,&rdquo; a project aimed at attacking conservatives. As an attorney at the Justice Department, Becker was <a href=\"https:\/\/legalnewsline.com\/stories\/555822683-mark-zuckerberg-beneficiaries-promoting-fair-elections-not-exactly-non-partisan-as-advertised\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">labeled<\/a> by his colleagues a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-is-michigan-working-with-election-meddler-david-becker\/\" title=\"Why Is Michigan Working With Election Meddler David Becker?\">hard-core leftist&#038;rdquo<\/a>; and someone who &ldquo;couldn&rsquo;t stand conservatives.<\/p>\n<p>Among other problems with ERIC, the group also partnered with CEIR, one of two far-left organizations that distributed part of the $419 million from Mark Zuckerberg&rsquo;s election-meddling scheme, which <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/10\/13\/mark-zuckerberg-spent-419m-on-nonprofits-ahead-of-2020-election-and-got-out-the-dem-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">privatized elections and tipped the scales in favor of Democrats in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>ERIC has also helped left-wing organizations like CEIR use state funds to register likely Democrat voters and increase voter turnout in deep blue areas. As the Washington Examiner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/2620451\/voter-rolls-group-gives-personal-data-to-politically-driven-organizations-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, &ldquo;an organization like CEIR can be sent voter data by ERIC and procure mailing lists for citizens who they would like to be contacted for voter registration solicitation &hellip; and that list will be sent back to the state. Membership in ERIC requires that the state send out those mailers using taxpayer dollars.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Because of the partisan activism of ERIC, multiple states have left the organization in recent years.<\/p>\n<p><em>For more election news and updates, visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/electionbriefing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">electionbriefing.com<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rhode Island sought noncitizens to register for ERIC compliance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2355749,"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\/10\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5926402-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32644,8602,13833,36648,6431],"class_list":["post-2355748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-election-integrity","tag-emails","tag-noncitizens","tag-rhode-island","tag-voter-registration"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5926402-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355748","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\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2355748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2355749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2355748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2355748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2355748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}