County clerk whose office registered noncitizen to vote: We don't want to be the 'immigration police'
The county clerk in Indiana whose office registered a foreigner to vote even though he marked that he was not a U.S. citizen, said today that they’re not checking citizenship because, “No one wants to be the immigration police.”
“The BMV [Bureau of Motor Vehicles] doesn’t want to check it. We don’t want to check it,” said Monroe County Clerk Nicole Browne.
Monroe County is one of only five counties in Indiana — out of 92 — where the majority of voters voted for Joe Biden for president in 2020. And of these five counties, it is about tied with Marion County (Indianapolis) for the title of the most Democrat county in the state.
The county is home to a large public university — Indiana University — which has more than 5,000 foreign students enrolled this fall.
Browne said she was familiar with the case of the man from India who was added to the county’s voter roll even though he’d checked that he was not a U.S. citizen when filling out a voter registration form.
She attributed it to human error, saying it’s likely that her employee overlooked the box that was checked on citizenship.
“I don’t believe it is this widespread thing happening in Monroe County,” she said. “I want to reassure you that there is no one working for me that is trying register noncitizens.”
When asked how many other noncitizens may be on the voter roll in Monroe County, Browne said she believes there are “very, very few” noncitizens on the voter rolls statewide.
Nicole Browne is not only the county clerk in Monroe County. She is also the president of the state association of county clerks, officially called the Association of the Clerks of Circuit Courts of Indiana. In this position, she frequently testifies before the Indiana General Assembly on election-related bills.
What asked what her office does every year to maintain an accurate voter roll in compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (the “Motor Voter” law), she pointed to the postcards the state sends out asking voters to update their information.
She did not indicate whether her office takes any action on its own, such as checking the roll for duplicate registrations or crosschecking with other government databases to determine who may not be a U.S. citizen, or who may have moved, died or been convicted of a felony, making them ineligible to vote.
But she did acknowledge that the system needs to be tightened to prevent noncitizens from being added to the roll in the future.
“We will work to improve our processes,” she said, suggesting that she may appoint a second person to verify voter registration information before someone is added to the roll.
She also said if it’s brought to her attention that a noncitizen voted in Monroe County, she would work with the county prosecutor to bring charges against that person.
It’s a felony for a noncitizen to vote in the state of Indiana.
She is president of the County Clerk association? Hmm. Perhaps we can find someone in Monroe County who is interested in keeping correct voting records. Surely we can find a Dem or Republican who cares about accuracy? I'm only a little frustrated because I'm willing to be the immigration police. Have a young friend die of fentanyl poisoning or take care of a central American 13 year old having a baby who has been sexually exploited it gets easier. I love legal immigration, law breakers not so much.
Senator Mark Messmer proposed SB 200 in 2023 to allow TPS (Temporary Protected Status) aka illegal aliens to obtain drivers license and in state-tuition. After several addendums, the legislation passed. Interestingly Messmer took $1.5 million from AIPAC.