HB 402

     HB 402 proposed to revise elector registration laws by requiring the Montana Secretary of State to verify the citizenship status of new applicants. I voted for HB 402 because it would have required the verification of U.S. citizenship to vote, which is not, believe it or not, currently required by either federal or state law. HB 402 would have made Montana the first state in the country to verify voter citizenship upon registration.

     The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (aka the Motor Voter Act), as interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, prohibits states from requiring documentary proof of citizenship during voter registration.

     Although Article IV, Section 2, of the Montana Constitution, MCA 13-1-111(1)(d), and MCA 13-2-206 require that an elector be a U.S. citizen, there is no requirement to verify the citizenship of a voter in Montana. Under current law, the registrant only needs to sign the registration form declaring, under penalty of perjury, that he or she is a citizen. No documentary proof or verification is required. The only way a noncitizen voter can be caught and punished is if someone “challenges” the voter by reporting him or her to the authorities. 

     Under HB 402, a citizenship verification process would start after a new registration. (As noted, to require documentary proof of citizenship during registration would have violated federal law.) If the verification process is completed before the election and the registrant is discovered to be a noncitizen, then the registrant is prevented from voting and punished for perjury for lying on the registration form. If the verification process is completed after the election and the registrant is discovered to be a noncitizen, then the registrant is taken off the voter roll and punished for both perjury and illegal voting.

     Again, I voted for HB 420 because it would have provided a means for election officials to verify that those registered to vote are U.S. citizens. It would not have allowed noncitizens to vote legally. Rather, it would have caught those noncitizens who vote or attempt to vote illegally.