The Virginia Voters Alliance recently put out a release announcing that 278 non-citizen voters have been referred to the Fairfax County Prosecutor’s office and Attorney General Eric Holder for voter fraud.  You can read the entire release below:

 

Virginia Voters Alliance Demands Investigation, Prosecution

of 278 Non-Citizen Voters

Calls for passage of Proof of Citizenship legislation to preserve integrity in overall electoral processes

 

CHANTILLY, VA – October 8, 2014 – Following last month’s announcement of the confirmed 164 double voters out of 43,893 duplicate registrations with Maryland,Virginia Voters Alliance announces today that 278 non-citizen voters have been referred to the Fairfax County Prosecutor’s office and Attorney General Eric Holder for voter fraud. This news is a part of a much larger issue of grave national concern – non-citizen voting that has continued to occur, threatening the integrity of our electoral process.

On June 1, 2014 Hans van Spakovsky published an article in The Daily Signal that details the specific instances of non-citizen voting in Virginia and underscores the lack of prosecution and attention paid to these violations of state and federal law by the Fairfax County Prosecutor’s Office and Attorney General, Eric Holder. Using records obtained from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), van Spakovsky, a former member of the Fairfax County Electoral Board, uncovered 278 registered voters who were able to participate in the recent elections, all of whom told the DMV that they were not U.S. citizens when they completed documentation to receive their driver’s licenses. Further, this entire group of 278 non-citizen voters were given the opportunity to confirm their citizenship prior to the cancellation of any of their illegal registrations – which none did. At least half of these individuals, about 117 non-citizen voters, then were found to have actively voted in both state and federal elections.

The latest developments in the disturbing issue of non-citizen voting activity also put the lack of investigation and prosecution at the federal level into sharp perspective. The activities by the 278 non-citizen voters identified in Virginia are in direct violation of the “Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses” handbook written by the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section. In fact, “falsely claiming to be a citizen on a voter registration form,” the exact offense noted above, actually violates three federal statues, 42 U.S.C. §1973gg-10(2), 18 U.S.C. §1015(f), and 18 U.S.C. §911. Violations of each of these are felony infractions, punishable by imprisonment of up to three or five years, depending on the specific statute. In addition, “actual voting” by a non-citizen, known to be the case for at least 117 individuals in the above Virginia example, violates 18 U.S.C. §611 and is a strict liability offense. Otherwise stated, it “does not require proof that the offender was aware that citizenship is a prerequisite to voting.” Violations are misdemeanors punishable by up to one year in prison.

Most alarming of all in this recent example is the complete lack of interest by the Justice Department in investigating and prosecuting these nearly 300 cases of potential felony violations of federal law, which should be the primary focus and mission of the Department’s activities. Once informed of these instances of non-citizen registration and voting activity in state and federal elections, the key proof into these illegal actions threatening our democratic process seemingly “disappeared into a black hole,” as described by von Spakovsky. The potential ramifications for election outcomes that failure to act on such instances of fraud can bring are significant as elections are often decided by very close margins of votes. In Fairfax County alone, the 2013 Attorney General’s race was decided by fewer than 1,000 votes out of 2.2 million cast; in 2005, the margin was less than 400 votes.

Reagan George, President of the VVA, echoes this call for the passage of proof of citizenship laws in Virginia and across the nation. “These latest developments underscore the critical importance of taking steps to enact proof of citizenship legislation to curb non-citizen voting, and drive attention and legal prosecution at the state and federal levels to prevent such activity from continuing to occur.” George stated. “These issues are essential to preserving our electoral freedoms and ensuring integrity and accuracy in the country’s political and electoral processes. Action must be taken now!”

 

About the Virginia Voters Alliance (VVA)

Virginia Voters Alliance is an initiative developed by citizens for citizens, meant to inspire and equip volunteers for involvement at every stage of our electoral process. VVA promotes ideas that actively protect the rights of legitimate voters, regardless of their political party affiliation. The Virginia Voters Alliance was formed to provide a trans-partisan, state-wide organization that is devoted to improving the election laws and voting processes in the Commonwealth of Virginia, which would decrease opportunities for voter fraud, and insure open and honest elections for all citizens of Virginia. For more information, please visit www.virginiavotersalliance.com.