Anthony Rubin with Muckrakers went undercover at the New York City Board of Elections where he posed as a non-citizen wanting to register to vote. The election worker the organization spoke to openly admitted that non-citizens register to vote. He then told Rubin and the group that he would submit their illegal application and not report it.
“I’m just a green card holder, so you’re not going to report me if I do this because I….” the man posing as the fake non-citizen started, before the election worker interrupted saying, “No, no, no, no. We accept anything that comes over the counter.” He then went on to add, “You know we have people come in here and they have legal situations and they register. They weren’t a citizen.”
The video posted by Muckrakers noted that when a person is registering to vote in New York City, they are not required to present any proof of identification. When the individual wearing the camera brings the application up to the election worker, he states he’s a Canadian green card holder. The worker then says, “You have to be a citizen. I wouldn’t fill it out.”
The undercover journalist then states that the worker didn’t tell him it would be illegal to fill out the application, just that he recommended he didn’t. “Somebody told me they were a green card holder and that they came in and then they submitted and they were good,” the journalist replied. “We can’t stop you from submitting the application and if it goes through, but most likely, because they don’t do, like, a full background check. But once in a while, you know, we have people come in here and they have legal situations and they register,” the worker said.
“They weren’t a citizen,” he continued, which the journalist emphasizes is a direct admission that non-citizens are registering to vote. The journalist responded, “Here’s the deal. I’m like, I’m really against everything that’s going on right now, and I’m trying to do my part, so like…Do you mind if I fill this out?” The worker then said, “That’s up to you. That’s like…I can’t tell you what to do. You want to fill it out? Fill it out. But everything is clearly stated, especially at the bottom, it says ‘American citizen.'”
The worker then reiterated that he’s letting the journalist know that if he fills out the application and he’s not a citizen, it could come back around with negative consequences. The worker added, “But we accept anything that comes over the counter.” The journalist followed up, asking, “You’re not going to report me or something like that?”
The worker replied, “No, no, I’m not. No, we don’t report anybody. Whoever fills that application out comes to us.” The journalist reiterates that he’s only a green card holder, asking again if the worker is going to report him for filling out the voter registration application. And again, the worker says no, adding, “It’s not my job to report anyone. My job is jut to collect the application and submit it to the department.”
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The video goes on to explain that any election worker who willfully violates election law concerning registration has committed a felony offense. In other words, since the journalist admitted he was a non-citizen, the worker would be guilty of a crime for processing the application. The Muckrakers left the office, but returned later to gather more information.
However, the worker became suspicious and asked for help from a co-worker in the office. This time, he refused to accept the application. The Muckrakers later confronted the worker on the street, asking him a series of questions about how often non-citizens come into the office and submit voter registration applications. The man remained silent and refused to provide any additional information.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video