This is in response to recent comments by Nels Kelstrom regarding his dissatisfaction with my co-sponsorship of HB 1774.

As you know, HB 1774 provides that any person who registered to vote prior to July 1, 2007, must re-register in order to vote a regular ballot after July 1, 2009.

Persons who do not re-register will still be allowed to vote, but because they have not re-registered, they will be required to vote a provisional ballot.

Provisional ballots are subject to greater scrutiny before they are counted to make sure they are valid because they are viewed as less reliable than regular ballots.

You note that you are most upset at the requirement that persons who register or re-register after the effective date of this act will have to prove that they are U.S. citizens in order to register.

It has, of course, always been a requirement that a person be a citizen of the United States in order to vote in our elections.

I invite you to read Article VI Section 1 of our state Constitution which provides in pertinent part, “All persons of the age of 18 years or over who are citizens of the United States . . .”

Frankly, since persons must be at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen in order to cast a legal vote, I do not understand your objection to demanding that individuals prove that they are U.S. citizens in order to register.

You claim that having to prove U.S. citizenship will be more difficult for persons who might be inclined to vote for Democratic party candidates than for persons who might be inclined to vote for the Republican party candidates.

I am not at all certain that I believe that supporters of Democratic candidates are less likely to be able to prove their citizenship than are supporters of Republican candidates, or that such an assertion is not an aspersion on those who are likely to support Democratic candidates.

In any event, if your concern is true, the solution is to work on identifying the impediments to proving U.S. citizenship and removing them, and not to removing a requirement that registrants prove something as fundamental to voter qualification as U.S. citizenship.

I understand that you may not think proof of citizenship is important. I do. Sometimes people just have to disagree.

Barbara Bailey

State Representative

10th District