Related Wade Rathke stories: here

Without a second thought, many of us will exercise the right to vote today. But there is emerging evidence that the integrity of elections nationwide may be compromised due to the influx of noncitizens who have registered to vote.
In Texas, Florida, Maryland, California and even in Georgia, there is evidence that illegal aliens may have voted in past elections. The discovery has been made when clerks of court in some Georgia counties have received correspondence from potential jurors declining to serve on juries because they were not citizens. In 2005 in one federal district court alone, the U.S. General Accounting Office found that up to 3 percent of the 30,000 people summoned for jury duty were not citizens, according to the Heritage Foundation. Considering that the majority in the Georgia House changed hands in 2004 due to just six races with a combined margin of victory of 3,000 votes, the integrity of every vote should be important to both political parties.
It is now time to take steps to make sure illegal aliens are not voting, especially since an estimated 800,000 of the 20 million in this country now live in Georgia. No matter how you feel about illegal immigration, no one can dispute that voting is a right reserved only for United States citizens. The concept seems so simple, yet there is only one state that has taken bold steps to prevent noncitizens from tainting its elections - Arizona.
In 2005, Arizona voters adopted Proposition 200, which mandates that anyone who registers to vote must prove they are a U.S. citizen with documents such as a birth certificate, passport, naturalization credentials or other papers that prove citizenship for employment.
Since Arizona's adoption of Proposition 200, about 30,000 noncitizens have been denied voter registration because they could not provide evidence of citizenship, according to the Heritage Foundation.
Proving citizenship is particularly important in Georgia as we have allowed outside groups such as ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) to register voters. Under our current system, a convicted felon could theoretically be released from prison and start registering voters for groups with political agendas the next day.
Outside groups that register voters don't have to ask for identification, let alone proof of citizenship when registering voters. Potential voters do have to sign a form swearing they are citizens but don't have to offer proof, making the form meaningless.
It is interesting to note that eight of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001, were registered to vote although none were in this country legally.
According to Georgia elections officials, an additional 300,000 people have registered to vote in our state since Jan. 1. That compares with 500,000 names added to voter rolls between the 2004 presidential election and Jan. 1 of this year.
In addition to requiring proof of citizenship to register, the Legislature should change state law so that any person who refuses jury duty citing citizenship would automatically be purged from voter rolls.
Federal law says it is a crime for any illegal alien to vote in any federal election. Each state has laws requiring voters to be citizens prior to voting. But evidence emerging in metro Atlanta alone shows that noncitizens do show up on voter rolls. Somewhere along the way, there has been a blatant disregard for the law.
In 2000, George W. Bush won the presidency by just 500 votes cast in Florida. In Georgia, we have had state House members win seats the past two election cycles by margins as close as 35 votes, and one primary race as close as five votes. From the presidency down to the smallest city council race, election integrity is vital to all Americans.
One of the greatest freedoms we possess as U.S. citizens is the right to vote. Every illegal vote cast dilutes the votes of those of us who are legitimate citizens and undermines the credibility of our great democratic republic.
- State Rep. Mark Burkhalter, a Republican from Johns Creek, is speaker pro tem of the Georgia House.
(ajc.com)