INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales has joined 20 others in asking new Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for changes to a federal citizenship verification service — including that it be free to use.
“I am joining my colleagues in requesting that the Department of Homeland Security take swift action to make the … program more efficient and accessible to states,” Morales said in a Thursday news release. He is Indiana’s top elections official.
“Hoosiers deserve to trust in the election process, and that starts with ensuring that non-citizens are not allowed to vote. Only U.S. Citizens can vote in Indiana. Period,” Morales continued.
According to administrators of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) initiative lets registered government agencies verify immigration and citizenship status for people seeking public benefits or licenses.
Morales and other election officials indicated they use SAVE to detect when noncitizens try to register to vote or cast a ballot.
Recent voter roll audits show attempts by noncitizens to vote are rare, ABC News reported.
Morales and other Republicans asked Noem for five changes, including that SAVE allows them to look up multiple people at once instead of the current, time-consuming one-at-a-time approach.
Read more of the Leslie Bonilla Muñiz story for Indiana Capital Chronicle and Local News Digital, here.
