Immigrants living in the U.S. illegally will not automatically be registered to vote in California come April.
At issue is a California law taking effect in April that will automatically register people to vote when they get a driver’s license, an ID car, or update their address with the Department of Motor Vehicles. California allows immigrants living in the country illegally to obtain drivers licenses, leading some online news websites to falsely claim they’ll be automatically signed up to vote.
California’s new program has specific safeguards in place to ensure only U.S. citizens can go through the voter registration process. A DMV worker processing a drivers’ license application for an undocumented immigrant, for example, will not be able to access the voter registration boxes, which will be greyed out.
“To be eligible, you have to be a U.S. citizen,” said Jessica Gonzalez, a DMV spokeswoman.
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