Undocumented Aliens And Lawsuits
By Doug La Rocque
In last week’s edition of The Eastwick Press, it was reported that several Rensselaer County officials, including County Executive Steve McLaughlin, County Clerk Frank Merola and Republican Board of Election Commissioner Jason Schofield had announced that the County Board of Elections would begin to share with U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (I.C.E.) the names and addresses of people that have registered to vote in Rensselaer County through the Motor Voter Program. We also reported that the Democratic Election Commissioner Ed McDonough said he would not permit it.
On Monday, July 29, a coalition of groups led by Citizens Action of New York held a rally in front of the Rensselaer County Courthouse, to announce they have filed a lawsuit to “block the Rensselaer County Board of Elections from illegally disclosing residents’ protected personal information to (I.C.E.) when they register to vote.” The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. It is their further contention that “the County’s conduct violates the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voter intimidation, and the 1st and 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects the fundamental right to vote.”
On the same day, Rensselaer County Attorney Carl Kempf issued the following statement. “From a social media post on Friday, July 26, Rensselaer County became aware of a lawsuit involving the County Board of Elections. However, at this time, the County has not been served with a complaint. As with any civil proceeding against the County, if and when the County is served, the County will assess the merit or lack of merit of the allegations and act accordingly at the appropriate time. With that said, the County Board of Elections remains committed to fulfilling its legal obligations, including publishing voter names and addresses. The County Board of Elections continues to operate without interruption toward its objective of insuring that all qualified County voters have the opportunity to exercise his/her right to vote in all elections held in the County over which the Board has jurisdiction.” There has been no further statement from the County on this matter.
Filing Their Own Lawsuit
On Wednesday, July 24, the County Executive and County Clerk announced the filing of a federal lawsuit that asks the U.S. District Court to declare the so-called “Green Light Law” that permits undocumented aliens to apply for a NYS Driver’s License, to be unconstitutional and would not permit the State to take any punitive action against Mr. Merola for refusing to issue a license to these particular individuals. While debating the legislation, state lawmakers and the governor indicated they would seek to remove any county clerk who refuses to issue a license to those covered under the legislation.