While the Sept. 16 article “Groups hope to lift Muslim voter registration with events in Portland and Lewiston” mentioned two times that only American citizens are permitted to vote, it made me curious as to how these voter registration groups establish the citizenship status of the people they register.

At the risk of being called a racist, I note the reporter did not delve – either deliberately or because of incompetence – into the citizenship verification process of these groups.

Are we to assume that the people exiting the mosque carry their birth certificate, naturalization papers or U.S. passports on their person? We are fortunate to live in a country that does not require us to have our “papers” at the ready for authorities at all times, so that assumption is pretty flimsy.

Once a person is registered, citizenship status becomes irrelevant because forever after, one only needs to state an address before entering the voting booth, so that first verification step is crucial.

If we no longer consider it essential to confirm citizenship, it helps explain both why President Biden, in my view, refuses to get control of our borders, as illegal immigrants (or, if you prefer, undocumented wanderers) can easily become illegal voters, and why Donald Trump continues to insist there was something wrong with the last election.

As a public service, please assign a competent reporter to investigate this issue in greater detail. I for one would be very interested in learning if our democracy is being strengthened by many more legitimate voters, or undermined by lots of illegitimate ones.

Eduard van Loenen
Falmouth

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