The Trump administration has, for the first time ever, built a searchable national citizenship data system.
The tool, which is being rolled out in phases, is designed to be used by state and local election officials to give them an easier way to ensure only citizens are voting. But it was developed rapidly without a public process, and some of those officials are already worrying about what else it could be used for.
NPR is the first news organization to report the details of the new system.
For decades, voting officials have noted that there was no national citizenship list to compare their state lists to, so to verify citizenship for their voters, they either needed to ask people to provide a birth certificate or a passport — something that could disenfranchise millions — or use a complex patchwork of disparate data sources.
Person from outside the US here. Please explain me why this is a problem?
In the EU only citizens can vote in national elections, for local elections non-citizens can vote only if they are residents.
Because they want to use the data for more nefarious purposes to displace non-white American voters.
What happens if someone is illegitimately removed from this database? How can you show whether it was a glitch, or deliberate? How do you know if the information they have about you is even right, or get it changed if you need to? Where’s the accountability?
See the UK Post Office accounting scandal, in which a persistent computer error went unfixed for decades and caused hundreds of post office employees to be fired and dragged through courts for corruption that never happened. A good chunk of them committed suicide. The government and the software company both knew about the bug causing the issue, too, but prosecutions continued. “If the computer says it, it must be right”, sort of danger.
What happens if someone is illegitimately removed from this database?
That the someone cannot vote. But you can design system resilient to this.
How can you show whether it was a glitch, or deliberate?
Paper trail.
How do you know if the information they have about you is even right, or get it changed if you need to?
You check it. I mean, when I ask for a document I expect to receive it. And I check if it is correct, after all human error can happen anyway.
Where’s the accountability?
Every document from the state (any level) I have has a signature that indicate who is ultimately accountable for it.
I think in most cases where this administration seems to have a good idea it’s important to remember that it’s likely designed to keep them in power.
A national database that the trump admin controls will 100% be exploited for their own gain, just like every other aspect of government is being exploited for their gain now.
A national database that the trump admin controls will 100% be exploited for their own gain
You mean, weaponized.
With everything he does the issue is the implementation. Deport criminal aliens? I’m all for it, but most of the deportees have no criminal record or they accuse them of crimes as if it’s the same thing as a conviction.
Part of Trump’s grand plan is to make federal elections span only a single day. So maybe you check your status the day before and everything is fine, but the day of voting a glitch in the system says it can’t verify your citizenship. That’s it! No votes for you this year!
Part of Trump’s grand plan is to make federal elections span only a single day.
Don’t see the problem. For years in Italy elections were a one day only events (normally a Sunday) and everything worked fine.
So maybe you check your status the day before and everything is fine, but the day of voting a glitch in the system says it can’t verify your citizenship. That’s it! No votes for you this year!
There are solutions since the system need to be resilient, note that the glitch could be even not “wanted” so while you can think that $HATED_CANDIDATE want to keep his opponents away from the voting, in the same way $HATED_CANDIDATE want to make sure that his supporters can vote.
You already can’t vote if you’re not a citizen. There are voter rolls and you get checked off when you go vote.
This almost certainly will be used to deport people without going through due process.
