"They said it could never happen. It just happened," said Erie County Clerk, Michael Kearns.
Kearns is talking about what he describes as voter fraud related to the recently implemented green light law. Kearns said last week, a noncitizen walked into the downtown branch of the DMV, applied for a commercial driver's license, but also registered to vote.
"It goes to show that the person completed their transaction on a Tuesday and by Friday they're on the voter registration form," Kearns added.
According to Kearns, that person, who is here on a work Visa, followed the law related to the C.D.L. application. But, it's unclear whether registering to vote was accidental or intentional.
The Board of Elections said it would need a sworn affidavit from Kearns challenging the person's registration before it can investigate the case. At this point, it says it hasn't received that from the clerk's office.
The alleged fraudulent application was all done using one of the DMV's front facing devices. "These are taxpayer resources that were put here in order to make it more convenient for those who are legally here to register to vote."
Kearns is calling on the state for new device software to prevent potential voter fraud. He also wants the Board of Elections to further review new voter applications.
