Innamorato pledges voting registration aid to new citizens after feds curb nongovernment groups

Allegheny County will start deploying Elections Division staff to naturalization ceremonies to help new U.S. citizens register to vote.

The move, announced Monday, comes in response to the Trump administration recently barring nongovernmental groups such as the League of Women Voters from doing so in certain cases.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in an Aug. 29 memo announced that only state and local election officials will be allowed to provide voter registration services at the end of administrative naturalization ceremonies, which differ from similar ceremonies presided over by a judge.

The August memo acknowledged that previous policy had allowed nongovernmental organizations to provide voter registration applications and additional information at naturalization ceremonies.

But, federal officials said, the use of such groups was “sporadic and varied based upon the location.”

Staff from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services previously provided voter registration applications and information when local officials could not, the memo continued, and there was an “administrative burden” associated with ensuring the nongovernmental organizations involved are nonpartisan.

“This change in no way impacts new citizens’ access to information and applications to register to vote, as this information will continue to be provided by state or local election officials, or USCIS staff at the end of naturalization ceremonies,” the memo said.

At an Allegheny County Board of Elections meeting Monday, County Executive Sara Innamorato pledged to find a way to deliver voter registration information to new citizens.

“One of the greatest rights that we have in America is the right to vote and to exercise our voice in the electoral process,” Innamorato said.

“So know that our administration is deeply committed to figuring out a solution to ensure that we can continue to welcome our new neighbors, our new citizens, with open arms and ensure they can exercise the privileges of being an American.”

Elections workers will now staff the government ceremonies at which immigrants become U.S. citizens, according to the county. Officials will explore alternatives if staff won’t be available for particular ceremonies, said Abigail Gardner, a county spokesperson.

The change means groups like the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh, an organization that has for years provided voter registration support for new citizens, can no longer be present to provide assistance at the ceremonies overseen by the government.

The League of Women Voters is a national group that describes itself on its website as a “nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights.”

In 2016, the group went through a “lengthy vetting process” by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Officials pored over their materials to make sure the group is nonpartisan.

The league has participated in naturalization ceremonies since then — until the new federal rule barred their services.

Ruth Quint, co-president of the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh, Monday urged the county elections board to find ways to address its absence.

“The roles once filled by our volunteers can now only be filled by local and state officials like yourselves,” Quint told the board.

She confirmed, however, the new restrictions do not extend to naturalization ceremonies handled in court by a judge.

Quint urged county officials to ensure new citizens have the kind of support her organization had offered.

Volunteers from the League of Women Voters had regularly been on hand at naturalization events to provide information, answer questions and help people register to vote.

“Naturalization is one of our most popular volunteer gigs,” Quint said. “There’s a waiting list to get into these ceremonies because it’s so positive and so heartwarming.”

Some of the volunteers, she said, are naturalized citizens themselves.