Group backs off plan to target 'foreign' voters

The Washington-based immigration issues group ProjectUSA has backed down on its plan to challenge blocs of Utah voters in areas with high immigrant populations.

Craig Nelsen, president of ProjectUSA, had said he intended to challenge the voters in Utah's 3rd Congressional District based on concerns that illegal immigrants would vote for Congressman Chris Cannon in Tuesday's primary.

Nelsen said Friday that after analyzing voter registration rolls and U.S. Census Bureau data for Utah's 3rd Congressional District, his group "didn't find any (patterns) that would warrant a challenge."

ProjectUSA has sponsored ads against Cannon, who faces Matt Throckmorton in the Republican primary. The ads target Cannon's immigration reform policies as "amnesty"; Cannon has denied those claims.

The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division said Friday it will monitor the 3rd District's primary elections to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff issued a statement to let Utah voters know that no challenges had been issued by Friday's deadline. He said voters could be challenged at their precincts, and if that happens they can vote on a provisional ballot if they show proof of identity and residence.

"Utah has always had a process in place to let people vote and resolve any challenges without holding up the entire election," Shurtleff said.

State elections director Amy Naccarato said she's relieved ProjectUSA decided against the challenges. "I was really concerned about it keeping people away from the polls," she said.

On Thursday, Nelsen had said he intended to try to meet Friday's deadline to challenge voters in each of three voting districts within Cannon's 3rd Congressional District — those with the highest ratio of immigrants. He said he intended to challenge every voter in those three districts who had registered to vote since 1999, when Utah law was changed to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers' licenses.

On Friday, he revised his position, saying he merely intended to look for registration irregularities. It had never been his intention to "challenge all foreigners," he said.

Late Thursday, Nelsen forwarded a list of Salt Lake County zip codes to the Deseret Morning News, highlighting areas 84104, 84118 and 84120 — based on 2000 Census information on the number of residents who were noncitizens.