Prove your citizenship before casting ballot?

A bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote passed unanimously out of the the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Standing Committee Wednesday, though some committee members said they had concerns about the bill.

SB67, sponsored by Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Tooele, which now goes before the full Senate, would require people registering to vote to provide a photocopy of evidence they are U.S. citizens, will be 18 years old on the date of the election and are residents of the county in which they are registering.

Voters would also have to provide identification with a current address each time they vote.

Those who testified against the bill expressed concerns it could disenfranchise people by making it too much of a hassle to register to vote and could cost the state a lot of money to verify each new voter's documents.

Chairman Parley Hellewell, R-Orem, asked if the bill was needed, since another proposed bill, SB227, would require a Social Security number to get a Utah driver's license, and give others a "driving privilege card," which couldn't be used as identification.

Madsen told the committee there is a coordinating clause with SB227 that would allow driver's licences issued after the bill takes effect to be used as proof of citizenship, if both bills pass.

Other acceptable documents listed are: birth certificate; U.S. passport; U.S. naturalization documents, documents established as proof of citizenship under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1968, Bureau of Indian Affairs card number, tribal treaty card number or tribal enrollment number.

"We have to balance the inconvenience against protecting the integrity of the system," Madsen said. "It's not going to correct the problem. Non-citizens have voted. This is going to curtail that in the future."

A recent state audit found that some people who appeared to be undocumented had registered to vote and that 14 had voted.