Ohio Secretary of State John Husted is asking the federal government for access to some extremely sensitive information, according to the Plain Dealer. The fresh-faced GOPer wants a peek at the SAVE files, or Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlemen docs, which in plain old english means a list of immigration data on individuals in the country. Ostensibly, Husted says he wants to data in order to verify whether voters are actually citizens in certain situations. But that's probably not the whole story.
First off, the SAVE files are pretty controversial because they're rarely updated — that means if John Doe was a non-citizen in 2007 but gained citizenship in 2009, SAVE might not record the change. So it's an imperfect system.
Also, Ohio doesn't really need to spent a lot of time verifying whether a voter is a citizen or not. The whole idea that a suspicious voter will come to the polls and the staffers will be able to tap into SAVE is unrealistic. If you can't tell if someone is eligible or registered to vote at a particular polling site, you're not going to let them vote — status doesn't come into the picture, or at least is a good distance removed from the gate that will keep you from voting in the first place. Husted acknowledges this in the PD piece.
