Folks born far and wide finalized the long road to officially become United States citizens Friday in Ulster County.
Austrailian-born Mathieu Tozer has lived in the U.S. on a green card for more than 15 years, coming to California before switching coasts. Tozer said he really wanted to become a citizen so his voice could be heard.
“I’ve always been watching what’s going on and not having a say in it,” he said. “I feel like it’s taxation without representation for all that time. So now, I get to at least do my part.”
But a policy change made by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, could make it harder for new citizens to register to vote. The Trump administration has now permitted only state and local election officials to provide voter registration services at naturalization ceremonies in USCIS facilities. That means organizations like the League of Women Voters would no longer be permitted to register voters.
On Friday, the league registered 35% of the new citizens and handed out forms to mail back to several others. Ulster County’s ceremony was held at a state building and not a USCIS facility, allowing the league to still table there.
“Anybody who stands in the way of people exercising their right as American citizen, that’s always frustrating,” said Cindy Bell, the Mid-Hudson Region treasurer for the league.
Ulster County’s Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner Ashley Torres said this policy won’t stop the county from allowing the league to register people. It’s a sentiment shared by her colleague, John Quigley, who is the Republican Ulster County Board of Elections commissioner.
Torres said these nonpartisan volunteers save local board of election staffs a lot of time and money.
“We are a staff of 14 people, full-time board of election workers that serve 144,000 registered voters in Ulster County,” she said. “It is a small operation, and so when groups like the league that go out and do this on a voluntary basis, it helps us.”
Tozer is grateful for this convenient way to get registered and looks forward to casting a ballot in his first election.
“I feel empowered, and I feel like I’m going to be more involved,” Tozer said.
