Requiring those registering to vote to prove they are American citizens seems noncontroversial, something no one would oppose.

Think again.

The idea died during recent sessions of the Democratic-controlled Legislature, where it will reappear in January, thanks to Sen. Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, who didn’t return calls for this column. The bill has been ballyhooed as immigration legislation.

Yet common sense tells us a Mexican national who is thinking about wading across the Rio Grande River won’t be put off because proof of citizenship will be required if he wants to vote. McElhany’s bill would do nothing to reduce illegal immigration, so it must be aimed at something else.

McElhany and El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink want to make sure no foreigners are voting here. It would be silly to insist it’s never happened; it would be just as silly to assume it happens often.

Colorado’s foreign nationals are mainly from Mexico. They fear being deported. The idea that this same group of people would risk hearth and home to vote here is absurd.

“Is it a problem? I don’t know,” said Balink, who insists he has no ulterior political agenda.

“I only want to follow the law, and I’m looking for guidance,” said Balink, who noted state law says one must be a citizen to vote, so he presumes it is a county clerk’s duty to obtain proof of citizenship.

The issue creates a battle between Democrats and Republicans for electoral market share. Balink concedes that citizens who cannot prove their citizenship with a birth certificate or a driver’s license would tend to be poor, and that the poor tend to include racial and ethnic minorities who generally vote for Democrats.

“I don’t want to disenfranchise anyone,” Balink said, adding later, “It’s a crime to play the race card.”

The timing of Republicans’ newfound zeal about voter registration coincides with drubbings the GOP has suffered during the last two election cycles. But Balink said election losses have nothing to do with it.

“I’ve had no discussions with the Republican Party about this,” Balink said. “It’s not partisan. It is not a political issue.”

If it isn’t a political issue and there’s no evidence of foreigners voting, one wonders if it is worth all the fuss.

You can’t blame minorities for being leery when their right to vote historically has been subjected to poll taxes, literacy tests and gerrymandering.

Rosemary Harris, president of the Colorado Springs Branch of the NAACP, said, “This would fall disproportionately on the poor. I don’t think it’s so much who they would vote for. We just want to make sure they can vote.”

She said barring an eligible American voter would be a worse mistake than allowing a handful of foreigners to vote: “To me, what counts is what you prevent from happening. Fuller participation in the process should be the goal,” Harris said.

Thus, what some see as a nobrainer issue isn’t quite so black and white.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0363 or noreen@gazette.com