Immigrants who are not citizens have never been allowed to vote. But anyone who applies for a driver's license can either deliberately or accidentally press a button on an electronic screen claiming to be a citizen and be granted voting rights. County staff who process motor vehicle transactions are not allowed under the Motor Voter Law to interfere with the voter registration process.

The Green Light Law restricts how the clerk's staff can process driver's license transactions.

Kearns said the issue was highlighted last week when a legal immigrant applied for a commercial driver's license in Erie County's downtown auto bureau and registered to vote. The man had a valid work visa but is not an American citizen.

The Erie County Clerk's Office did not interfere with the man's ability to test for the commercial driver's license, nor did staff prevent him from signing up to vote, which is an electronic touch-screen process. The employee handling the case flagged it for Kearns' review.

"It happened on Tuesday, and by Friday they were on the voting books," Kearns said. "There are no checks and balances in Albany."

In his letter to the Board of Elections, Kearns provided details about the transaction but included no personally identifiable information about the applicant.