On This Date in Minnesota History: March 7

March 7, 1918 – Like in many other cities, towns and villages of Minnesota, Bemidji has many residents who have been exercising their vote at the polls when they are still subjects of foreign governments, and some of them have been posing as directors of political affairs when they were more entitled to do so than the sultan of Sulu.

But the recent registry of aliens, ordered by the government, is going to stop this practice, and in several instances the state authorities are going after the offenders.

Many who have taken out their first papers seem to believe that they are entitled to vote. That is not so. The declaration of intent to become a citizen does not give them the right to vote. They must have completed their citizenship and become full-fledged citizens. Hereafter, the list of aliens registered in Bemidji will be printed and made available for judges at all elections to be held in the future. In this manner, the list of “who is who” will be used as guidance to present illegal voting in the nation, state and city elections.

List of aliens registered under direction of the Minnesota Public Safety Commission will be printed by counties and by city wards for use in preventing illegal voting. The first lists will be printed for St. Paul, which has its primary election this month. Proposition to publish the lists in newspapers were voted down by the commission today, and S. Y. Gordon, state expert printer, is obtaining estimates on printing the lists for use by election judges.

The Bemidji Daily Pioneer; “List of Aliens Will Be Printed to Check Frauds of Illegal Voting; State Authorities Taking Steps to Prevent Wholesale Practice Throughout Minnesota. Bemidji Also Affected; First Papers No Privilege; Many Mistake Initial Naturalization Papers as Giving Them Right to Ballot.”; March 8, 1918; p. 1.

 https://shop.mnhs.org/products/1918-alien-registration-record-search-request

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Ordered by the short lived Commission of Public Safety, all resident aliens age 14 and older were to register and declare property holdings during the Alien Registration Days (February 25 - March 1, 1918). German males were excluded from this registration as they had already been required to register with the Federal Justice Department. From a genealogical research standpoint, these records are invaluable, as they provide detailed information about many individuals including birthplace, children’s names, and date and place of immigration. They are also remarkable as they provide information about many women immigrants, who up until 1920 received their citizenship along with their husbands.

http://sites.rootsweb.com/~mnpine/alienreg.html

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If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including: census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MNHS records. Both short searches and family history reports available.

                                                         

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