Teen balks at Social Security number, may not be able to vote

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1998 | 11:39 a.m.

Joshua Hansen, 18, is determined to survive without a Social Security number, saying he does not want or need the critical piece of identification.

The Clark County Election Department disagrees.

Hansen, who says he doesn't intend to pay federal income taxes, offered the election department his Nevada birth certificate and high school diploma as identification.

But Registrar of Voters Kathryn Ferguson says state law requires voters provide one of three forms of identification. They include a driver's license, Social Security number or Nevada identification card.

Hansen has none of the above.

"I believe that the Social Security number is either the prophesied mark of the beast or the precursor to it," said Hansen, who explained that his personal religious beliefs and anti-government convictions prevent him from attaching a number to his existence. "In Nevada, if you want to vote, you have to be marked."

"I cannot register this young man," Registrar of Voters Kathryn Ferguson said Tuesday. "I don't have the authority to waive those requirements."

An exemption to the requirements, she said, only could be made by a judge.

Hansen said he refuses to get a Nevada identification card because a number would be attached to his name in that case as well. Besides, he said, the $10 fee to get the card amounts to a poll tax.

Ferguson disagreed with the poll tax theory and said little chance existed Hansen would be able to vote on Nov. 3 because the voter registration period ended Saturday.

"I think it's a shame when anyone who wants to register ends up not registering," Ferguson said. "There were avenues available to him, but he was trying to make a point."

She said election officials have denied voter registration to at least three other Nevadans for similar reasons during her five-year tenure.

Hansen, who said a certified July letter of inquiry to the secretary of state's office went unanswered, said he intended to take his case to court.

"Voting is almost sacred," he said. "It's something you don't mess with."

He said the state should be encouraging more people to vote rather than setting up roadblocks.

"What do I need a Social Security number for?" he asked. "My name is Joshua Joel Holloman Hansen, and I doubt there's anyone else in the United States who has my name. I'm just 18, and all I want to do is vote."

Hansen said he was looking forward to voting in federal and local races, including Assembly 21, a race that pits incumbent Republican Sandra Tiffany and his father, Independent American candidate Christopher Hansen.

Joshua Hansen said his father played no role in his decision to challenge the Election Department, but he has received support from both parents.

Christopher Hansen defended his son's actions: "The state is infringing on our constitutional and God-given rights. They are trying to impose a $10 poll tax on my son. It's an outrage."

If his bid to vote in November fails, Joshua Hansen, who admits to enjoying confrontations with authority, said he will lobby the 1999 Legislature to allow Nevadans to register to vote if their only identification is a birth certificate.

"We need to stand up and slap those guys around," he said. "We need to ask them what happened to the land of the free, the home of the brave."