RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Several groups are concerned that a sign spotted at polling sites in multiple counties is intimidating Spanish-speaking voters.

The yellow sign is in Spanish and translates to “WARNING: If you are not a citizen of the United States of America, you cannot vote in elections. It is illegal! It is a crime. 18 U.S. Code § 611. You could be deported. Don’t do it!”

Kathleen Roblez, the Senior Voting Rights Counsel and Litigation Manager at Forward Justice, said since that sign is the only message Spanish-speaking voters could see at the polls it could deter eligible Latinos from voting. She said in addition to being intimidating, the sign is confusing.

“These signs are really meant not to inform, but to scare people away, and to let people know that Latino voters are being targeted,” Roblez said.

The signs are at the Durham County Main Library polling site, but Roblez said they’ve received reports of the signs in other counties too.

“So these signs, in our opinion, are meant to target people who are monolingual Spanish speakers, and they are meant to give the message that you’re being watched, that there are people who are looking for people who are non-citizens, who are voting,” Roblez said.

Forward Justice is one of about two dozen groups that sent a letter to the North Carolina State Board of Elections on Tuesday afternoon asking for the signs to be removed. Iliana Santillan is the Executive Director of El Pueblo, the organization also is part of the effort to have NCSBE remove the signs.

“If I was a monolingual Spanish speaker, I’m voting for the first time, just became a citizen and that is the only sign that I see, I’m going to question myself, even though I know I’m in the right, and I’m a citizen, and I can vote,” Santillan said. 

North Carolina Elections Integrity Team made the signs. They are a citizen-run group that states their goal is to ensure election integrity. The group’s President, Jim Womack, said the signs are intended to protect non-citizens who are not fluent in English.

“We have discovered numerous non-citizens that had been added to the voter rolls as the result of securing a driver’s license,” Womack said. “The Aviso signs protect those who read and heed the caution that it is illegal to vote as a non-citizen.  There are no threats or inferences of targeting anyone on these signs.  Citizens of the United States have nothing to fear from exercising their constitutional right to vote.  Non-citizens who wisely choose not to vote have nothing to fear as well.”

Voting by non-citizens is extremely rare. 

Last month, NCSBE said nine individuals who were excused from jury duty because, although they showed up as registered voters, they said they were not U.S. citizens. At the time, NCSBE said it was in the process of checking those voters against federal databases to see if they obtained citizenship. Removal from the voter roll due to lack of citizenship does not have a specific code in NCSBE’s reason for removal. It would fall under the category of removal due to “request from voter” or “other;” 2,419 people were removed in those categories.

CBS 17 asked an NCSBE spokesperson whether the yellow signs are allowed, they did not respond directly to that, but said, “In North Carolina, we welcome all eligible voters to cast their ballot in this important general election, no matter what language they speak.”

The Durham County Board of Elections Director Derek Bowens said his board received guidance from NCSBE about a different sign that could be taken down due to it providing false information. The sign has English on one side and Spanish on the other. On the Spanish side, he said the word “extranjero” is used, but it translates to foreigner. The English side uses the word noncitizen in that spot.

“Therefore, that sign, this particular sign by Only Citizens Vote, was inaccurate and misleading because it stated that it is a crime essentially for a foreigner to vote,” Bowens said.

He said there have not been reports of that sign in Durham. CBS 17 has reached out to Only Citizens Vote regarding that sign and is waiting to hear back.

Roblez said there is also concern over other signs like “Migrants for Harris,” which she said the group understands to be a fake organization.

“There is just a lot out there that is anti-Latino sentiment at the same time that people are being asked to vote on a constitutional amendment about non-citizen voting, so we are definitely concerned,” Roblez said.

Both Forward Justice and El Pueblo partner with the Nonpartisan NC Voter Protection Hotline where voters can report intimidation at the polls. The number is 888-OUR-VOTE in English and 888-VEY-VOTA.