Citzenship cannot be questioned on voter application?

Chicago Tribune:

Beth Keathley was so close to becoming a permanent U.S. resident that she could already feel its benefits showering over her: a Social Security number, a cheery new house in central Illinois, an official state identification card. Citizenship would not be far behind.

On the day the Filipino immigrant took part in her first U.S. election last year, she proudly sported an "I voted" lapel pin on her uniform when she showed up for her cleaning shift at a hospital.

But Keathley, who has lived in the U.S. on a marriage visa since 2003, was not a citizen when she voted. When she told an immigration officer about it, she was charged with breaking the law. She lost her job.

It could derail her citizenship, and unless a judge rules in her favor, she could eventually be deported -- uprooting a family that includes her 9-month-old daughter, Sheina.

Keathley's alleged crime -- one that trips up hundreds of immigrants each year -- took place at the secretary of state's facility in Bloomington, where a clerk invited her to register to vote as part of the "motor voter" program.

Immigration laws prohibit non-citizens from registering to vote.

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The state says its employees are prohibited by federal law from seeking confirmation of citizenship before registering people to vote. (Emphasis added.)

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Talk about burying the lead in a story. Put those last two quoted paragraphs together and try to make sense of them. However, the voter registration card does require the applicant to check a box saying they are a citizen. If that is the case it seems even more absurd to prohibit the state from asking the question when the form is being filled out.