A motion by 72-year-old artist Beys Afroyim for restoration of his United States citizenship, of which he was stripped for voting in a 1951 Israeli Parliamentary election, was taken under advisement yesterday in federal court here.
The petitioner, who is believed now to be in Israel, came to the United States from Poland in 1912. Under the name Ephraim Bernstein, he became a naturalized citizen in 1926. After his Israeli vote, the United States vice consul in Haifa issued a certificate of loss of nationality under the United States Nationality Act of 1940 which imposes loss of citizenship on Americans who vote in elections of other countries.
Nanette Dembitz, his New York Civil Liberties Union counsel, argued that dropping a ballot in a ballot box did not constitute a sign of transfer of allegiance and that the artist never intended to abandon his United States citizenship. Judge Frederick Van Pelt reserved decision on the attorney’s motion for summary judgment.
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