art credit: TheRealSide
Data
suggests millions of voter registrations are fraudulent or invalid. That’s
enough to tip an election, easily.
JohnGibb, writing at The Federalist, argues that the potential for voter fraud is
real, and actual voter fraud is a bigger problem than we might have thought:
This week, liberals have been
repeating their frequent claim that voter fraud doesn’t exist. A
recent Salon article argues that “voter fraud just isn’t a problem in
Pennsylvania,” despite evidence
to the contrary. Another
article argues that voter fraud is entirely in the imagination of
those who use voter ID laws to deny minorities the right to vote.
Yet as the election approaches,
more and more cases of voter fraud are beginning to surface. In Colorado, multiple
instances were found of dead people attempting to vote. Stunningly, “a
woman named Sara Sosa who died in 2009 cast ballots in 2010, 2011, 2012 and
2013.” In Virginia, it
was found that nearly 20 voter applications were turned in under the
names of dead people.
In Texas, authorities are
investigatingcriminals
who are using the technique of “vote harvesting” to illegally procure
votes for their candidates. “Harvesting” is the practice of illegally obtaining
the signatures of valid voters in order to vote in their name without their
consent for the candidate(s) the criminal supports.
These are just some instances
of voter fraud we know about. It would be silly to assume cases that have been
discovered are the only cases of fraud. Indeed according to a Pew
Research report from February 2012, one in eight voter registrations are
“significantly inaccurate or no longer valid.” Since there are 146 million
Americans registered to vote, this translates to a stunning 18 million invalid
voter registrations on the books. Further, “More than 1.8 million deceased
individuals are listed as voters, and approximately 2.75 million people have
registrations in more than one state.” Numbers of this scale obviously provide
ripe opportunity for fraud.
Don’t Let Data Contradict My
Narrative
Yet in spite of all this, a
report by the Brennan Center at New York Univeristy claims voter fraud
is a myth. It argues that North Carolina, which passed comprehensive measures
to prevent voter fraud, “failed to identify even a single individual who has
ever been charged with committing in-person voter fraud in North Carolina.”
However, this faulty reasoning does not point to the lack of in-person voter
fraud, but rather to lack of enforcement mechanisms to identify and prosecute
in-person voter fraud.
The science of criminal justice
tells us that many crimes go unreported, and the more “victimless” the crime,
the more this happens. The fact is, a person attempting to commit voter fraud
is very unlikely to be caught, which increases the incentive to commit the
crime.
. . ..
We have no reason to believe
that the low number of prosecutions means only that exact amount of
voter fraud is happening. Rather, it could mean a lack of enforcement is
failing to reveal the bulk of the violations that are occurring. Thus, as with
many types of crimes, especially victimless crimes, the real number of cases is
likely significantly higher than the number reported.
. . .
What are some solutions to this
problem? States like Michigan have Poll
Challenger programs, where observers from both parties may be present at
voter check-in tables at precincts. They check each voter’s ID against a
database of registered voters for that precinct to ensure the person attempting
to vote is actually legally qualified to vote in that precinct. If there’s a
discrepancy, the poll challenger may officially challenge the ballot. Other
states should implement similar programs.
States should sponsor
initiatives to remove dead voters and correct the registrations of people
registered in multiple states (make them choose just one state). Since many
local jurisdictions
are reluctant to clean their voter rolls, federal or state oversight with
teeth may be necessary.
. . .
So let us not believe false
claims that voter fraud doesn’t exist. It’s real, and we must work to stop it,
while making sure those who are eligible to vote but without proper ID are
accommodated fairly.
Read the entire article here.
If you are already signed up to work the polls, or act as an observer,
etc., you’re doing your bit. What can others do at this late stage of the game?
One thing is to spot check voter registrations in your own family. We know a
lot of dead people are never purged from the rolls. So it occurs to me that
the parent who died within the last several years might still be registered to
vote. I can go to the BOE and check out that one in person; it probably helps if you have the photo ID, the death certificate, and (at least in my case) standing (power of attorney or documentation as executor).
I can also check my own; I’ve been a registered voter my entire
life, but for two recent elections, the signature facsimile in the sign-in book was
not even close to my own signature. I wonder if that meant my details were also
registered in another precinct. So I can check that as well.
Please add your suggestions in the comments.
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