Dead Men Voting

Today the Senate will approve and send to President Bush a landmark bill that will upgrade voting machines and begin to curb the voter fraud that is creeping into too many close elections. It can't come soon enough. Last week, a massive vote-fraud scandal broke out in a Senate race in Tom Daschle's home state of South Dakota that could determine control of that body.

* * * The FBI and state authorities are investigating hundreds of possible cases of voter registration and absentee ballot fraud. Attorney General Mark Barnett, a Republican, says the probe centers on or near Indian reservations. "All of those counties are being flooded with new voters," says Adele Enright, the Democratic auditor of Dewey County. "We just got a huge envelope of 350 absentee ballot applications postmarked from the Sioux Falls office of the Democratic Party."

Steve Aberle, the Dewey County state's attorney, says many of the applications are in the same handwriting. At least one voter, Richard Maxon, says his signature was forged. Mr. Aberle, a Democrat with relatives in the Cheyenne River tribe, says many Native Americans have wanted little to do with "the white man's government." But this year many tribal elections have been scheduled for Nov. 5, the same day as the critical election for Democrat Tim Johnson's Senate seat. A Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee memo last month noted that the "party has been working closely with the Native population to register voters and Senator Johnson has set up campaign offices on every reservation."

More and more counties are uncovering fraud. Rapid City officials are investigating two brothers who may have forged registrations. Denise Red Horse of Ziebach County died Sept. 3 in a car crash. But both Ziebach and Dewey counties found separate absentee-ballot applications from her dated Sept. 21 in bundles of applications mailed from Democratic headquarters. Maka Duta, who worked for the Democratic Party collecting registrations in Ziebach, bought a county history book that contains many local names. Some are turning up in the pile of new registrations. At least nine absentee ballot requests have been returned by the post office. Mable Romero says she received a registration card for her three-year-old granddaughter, Ashley. Some voters claim to have been offered cash to register to vote. In both Dewey and Ziebach counties, the number of registered voters easily exceeds the number of residents over 18 counted by the 2000 census.

Renee Dross, an election clerk for Shannon County, says her office has received some 1,100 new voter registrations in a county with only 10,000 people. "Many were clearly signed by the same person," she says. Some registrants actually live in neighboring Nebraska. As in most states, South Dakotans are on an "honor system" and don't show photo ID to register or vote. Only the unprecedented flood of applications raised any suspicions.

State Democrats told the Christian Science Monitor they expect 10,000 new votes from the Indian reservations this year. In 1996, Sen. Johnson won by only 8,600 votes. Russell LaFountain, the director of Native Vote 2008, says his organizers are encouraging "strong absentee balloting." Pine Ridge Reservation residents told me that 11 workers are being paid $14 an hour to contact voters. The statewide Indian voter project is run by Brian Drapeaux and Rich Gordon, two former staffers for Sen. Daschle. Democratic officials say they've fired Ms. Duta and claim they were the first to bring the fraud to light. Ms. Enright, the Dewey County auditor, says that claim isn't true and is "pure spin."

Voter fraud isn't unknown on reservations. Democrats have often given out free tickets to Election Day picnics for voters on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where 63% of people live below the poverty level. In 1998, that prompted U.S. Attorney Karen Schreier, a Democrat, and Attorney General Barnett, a Republican, to write an unusual joint letter to county auditors noting that "simply offering to provide" food or gifts "in exchange for showing up to vote is clearly against the law." Amazingly, Kate Looby, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state this year, has criticized laws barring the holding of picnics for those who vote. She also wants to drop restrictions on absentee voting.

Making voting easy is desirable, but only if legitimate voters don't have their civil right canceled out by those who shouldn't vote. In 1980, only about 5% of voters nationwide cast absentee or early ballots. Now nearly 20% do. "Absentee voting is the preferred choice of those who commit voter fraud," says Larry Sabato, a professor at the University of Virginia. He suggests media outlets set up "campaign corruption hotlines" and begin taking voter fraud seriously. The Miami Herald won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998 after its stories on how 56 absentee-ballot "vote brokers" forged ballots in a Miami election. The sitting mayor was removed from office.

In Texas, Democrat state Rep. Debra Danburg, who chairs the state House elections panel, has tried without success to reform absentee-ballot laws that are so loose she says they make "elderly voters a target group for fraud." Eric Mountain of the Dallas County district attorney's office says some campaigns have paid vote brokers $10 to $15 a ballot. Many seniors are visited at home and persuaded to have someone mark an absentee ballot for them. Others have absentee ballots stolen from their mailboxes.

* * * The law Congress is passing addresses some of the problems the federal government created with the 1994 Motor Voter Law. Let's hope the latest scandal in South Dakota -- uncovered only due to incredibly sloppy cheating -- prompts states to examine their own absentee-ballot laws so they will stop being treated as an engraved invitation to fraud.

Mr. Fund, an OpinionJournal.com columnist, is writing a book on election reform.

Steve Aberle, the Dewey County state's attorney, says many of the applications are in the same handwriting.

Great. So now we find out how Daschle Democrat Tim Johnson was able to employ voter fraud on the reservations to pull victory from the jaws of defeat this morning. Hundreds perhaps thousands of fraudulent RAT "voters".

Ummmm...notice the date on the story, this is not a new story....and FYI, Daschle is the culprit...more info:

We’re seeing this sad story emerging in South Dakota where Democratic Party operatives are actively registering Indians to vote in this year’s election. The Indian voter registration project is headed by Brian Drapeaux, a former aide to Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD). One of Drapeaux’s paid field workers was Becky Red Earth-Villeda, who was recently fired for submitting phony voter registration forms. This field worker was paid $12,000 in three months for her efforts.

As a result of Miss Red Earth-Villeda’s questionable registration work, the FBI and state Attorney General are investigating charges that she and other field workers have registered numerous dead or non-existent voters. An estimated one out of 10 new voter registration forms in Shannon County are currently being investigated. (The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation covers about half of Shannon County.)

Source

From what I've read elsewhere, Danburg was actually an active obstacle to election reform -- at least any that might reduce the Democrat's advantage.

But, she is no longer relevant. She lost yesterday after re-districting added some Republican voters to her district.

I have a serious and naive question:

If Indian reservations are considered sovereign nations and, as such, are for most intents and purposes free from U.S. Government control, wouldn't those living on the reservation be considered the same as non-citizen Canadians, Mexicans, etc.? Or are they U.S. citizens?

Denise Red Horse of Ziebach County died Sept. 3 in a car crash. But both Ziebach and Dewey counties found separate absentee-ballot applications from her dated Sept. 21 in bundles of applications mailed from Democratic headquarters.

This could really hurt them. It's one thing to have dishonest rabid supporters, but when they're on the payroll, you're toast.

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough. I was not suggesting we should concede, quite the opposite.
My point was that SD is an ideal place to carry out a strong investigation and conviction of vote-fraud criminals. Make an example of the busturds!

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