Posted on 03/16/2006 6:33:19 AM PST by mathprof
The City of Milwaukee has dropped about 105,000 names from its voter rolls after completing the first purge since 2001, city officials said Tuesday.
That represents about 23% of the 450,000 names that had been on the rolls. Officials had said they were unsure if a purge of the rolls had been conducted after the 2000 election.
The names primarily were people who had moved, said Neil Albrecht, assistant director of the Election Commission.
The question of inaccuracies on the voter list came up after the 2004 election, when many problems were uncovered in the city's election system.
Election officials say an up-to-date list is a key safeguard against fraud, since it eliminates opportunities for people to potentially vote under the name of others who moved.
An accurate list can also lead to fewer errors by poll workers, who must check off those who vote by their addresses.
"Accurate voter registration lists are essential to clean elections," said Mayor Tom Barrett in a statement. He ordered the purge in January.
The 105,000 names do not represent cases where people may have voted improperly in 2004, as they are the result of postcards being sent to people who have not voted in any election in the last four years.
The postcards asked recipients to respond if they wished to remain on the rolls.
Albrecht said about 500 people returned the cards. The others did not, or the cards came back showing the person moved with no forwarding address, or moved outside of the city.
In the future, when people move outside the city, it will be easier to keep the rolls up to date.
The statewide voter list, which is being implemented, will automatically remove names from one city when voters register in another one.
The head of the state Republican Party said Barrett's action was overdue.
"It is welcome news that Milwaukee Mayor Barrett has finally gotten around to purging inactive voters from his city's database," said party Chairman Rick Graber. "The Republican Party of Wisconsin first alerted him to problems with the city's voter lists in the fall of 2004. This simple act could have prevented much of the voting fraud that was committed in Milwaukee in that election, such as voting from billboards and vacant lots. There is still a long way to go in cleaning up our elections in Wisconsin."
How Voter Fraud in Philadelphia Affect Us All
By 2banana
According to CNN, Bush lost Pennsylvania to Kerry by 144,248 votes (out of more than 5.7 million cast - a razor thin margin that was even closer than the "too close to call" Ohio vote).
Also according to CNN, Kerry received about 542,000 votes and Bush received about 130,000 votes in Philadelphia (or a ratio of 4.16 for Kerry).
Now, for the really interesting numbers. According to the recent US Census, the Population of Philadelphia that is of voting age is 1,105,066. This number includes people who by law can not vote (non-American citizens, felons, out of state college students, etc.). In 2004, there were 1,035,395 registered voters in Philadelphia, up 34,000 from 2001.
So, what does this mean?
First, even as Philadelphia looses population, the number of registered voters continues to increase, year after year. Today, in Philadelphia, nearly 100% of every person of voting age must registered to vote (as compared to a national average of 60% by the Census Bureau). Consider, since 1995, Philadelphia's voter rolls have jumped 24 percent while at the same time that the city's population has declined by 13 percent.
Second, the total lopsidedness of the 4.16 ratio is an absolutely astounding number - even heavily democratic Broward Country, FL (one of the only places Gore wanted recounted in 2000) only went for Kerry 2:1 and Cook County, IL (Chicago - THE definition of the democrat voting machine) only went for Kerry 2.5:1.
Either Philadelphia has the most engaged and civic population in the history of the World, or there is massive voter fraud.
And the amount of fraud easily exceeds the margin of loss of President Bush. For instance, if the registration was above average and if Philadelphia was just your "average-democrat-rustbelt-city-union-stronghold with a 50 year democrat political machine," the vote for Kerry in Philadelphia would have been just over 350,000. The voter fraud in Philadelphia is worth about 150,000 votes - a deficit that any Republican running for statewide office must overcome with real votes.
But is this "real" fraud or is it one of the easily predicted "unintended consequences" of the Clinton Motor-Voter Law? A few nights before the 2004 presidential election, Chris Matthews, Howard Fineman, Andrea Mitchell and the Mayor of Philadelphia (John Street) were on Hardball. They were all laughing away about how the election was great for the economy of Philadelphia, and suggesting that there would plenty of "street money" around to "get out the vote." And these are the same people who are going to stop or report any kind of voter fraud?
I find it ironic that a country like Afghanistan (where I had combat tour of duty), with no history of democracy, has a country wide and nearly fraud free election under the oversight of us - Americans. But we instituted a few rules like - you had to prove you are an Afghan, you had to get a voter ID, show the voter ID when you voted, your name had to match the voter roll, and you had to get your thumb stamped by permanent ink so you couldn't vote twice.
Maybe, one day, in Philadelphia, we will have free and fair elections with a minimum of fraud on the level of the recent vote in Afghanistan.
Wow. That's a lot
The welfare rolls are probably just as corrupt and bloated.
"City of Milwaukee has dropped about 105,000 names from its voter rolls AND CHICAGO CAUGHT THEM AND PUT THEM IN THIERS"
The 2004 Pennsylvania and Wisconsin results stank to high heaven.
When, oh when is somebody going to clean up Phila.'s voter fraud???
Tuesday, here in Arizona we had our first primary where you had to show your drivers license and it had to match your name and address as shown on the voter list. That helps stop illegals and dead people from voting.
I suspect the average American was unaware of how bad voter fraud was (is) until the Democrats exposed it all in Florida.
I don't belive they thought the process out very well, by challenging the election, and putting the spotlight on just how easy it is to cheat, they made it easier for the Republicans to begin a campagign to clean up the process.
Every few months a story like this one comes out, voter rolls are being cleaned up, the need for identification when you vote, and making the process harder (not impossible) to corrupt.
Personally, I would like to make it harder to register (show up at the county clerks office, produce a photo ID. Also make it easier to purge the rolls, if you do not vote in two consecutive elections, your name is removed.
Since the vote is the most basic right of a citizen, I would make voter fraud a felony with a mandatory prison sentense. This would include anyone not a citizen voting. Any organized voter fraud should be investigated by the FBI and treated as a RICO crime.
I wonder just how "blue" the big cities really are.
The Clinton motor voter law has resulted in thousands(millions?) of illegals with voter registration cards. A friend of mine (I still have liberal friends) gets the voter registration card for his ex wife (Venezuelan) who left the country 6 years ago and never should have been registered in the first place (Virginia motor voter law).
Last year he took a job for the Kerry campaign, and went to Venezuela in charge of getting the Absentee ballots from that country. I wonder how many of them were also non-citizens, former students, former embassy personnel, etc.
How many of these people voted in 2004? WI should have been a close race..
I think it would be safe to say that their are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people on our voter rolls that should not be there. It will take time, but I have seen a trend (since it is to the Republicans benefit to do so) to clean up the rolls. A lot of this has been done low key, but it is being done.
The roles aren't "off". This is how the voter roles and registrations are supposed to work since the Motor-Voter Act. You get four years of inacctivity, you get purged.
What is wrong is that Registrar's in places these people moved to should have notified Milwaukee of the move and new registration. Can't blame Milwaukee Democrats for that though.
Sionnsar, could you do a WA State ping on this as it sounds like something we should be following in more depth.
Hopefully this might even get discussed over at Sound Politics.
Thanks!
It will never happen.
The City of Brotherly Love would scream "Racism!". The investigators would then scurry away with their tails between their legs.
"Prediction: DemocRATS will get about 104,999 fewer votes in the next election.:
They will just find 104,999 dead voters to replace them.
Now, for the really interesting numbers. According to the recent US Census, the Population of Philadelphia that is of voting age is 1,105,066. This number includes people who by law can not vote (non-American citizens, felons, out of state college students, etc.).
Actually, the Census showed 1,134,081.
And Out-of-State College Students can register to vote with their dorm as their address. That is perfectly legal.
In 2004, there were 1,035,395 registered voters in Philadelphia, up 34,000 from 2001.
Okay, you aren't familiar with the data I see. Why are you writing about this if you don't even know the data?
Month | Year | Registered |
November | 2005 | 986,498 |
November | 2004 | 1,062,439 |
April | 2004 | 965,394 |
November | 2003 | 957,364 |
May | 2003 | 911,895 |
November | 2002 | 1,020,399 |
May | 2002 | 1,019,579 |
November | 2001 | 1,011,149 |
April | 2001 | 1,005,321 |
November | 2000 | 1,025,259 |
April | 2000 | 991,437 |
November | 1999 | 986,366 |
May | 1999 | 980,768 |
November | 1998 | 960,206 |
First, even as Philadelphia looses population, the number of registered voters continues to increase, year after year.
First off, its not clear Philadelphia is still losing population. Most people think it stabilized around the year 2000 or so.
Second, the actual registration numbers above show no change in total registrations from 1998 to 2005 other than normal fluctuations from purging registrations and adding new voters.
Today, in Philadelphia, nearly 100% of every person of voting age must registered to vote (as compared to a national average of 60% by the Census Bureau). Consider, since 1995, Philadelphia's voter rolls have jumped 24 percent while at the same time that the city's population has declined by 13 percent.
State of Pennsylvania Registration Total
1998 - 7,258,822
2000 - 7,781,997
2005 - 8,073,337
So over the same period that Philadelphia has seen 26,000 net new voters added to its roles, the State has seen 815,000. There is a general increase statewide. There were only 9,358,833 people over 18 in Pennsylvania in 2000, so the vast majority were registered, unlike your make-believe 60% number.
83% of Pennsylvanians are registered, and 90% of Philadelphians. Philadelphia is to be expected to have more registrations because of its more transient population (lots of young people, people in apartments, college students, etc.), which is why Philadelphia also purges more inactive registrations.
The voter roles have gone up nationwide and statewide by similar amounts, thanks to the Motor-Voter Law, which prohibits Pennsylvania's old policy of purging the roles after two years of inactivity. The longer wait swells the roles with inactive registrations, and Philadelphia purges 50,000 to 100,000 of these after every Federal November election (note the large drops in total registration after 2002 and 2004 elections).
Second, the total lopsidedness of the 4.16 ratio is an absolutely astounding number - even heavily democratic Broward Country, FL (one of the only places Gore wanted recounted in 2000) only went for Kerry 2:1 and Cook County, IL (Chicago - THE definition of the democrat voting machine) only went for Kerry 2.5:1.
Have you ever set foot in Philadelphia? Apparently not. Philadelphia is a 75% Democrat city. All you need to do is look around you here to verify that. Cook County and Broward County are or include large suburban areas, where Republican predominate more.
Either Philadelphia has the most engaged and civic population in the history of the World, or there is massive voter fraud.
Philadelphia's population is civicly engaged, but not how you apparently think. The highest turnouts come from the middle class and upper class wards where there are many Republicans in the Northeast, Northwest, and South Philadelphia. Turnout in those areas can reach 65-70%. The lowest turnout is in the Black and Hispanic ghettoes in North and West Philadelphia. These areas are lucky if they break 50%, and often are below 40% turnout for a Presidential election. This can also be seen in that Bush received a higher percentage of votes compared to Republican registrations than did Kerry to Democrat ones.
The cries of "fraud" are from people like you who can't see beyond their own nose to point the blame for Pennsylvania losses where it properly belongs - on Suburban Philadelphia Republicans, and on Mr. Bush's failure to attract them to vote for him. Even as President Bush was suffering historic losses in the Philadelphia suburbs, the very conservative Sen. Santorum was carrying those same suburbs in 2000 to a statewide victory, and the conservative Attorney General Tom Corbett was doing the same in 2004, and Republican's were sweeping almost every local office in these areas. This means some people were voting a ticket of Gore-Santorum-local Republicans or Kerry-Corbett-local Republicans.
Even in Philadelphia, Bush ran behind the local and statewide Republicans, who managed to carry of number of city wards that Bush lost (and didn't even lose very closely). Bush simply ran a campaign which did not appeal to independent and Republican voters in Philadelphia and its suburbs.
Fraud in Philadelphia has nothing to do with such voting.
And the amount of fraud easily exceeds the margin of loss of President Bush. For instance, if the registration was above average and if Philadelphia was just your "average-democrat-rustbelt-city-union-stronghold with a 50 year democrat political machine," the vote for Kerry in Philadelphia would have been just over 350,000. The voter fraud in Philadelphia is worth about 150,000 votes - a deficit that any Republican running for statewide office must overcome with real votes.
The vote for Kerry in Philadelphia was comparable to the vote he received in New York City, Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and many other cities where Democrats predominate. As I noted above, Bush received more votes per Republican registration (about 0.74) than Kerry did per Democrat one (about 0.68). You simply don't know what you are talking about.
They were all laughing away about how the election was great for the economy of Philadelphia, and suggesting that there would plenty of "street money" around to "get out the vote." And these are the same people who are going to stop or report any kind of voter fraud?
"Street Money" is money from Ward Leaders to pay precinct workers to get people to the poles. The amount is $100 for a 12 hour effort, and Republicans pay it out too for their workers. Nobody is buying votes with this money, its small compensation for a day of hard work.
Have you ever looked at precinct results for Philadelphia? Could you name the precincts and wards you think all this "fraud" is occuring in? I'll bet you cannot.
This nonesense is distracting to Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Republicans who need to focus on the real reasons they are losing - they are losing the allegiance of the Suburban voter - not because of mythical fraud in Philadelphia.
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