Voting Fraud is Mostly a Myth

Yahoo! News Editorial ^ | 10-16-06 | Cynthia Tucker

[Reindeercards]

If I understand the way voter fraud investigations work, the losing candidate has to demand an investigation. Any candidate who demands an investigation is kissing his political career goodbye since he's seen as a "sore loser" even if there was substantial vote fraud.

Since there's so rarely a substantial investigation into voter fraud, I'm not shocked they've found little evidence. People who aren't look often don't find the thing they aren't looking for.

But let's take the claim at face value and say that all of these allegations every election of widespread voter fraud is overblown.

Why don't we render a service to the country and PROVE its not happening? We could take camera phones and camcorders into vote counting locations and document the vote counters as they AREN'T voting piles of blank ballots or "finishing up" partially filled out ballots by voting for the Democrat in the remaining races.

Then we could upload all the videos to the internet so everyone could see for themselves that our voting system is corruption free.

Thoughts?

[bmwcyle]

Either DEMS win or there is voter fraud. /sarcasm

[tomnbeverly]

Saving this one for the Liberals when they lose... They will be marching on D.C. claiming disenfranchisement due to DIEBOLD..... booga... booga...Rove knew, Cheney is the Devil... Bush is bad...

[NonValueAdded]

Tucker must have brown eyes cause she's so full of ...

[Scourge of God]

We must have a picture ID to drive. We must have a picture ID to buy booze. We must have a ID to check out a library book.

I think voting is more important, and more worth safeguarding, than driving, drinking, or getting a book!

[Toddsterpatriot]

According to USA Today, a preliminary report commissioned by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission has found little evidence of the sort of fraud that the burdensome new regulations purport to prevent. The bipartisan report found that "there is little polling-place fraud, or at least much less than is claimed, including voter impersonation, 'dead' voters, noncitizen voting and felon voters,"

Excellent news. So we shouldn't see a huge drop off in voting in Dem districts. And if the voters are legit, they can still vote after they show their ID.

[truthandlife]

Voter fraud is real and it has been very effective for the Democrats in the past. The Bush admin with Ashcroft has cleaned up a lot of it but liberal judges are striking down the voter ID laws because they know the Dem Party would be destroyed if these were to take effect.

See Freepers Against Voter Fraud (2002)

to get more information.

[Mr. Mojo]

Recently, however, ..... a new generation of politicians, mostly Republicans, is determined to snatch the [voting] franchise away from some Americans. Just a month ago, the GOP-dominated House passed a bill that would require government-issued photo IDs to vote in federal elections.

How exactly would requiring photos IDs "disenfranchise" American citizens?

[MEGoody]

Of course there is voter fraud. Apparently the writer of this editorial hasn't paid attention to the news immediately before and after an election.

[exile]

Nothing to see here. Move along you lookieloos.

[Alouette]

"there is little polling-place fraud, or at least much less than is claimed, including voter impersonation, 'dead' voters, noncitizen voting and felon voters,"

It is so ridiculously easy for a person to register in multiple locations and then request absentee ballots to vote multiple times. When you register to vote in one state nobody checks to see if you are registered in another state.

I could have voted 6 times in the last election, using the voter registration cards of my kids who live out of state and are registered elsewhere.

The only reason voter fraud is not completely out of control is because most people can't be bothered to vote even once, much less multiple times.

[jmaroneps37]

Nice try cyndy.

[ClearCase_guy]

Any candidate who demands an investigation is kissing his political career goodbye since he's seen as a "sore loser" even if there was substantial vote fraud.

Not sure I quite follow your thinking.

Candidate Smith loses the election. He cries fraud. Fraud is found. Turns out the majority of voters wanted Candidate Smith to win. So the results are overturned, and Candidate Smith is put in office.

Now his political career is over because:

1) He is now an incumbent?
2) He gave his party a victory out of the jaws of defeat?
3) He helped the majority of voters get what they wanted?
4) He stopped fraud and corruption in our electoral system?

[Gordongekko909]

Government-issued picture IDs used for voting don't cost the voter anything. They CAN'T, under the Twenty-Third Amendment. So why is there any amount of worry about the poor being disenfranchised?

[msnimje]

The investigations must be getting close to uncovering the wide spread Dem voter fraud or Tucker would not dare writing such a thing.

[MBB1984]

She does and she is. Voter Fraud runs rampant in heavily democrat precincts. It will only be made worse this year with thousands of illegals likely voting.

[Bluegrass Federalist]

The way most polling places are set up, the only way to catch someone is if the real voter or a poll worker who personally knows the real voter overhears the person misrepresent his identity. Photo ID laws are under challenge in the few states that actually have passed it (my guess is that the 7th circuit upholds Indiana's law, the very partisan Georgia judge who overturned Georgia's law twice is reversed, and who knows whether Justice Kennedy blocks the injunction against Arizona's law entered by - you guessed it - the Ninth Circuit).

Either no ID is required, or in many cases a utility bill or even an affidavit are OK. If you cannot ID the voter, you cannot catch the fraud, but this is the new Dem argument (contradicted by the Baker-Carter (yes, Jimmah) Commission's findings).

Because the Dems block any measure to be able to verify voter identity, and therefore we cannot verify voter identity, it must follow that the voters are who they say they are. Not good logic, but it has worked on about half the judges so far.

[bigfootbob]

Come out to Washington State. Voter fraud cost us the gubernatorial election in 2004. That is a fact, not a myth.

[Lazamataz]

Voting Fraud is Mostly a Myth

Mostly.

Except when it is 100% real.

And that's most of the time.

[Luna]

Just a month ago, the GOP-dominated House passed a bill that would require government-issued photo IDs to vote in federal elections.

OH NO!!! Oh, the humanity!! We can't have people showing ID to prove identity! What extreme wacko would think of somthing that insane? IDs are required to cash a check, but IDs for voting? Out of the question! /s

Here in AZ, our lovely governor was bemoaning that poor people and old people would be hardest hit by prop 200 requiring ID to vote.