The Fake Voter Fraud Epidemic and the 2012 Election

Talking Points Memo ^ | 8/21/2012 | Rick Hasen

[Loud Mime]

Of all the developments in The Voting Wars since 2000, the lead story has to be the successful Republican effort to create an illusion of a voter fraud epidemic used to justify a host of laws, especially tough new state voter identification requirements, with the aim to suppress Democratic turnout and to excite the Republican base about “stolen” elections. Democrats sometimes have exaggerated the likely effects of such laws on turnout—we won’t see millions of voters disenfranchised by state voter id laws, for example. But in a very close presidential election, as we are likely to see in November, new voter id rules, voter purges in places like Colorado and Florida, cutbacks in early voting in Ohio, and other technical changes have the potential to suppress Democratic turnout enough to swing the election from Obama to Romney.

How did we get here? Our story begins with what Josh has aptly referred to as “bamboozlement” by a group of political operatives, “The Fraudulent Fraud Squad.”

Chapter 2 of The Voting Wars tells the whole story, but here’s a brief sketch. The disputed 2000 election made clear to political operatives that the rules of the game could matter at the margin, and in our hyper-partisan and evenly divided country more elections would be decided at the margin. When Congress considered fixes to our election system, after 2000, a Republican insider named Thor Hearne—likely at the urging of Karl Rove—created a phony think tank, the “American Center for Voting Rights” to testify before a congressional committee and push the line that “voter fraud” was rampant. (The term “voter fraud” is actually relatively new, and more election crimes appear to be committed by election officials and party operatives than voters.)

ACVR relied upon discredited allegations of election fraud, and upon proven evidence of voter registration fraud. Some of the allegations had racial undertones, such as a focus on a false registration of “Mr. Jive F. Turkey, Sr.” and work by the NAACP.

Registration fraud was a real problem thanks to ACORN’s broken business model, which used very poor people to register voters and stood ready to fire them if they did not produce enough voter registrations. While that led ACORN workers to turn in lots of “Mickey Mouse” registration cards, I’ve yet to see proof that a single fraudulent ACORN-related registration card led to an actual fraudulently cast ballot.

ACVR eventually disappeared in the dark of night, with the website coming down without warning and Thor Hearne scrubbing his resume of references to his organization. But by then many on the right were pushing the voter fraud line hard. For example Dick Armey claimed that 3% of votes cast were fraudulent Democratic votes and that the problem was especially bad in “urban areas” in the “inner cities.” Michele Malkin suggested that voter fraud would infect the 2010 elections, but she abandoned the claim when Republicans gave Democrats a “thumping” in that election.

Importantly, Republicans tied their claims of voter fraud to ostensible fraud prevention measures which would be most likely to depress Democratic turnout, but they ignored measures which would actually combat real problems of fraud. So Republicans pushed hard for voter identification laws, which would prevent one person from impersonating another at the polls.

But the tell that Republicans were not serious about fraud prevention was their failure to call for laws limiting absentee balloting to those with a valid excuse for not voting at the polling place. A recent News21 survey of prosecutions in all 50 states shows that vote buying through absentee ballots is a real—though relatively small— problem. That survey found that impersonation fraud is almost non-existent—10 allegations across the country in the last decade. It’s no wonder, as impersonation fraud is an exceedingly dumb way to seal an election.

Yet the prevalence of voter impersonation fraud is central to Republican justifications for voter i.d. laws, and so in researching my book I went looking for any case in the last generation in which voter impersonation fraud would have happened on a large enough scale that could have conceivably affected the outcome of the election. I could find nothing. For five years the Bush Justice Department pushed hard for election prosecutions across the U.S., and came up with no impersonation fraud conspiracies. Same with Texas. And at the recent Pennsylvania trial over its new voter id law, the state conceded it knew of no cases of impersonation voter fraud.

Hans von Spakovsky, one of the charter members of the Fraudulent Fraud Squad, claimed that there was such “recent” evidence of a problem with impersonation fraud, and he cited to a grand jury report issued in 1984 by the Brooklyn (N.Y.) district attorney’s office. (Put aside the fact that 1984 is not so recent.)

I asked von Spakovsky for a copy of the report. I heard nothing from him, even though he had contacted me in the past pitching items to include on my Election Law Blog. I wrote to the president of the Heritage Foundation, where von Spakovsky works, asking for the report, and noting that good scholarship requires that scholars make their data available for verification. Silence. TPM ran a story on it. Silence.

A law librarian at UC Irvine finally was able to track down a copy of the report from the district attorney’s office. And guess what? The grand jury found lots of shenanigans by election officials and party officials (including party officials hiding in the ceiling of the men’s room of the Brooklyn Board of Elections to change voter registration after dark). But virtually no cases of voter impersonation fraud and nothing done without the collusion of election officials.

But by then, von Spakovsky had moved on. In a syndicated column, he wrote of an election allegedly stolen by at least 50 illegal votes cast by Somalis voting in Kansas. When I pointed out on my blog that the court examining these claims found no proof of illegal voting and that the election took place in Missouri, not Kansas, he corrected the column’s reference to Kansas, but did nothing to remove his discredited claim of fraud in the election.

More recently, von Spakovsky and his co-author John Fund wrote a book in which they rely on wholly discredited allegations that fraudulent voting was responsible for Al Franken’s win in Minnesota over Norm Coleman in the recount and litigation over the disputed Minnesota U.S. Senate race.

This is the modus operandi of the Fraudulent Fraud Squad. Use false and exaggerated claims. Don’t correct the record when proven wrong. Use a bait-and-switch on fraud allegations to justify laws which don’t prevent fraud. Make people believe voter fraud is an epidemic when it’s not. And call those who point out the truth “vote fraud deniers.”

In the meantime, Republican legislatures and election officials change election rules to make it harder to register and vote in the name of fraud prevention and voter confidence, confidence which political operatives have manipulated with unfounded and exaggerated allegations of voter fraud.

[Yosemitest]

Another stinkin' liberal making excuses, and acussing Republicans of what the Democrats do all the time.

Remember this?

"Remember: Your Vote is Your Voice.

"Su Voz, Es Su Voto. Make your voice heard on Election Day.

"Sincerely, President Bill Clinton"

Clinton letter in English.

Below that letter is a P.S. that explains: "Here is your personal Voter Identification Card. Sign your name, then detach your card. Bring your card with you to your polling place on Election Day. It will help your voting go more smoothly."

Apparently all the recipient needs to do with this Voter Identification Card is sign it to be eligible to vote. Keep in mind, this was sent to a previously unregistered voter.

Clinton letter in Spanish.

As my friend points out, only the U.S. government knows her age and pending residency status, and, obviously her Latino background. How did this information wind up in the partisan political hands of the California Democratic Party?

This is about STEALING ELECTIONS and the democrats are experts at it. In California, it's automatic to register a new driver's license holder to vote.

[Salamander]

You need a government issued photo ID to pick up something you ordered via Walmart’s “ship to store”, *even if* you show them the text message they sent you on *your* cell phone *and* the email printed out notifying you it’s ready for pickup.

It is more hassle to get a 4 lousy speakers than it is to vote in a federal election.

Tell me that makes any sense.

WalMart should run all US elections.

[BCR #226]

My response to the Professor.

Voting is a Civil Right just like owning a gun. We have to submit ID, fill out a 4473 and have an instant background check to purchase a firearm. Why don’t we use the same standard for voting? If you can justify it for buying a gun, it’s perfectly okay to use for voting. If you don’t like it, then you need to lobby to get rid of the background check for owning a gun.

[onyx]

I.D. HELPS STOP FRAUD!

PLEASE DONATE!

[Loud Mime]

Good Information!

[thecodont]

They tried to “cherry pick” and were afraid of the full recount.

[Loud Mime]

That's what I remember. They selected what counties would be recounted and the Bush people filed an equal protection lawsuit; everything had to be recounted.

[eggman]

Of course there is no supporting data. They make a claim of only 10 allegations of impersonation fraud but how would anyone know a fraud was being committed if their is no voter ID requirement. Someone working at the polls would have to know the person being impersonated. The odds of that happening in most cities is almost nonexistent so the fraud would never be challenged.

If you aren't looking for something, you will likely never find evidence of it.

[DoughtyOne]

But in a very close presidential election, as we are likely to see in November, new voter id rules, voter purges in places like Colorado and Florida, cutbacks in early voting in Ohio, and other technical changes have the potential to suppress Democratic turnout enough to swing the election from Obama to Romney.

Close election?  We'll see about that.

New voter ID rules
Voter roll purges
Cutbacks in early voting
Other (ahem) technical changes

How in the Sam Hell are these changes going to suppress valid Democrat citizen votes?

I do however find it hilarious that it will definitely suppress some of the votes the Democrats have been getting.

Nice of them to admit it.

Thanks to those of you who have helped contribute 94% towards the goal.  If you haven't already, please click below and pencil yourself in.

[wbill]

I’d compare it to someone saying “there is no speeding on the Interstate.” then putting a cop every half mile to ‘prove’ it.

I don’t mind hearing “I told you so”, as long as all of the voters are doing a nice steady 65. :-)

[WhiskeyX]

Rick Hasen is a liar and a fraud in this article he has written. I was illegally denied the right to vote by the Democrat Party in California. They used my resiential address to obtain fraudulent California driver's licenses, which the California Department of Motor Vehicles mailed to them at my home address. When I attempted to report this crime, the law enforcement agencies threatened to arrest me for attempting to report the crime.

When the time came to vote in the general election, I presented my very real and legitimate voter's registration card and California Driver's License as identification to receive my voting ballot. Before I could say one word in response the poll workers said I could not vote and instantly ordered me to leave the polling place, or they would call the police to have me arrested. I was not given even one moment to open my mouth to ask why. They clearly did not want to give me an opportunity to say one word or ask any questions whatsoever, before threatening me with arrest. While leaving the polling place, I stopped to read the public posting of the voters list for this voting precinct, where I had voted for years with no problems. My address appeared on the list, but my name had been removed and replaced with the Hispanic names of the people who had their fraudulent California driver's licenses sent to my home address.

When I tried to report this vote fraud, disenfranchisement, and felonies, the California Attorney General’s Office, Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, and California Highway Patrol refused to accept the report of the crime and threatened to have me arrested for the Federal crime of opening another person's U.S. mail. They didn't pause long enough to hear me say I didn't open any of their mail. The names and driver's licenses were visible through the window of the envelope, which used the driver's license itself to provide the mailing address through the window.

Democrat vote fraud is rampant and pervasive, and is committed with virtual impunity by Democrat officers turning a blind eye to its existence and fostering its continuation. Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s investigation of the birth certificate fraud institutionalized by the state government of Hawaii for an entire century is just the tip of the iceberg which is representative of the scope of this problem. Dr. Sun Yat-sen obtained a fraudulent Hawaiian birth certificate from the Territory of Hawaii. Japanese parents have been obtaining fraudulent Hawaiian birth certificates for decades in the very lucrative trade for such documents used to obtain fraudulent U.S. citizenship rights.

Democrat criminal vote fraud has been around since the beginnings of the political party and its criminal activities from Tammany Hall to the current incidents. The Border Ruffians of the Democrat Party engaged in terrorism, murder, assassination, and monumental vote fraud in Kansas before the American Civil War. At one point, they sent more fraudulent voters out from Missouri to Kansas than there were people in resident in Kansas. This blatant violation of law went unrecognized by a Congress controlled by the Democrats, until after the Confederate States attempted to secede from the Union.

The American Civil War occurred when the secessionists resorted to massive vote fraud, intimidation, and murder of election officials after the first secession conventions failed to win voter approval. The Democrats illegally refused to allow Abraham Lincoln's name to appear as a candidate for the Office of the President on voting ballots in many Southern states. When that vote fraud failed to keep the voters in the remaining states from electing Abraham Lincoln as the President Elect anyway, the Democrats then set out to murder Abraham Lincoln before he could be inaugurated as the new President. These plots failed too. In the end, the Democrats used vote fraud to tear the United States apart in the bloodiest war the nation has ever fought and suffered.

In Texas, the Democrats used vote fraud to depose the lawfully elected Governor Sam Houston from the Governor's Office of the State of Texas.

In the face of these impossible to ignore historical precedents, Hasen’s attempts to reeducate the American public to disregard those historical facts gives him the appearance reminiscent of the Soviet commissar responsible for the political indoctrination of the public with disinformation.

[Yosemitest]

Use it often and loudly.
May I recommend...?

[tcrlaf]

Yes, despite the hundreds and hundreds of people convicted of voter frauds in the last decade, (almost every one a DEMOCRAT) it’s OBVIOUSLY fake...

Doncha just love these morons?

[SpaceBar]

Here's a good essay that blows this liberal "talking points" screed out of the water...

The Liberal Fear of Voter Identification

[STD]

Best guess of how many fraudulent Dem votes are cast each election, just enough to steal the election. FWIW, I was told by top Dem pollsters that they were beaten because they never dreamed that AlGore was such a bad candidate. They had not printed enough blank ballots needed to complete enough fraudulent ballots for AlGore, so he could win the Florida race and the national delegate count. They were unable to examine and invalidate votes already cast for GW Bush, because our ground troops refused to allow the Dems to open ballot boxes and spoil GW Bush ballots.

Lurch faired only marginally better four years later, but without control of investigator's, the Dems couldn't act recklessly.

Our largest national dilemma today is the Hussein Justice Department, we face the November election, without any credible law enforcement. We will face a completely politicized Justice Department transformed into a personal instrument of the Hussein Regime.

There will be no investigations, or cases of vote fraud and, or stolen elections unless the Justice Department investigates and charges those involved in massive Democrat vote fraud.

[2ndDivisionVet]

The Complete Guide to ACORN Voter Fraud
http://pjmedia.com/blog/the-complete-guide-to-acorn-voter-fraud/

4 Indiana Dems charged with election fraud in 2008 presidential race http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/02/4-indiana-dems-charged-with-election-fraud-in-2008/#ixzz24LnIVlv2

Fraud Map
http://www.rottenacorn.com/activityMap.html

The Democrats’ Election Forgery Racket
http://townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/2012/04/04/the_democrats_election_forgery_racket/page/full/

ACORN operative admits ‘voter fraud’
http://www.wnd.com/2011/09/344577/

Voter Fraud: Coming to a Booth Near You?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/08/voter_fraud_coming_to_a_booth_near_you.html#ixzz24Ln1DA2p

[skr]

What is this guy talking about? I want absentee ballots limited to those who are unable to be present at their polling places on Election Day. Convenience is not for what absentee ballots were intended.

[TigerClaws]

Yep. Great article.

Only real ‘argument’ is that it makes it much easier for Democrats to steal elections.

The Franken seat and the Landrieu (sp?) seat in Louisiana were both stolen through election fraud. That’s TWO U.S. Senate seats would could have swung the balance.

Of course, Kennedy stole the ‘60 election thanks to mob help in Chicago.

[Salamander]

I feel like I’m watching the Glendening “So?” election theft all over again.

*Just enough* Baltimoreans rose from the dead after midnight to put him over the top.

And he never denied it...nor did the elections officer, Kennedy-Townsend, his running mate.

Unreal.

[1010RD]

This dunce is allowed to teach children. A merit system would have him wiping your car dry outside an automatic car wash.