Vote Fraud: A National Epidemic
I started writing a series of articles about the "Hate America" crowd, and why they hate. Part of it dealt with Michael Moore. There's one statement Mr. Moore said that got me doing some research - that the Republicans would "do anything to win". I started doing some research on vote fraud in the 2004 election, and was totally astounded by the amount of words written about the subject. Unfortunately, the words haven't been followed by any action, either to correct the problems that allowed the fraud to take place, or to prosecute those responsible for it. Below is a state-by-state wrap-up of what I'm finding, complete with links to the articles themselves.
The research was done through Google searches of the Internet. A search for "vote fraud" turns up almost 200,000 hits; "voter fraud" turns up another 345,000, and "election fraud" turns up over 370,000. Additional searches were done adding the word "Democratic" and "Republican" before the other phrases. The only stories I've linked to are those where factual evidence was presented to Federal, State, and Local law enforcement people and others.
Google searches were also done using the string "ACORN" +"voter registration fraud", which returned 34,700 hits. ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is being investigated in a number of states for voter registration fraud, including Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
Other groups that were checked was Americans Coming Together (ACT), a Democratic 527 group funded by George Soros, "America Votes", and Sproul & Associates, a Republican group.
In addition, two Google searches were done using "prosecuted" +"voter registration fraud" +2004, (789 hits) and "convicted" +"voter registration fraud" +2004 (819 hits). Other searches used specific names, company names, lists of "527" organizations, and information from State attorney general offices in each of the affected states. I've tried to be as truthful and nonpartisan as I could. DISCLOSURE: I am a Vietnam veteran, and was in South Vietnam at the time John Kerry told his lies before the Senate Armed Services Committee. I have a personal disdain for John Kerry. I am a registered Independent in Colorado. My parents were lifelong registered Democrats, and both belonged to unions at one time or another in their lives. Both also served in the Armed Forces of the United States during World War II.
NATIONWIDE
This site discusses real and/or potential voter fraud in Maryland, California, South Dakota, Ohio, New York, Florida, and elsewhere.
This site discusses voter registration fraud by ACORN and others in Colorado, Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania.
More voter registration fraud reporting involving ACORN. This includes reports of problems in Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, North Carolina, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Louisiana.
Free Republic has a massive database on stories alleging voter fraud across the nation. Stories about voter fraud that occured in Wisconsin, Washington State, Ohio, California, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Arizona, New York, North Carolina, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, Puerto Rico, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, and elsewhere. NOTE: you have to go to all pages to see details.
Here is another rehash of the problems that ACORN has brought upon itself.
This link links to Daily Kos and Republican voter fraud. While I don't think for a minute that some Republicans participated in fraud, I can't accept anything from Daily Kos as truthful, having experienced more than three years of lies, distortions, and plain old fabrications. Take anything you read there with a grain of salt, and cross-check it three ways before accepting it. I won't link directly to Kos, period.
Another ACORN report, this one from National Review Online
This article attacks the online news center, NEWSMAX. While NewsMax is frequently sensationalized, there are many instances of it reporting striaght news - enough to offset the charges of "hysteria". Also, most NewsMax stories originate either on the national wires or other links. This report also brings up the point - how much fraud is acceptable? I would describe ANY fraud as unacceptable, by any voter, in any election. Fraud of any kind is a crime, and should be treated as such.
This site has a lot of links to articles about voter fraud, presented from the Democratic/Left side of the spectrum.
COLORADO
Massive Democratic voter registration fraud from voter-registration drives: " 9News has documented 719 cases of potentially fraudulent forms at county election offices show fraudulent names, addresses, social security numbers or dates of birth in Denver, Douglas, Adams, Boulder and Lake counties. Information from other counties is still coming in." Surprisingly, the article cannot be found in the archives of Channel 9 News in Denver. As a Colorado resident, I know the case is still pending trial.
FLORIDA
This story discusses voter registration fraud by the group ACORN in Florida.
More on the Florida ACORN voter fraud story, plus links to other stories.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement checks in on ACORN voter fraud.
There is anecdotal evidence of additional registration shenanigans by several groups on both sides of the political sphere in other places in Florida.
MISSOURI
This UPI story on Newsmax discusses election abuse and fraud in St. Louis.
NEVADA
REPUBLICAN voter fraud is reported in this article about the behavior of Arizona-based Sproul and Associates in Nevada, Oregon, and West Virginia.
NEW MEXICO
In a story from KRQE Channel 13, Albuquerque, NM, stories of voter registration cards for at least two dead people and one unknown.
Jim Miller, a political blogger, discusses voter fraud in Bernalillo County, NM. This county includes the city of Albuquerque, and roughly a third of New Mexico voters.
OHIO
This October, 2004 Drudge report shows part of the problem in Ohio - more voters registering than people of voting age living in that county. Fraud? Dead people voting? You decide.
This Boston Herald comment thread discusses the Ohio voter fraud case in a little more depth.
Here is another story about voter fraud in Ohio, this one by the Cincinatti Enquirer.
Here is the Toledo Blade story on voter registration fraud in Ohio.
PENNSYLVANIA
This story comes from the "Blogs for Bush" website, but is still relevant because it shows voter fraud being committed, and discusses charges being filed. I can't find anything about the charges being dropped, or that any action has been taken on this matter.
This story shows part of the problem of having voter registration groups pay by the number of people registered - it's an open invitation to fraud.
SOUTH DAKOTA
There are many allegations of voter fraud surrounding the re-election attempt by Sen. Daschle (against Mr. Thune), especially in the many Indian reservations in the state, against both Democrats and Republicans. I found no concise news report that adequately covered the controversy.
TENNESSEE
Hobbs Online has this story of 200 fraudulent voter registration cards being filed in Davidson County by a temporary employee of the Tennessee Citizen Action committee. The matter was referred to both Tennessee and FBI investigator Hobbs also has a fraud report special page with many, many links here.
WASHINGTON
There is a major battle taking place between the Republican candidate for Governor, Bill Rossi, and his Democratic rival, Christine Gregiore. Voter fraud plays a major part of the battle. There are enough reports of voter fraud to verify that the original election was seriously flawed, with more unlawful ballots counted than the original or current difference in election results. A new election is being pushed by more than half of the state voters.
To date, the only agency working for the Republican Party to face criminal charges (and in my opinion, well-deserved) is Sproul & Associates of Chandler, Arizona. The group's destruction of Democratic voter registration cards is unconscionable. We'll have to wait and see, however, if the courts agree.
On the other side of the aisle, there's no doubt that many workers for ACORN committed voter registration fraud, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, and Colorado at least.
The election farce in Washington State still has to play itself out, but don't expect any great surprises or "Cinderella" stories. This fiasco is being master-minded (if that's the right word) by the state Democratic machine, not some Soros-backed 527 or other group. The same can be said of vote fraud in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota at a minimum. Illinois and Missouri may also be in play. Less intense but still significant examinations of vote fraud should be carried out in North and South Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, New York, Florida, Ohio, California, Pennsylvania and Oregon.
"America Votes", a coalition of more than forty groups, mostly backed by Democratic party members, has dozens of its member groups under investigation for voter fraud. The Washington Times article has this paragraph: "Hundreds of questionable voter-registration applications, such as duplicates, and accusations of workers shredding registrations in favor of one party are under review by local, state and federal law-enforcement and election authorities in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, West Virginia, Oregon, Ohio, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Florida."
What this should tell us is that we need to update our voter registration and election laws to meet the needs of the 21st Century, and to put an end to vote fraud. We need national minimum standards for voter registration, felony voting, and provisional ballots. We need national minimum standards for early and absentee voting, and for overseas voting by military and civilian citizens of the United States that guarantees their right to cast their ballot. We need national minimum standards for voting machines and the voting process. Finally, we need national minimum standards for prosecuting fraud and lawlessness in any form relating to voting.
Voting is our way of selecting those that will represent us in our government. Fraud not only makes the election process unjust, it deprives us of our honestly chosen elected officials. It MUST become a national priority to crack down on voter fraud before all respect for the process - and for our government - is destroyed.
Suggested Minimum Standards for Voter Registration
Suggested Minimum Standards for Felony Voting
Any person convicted of a felony anywhere in the United States should have his/her name, social security number, date and place of birth, and a photograph entered into a nationwide database, and made available to all state registrars. State registrars should be required to validate their state voter rolls at least six months before an election to determine if there are any felons who are not allowed to vote on those rolls. That same database should also include a report of any limited or full reinstatement of the right to vote. Anyone who appears on the database and argues that it's wrong should be given a provisional ballot and allowed to vote, with the onus being on the state in which the vote was cast to determine if it is a legal vote or not.
Suggested Minimum Standards for Provisional Ballots
I don't know enough about voting machines, voting options, or practices to make a valid argument about those. Those should be done by state registrars and lawmakers, working with a list of acceptable options. There are thousands of ideas about how to improve early voting, absentee voting, and overseas voting - some group needs to create a committee, evaluate the options and come up with a few suggestions that can meet the needs of the people exercising their voting rights through them.
Penalties for legitimate, proven acts of fraud or criminal conduct in regard to elections should include, at a minimum, lifetime disenfranchisement, inability to hold public office at any elected or appointed level, and restitution to those deprived of their legitimate rights as the result of such criminal conduct. Incarceration may or may not be added to that punishment, depending upon circumstances.
The election's (mostly) over. Those elected are taking their places in government at many levels. Anyone elected by fraud has been seated. We shouldn't turn our back on this important question, however. Current election laws are far too easy to break. It's time to acknowledge the current system is broken, and to do what it takes to fix it.
The research was done through Google searches of the Internet. A search for "vote fraud" turns up almost 200,000 hits; "voter fraud" turns up another 345,000, and "election fraud" turns up over 370,000. Additional searches were done adding the word "Democratic" and "Republican" before the other phrases. The only stories I've linked to are those where factual evidence was presented to Federal, State, and Local law enforcement people and others.
Google searches were also done using the string "ACORN" +"voter registration fraud", which returned 34,700 hits. ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is being investigated in a number of states for voter registration fraud, including Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
Other groups that were checked was Americans Coming Together (ACT), a Democratic 527 group funded by George Soros, "America Votes", and Sproul & Associates, a Republican group.
In addition, two Google searches were done using "prosecuted" +"voter registration fraud" +2004, (789 hits) and "convicted" +"voter registration fraud" +2004 (819 hits). Other searches used specific names, company names, lists of "527" organizations, and information from State attorney general offices in each of the affected states. I've tried to be as truthful and nonpartisan as I could. DISCLOSURE: I am a Vietnam veteran, and was in South Vietnam at the time John Kerry told his lies before the Senate Armed Services Committee. I have a personal disdain for John Kerry. I am a registered Independent in Colorado. My parents were lifelong registered Democrats, and both belonged to unions at one time or another in their lives. Both also served in the Armed Forces of the United States during World War II.
NATIONWIDE
This site discusses real and/or potential voter fraud in Maryland, California, South Dakota, Ohio, New York, Florida, and elsewhere.
This site discusses voter registration fraud by ACORN and others in Colorado, Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania.
More voter registration fraud reporting involving ACORN. This includes reports of problems in Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, North Carolina, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Louisiana.
Free Republic has a massive database on stories alleging voter fraud across the nation. Stories about voter fraud that occured in Wisconsin, Washington State, Ohio, California, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Arizona, New York, North Carolina, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, Puerto Rico, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, and elsewhere. NOTE: you have to go to all pages to see details.
Here is another rehash of the problems that ACORN has brought upon itself.
This link links to Daily Kos and Republican voter fraud. While I don't think for a minute that some Republicans participated in fraud, I can't accept anything from Daily Kos as truthful, having experienced more than three years of lies, distortions, and plain old fabrications. Take anything you read there with a grain of salt, and cross-check it three ways before accepting it. I won't link directly to Kos, period.
Another ACORN report, this one from National Review Online
This article attacks the online news center, NEWSMAX. While NewsMax is frequently sensationalized, there are many instances of it reporting striaght news - enough to offset the charges of "hysteria". Also, most NewsMax stories originate either on the national wires or other links. This report also brings up the point - how much fraud is acceptable? I would describe ANY fraud as unacceptable, by any voter, in any election. Fraud of any kind is a crime, and should be treated as such.
This site has a lot of links to articles about voter fraud, presented from the Democratic/Left side of the spectrum.
COLORADO
Massive Democratic voter registration fraud from voter-registration drives: " 9News has documented 719 cases of potentially fraudulent forms at county election offices show fraudulent names, addresses, social security numbers or dates of birth in Denver, Douglas, Adams, Boulder and Lake counties. Information from other counties is still coming in." Surprisingly, the article cannot be found in the archives of Channel 9 News in Denver. As a Colorado resident, I know the case is still pending trial.
FLORIDA
This story discusses voter registration fraud by the group ACORN in Florida.
More on the Florida ACORN voter fraud story, plus links to other stories.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement checks in on ACORN voter fraud.
There is anecdotal evidence of additional registration shenanigans by several groups on both sides of the political sphere in other places in Florida.
MISSOURI
This UPI story on Newsmax discusses election abuse and fraud in St. Louis.
NEVADA
REPUBLICAN voter fraud is reported in this article about the behavior of Arizona-based Sproul and Associates in Nevada, Oregon, and West Virginia.
NEW MEXICO
In a story from KRQE Channel 13, Albuquerque, NM, stories of voter registration cards for at least two dead people and one unknown.
Jim Miller, a political blogger, discusses voter fraud in Bernalillo County, NM. This county includes the city of Albuquerque, and roughly a third of New Mexico voters.
OHIO
This October, 2004 Drudge report shows part of the problem in Ohio - more voters registering than people of voting age living in that county. Fraud? Dead people voting? You decide.
This Boston Herald comment thread discusses the Ohio voter fraud case in a little more depth.
Here is another story about voter fraud in Ohio, this one by the Cincinatti Enquirer.
Here is the Toledo Blade story on voter registration fraud in Ohio.
PENNSYLVANIA
This story comes from the "Blogs for Bush" website, but is still relevant because it shows voter fraud being committed, and discusses charges being filed. I can't find anything about the charges being dropped, or that any action has been taken on this matter.
This story shows part of the problem of having voter registration groups pay by the number of people registered - it's an open invitation to fraud.
SOUTH DAKOTA
There are many allegations of voter fraud surrounding the re-election attempt by Sen. Daschle (against Mr. Thune), especially in the many Indian reservations in the state, against both Democrats and Republicans. I found no concise news report that adequately covered the controversy.
TENNESSEE
Hobbs Online has this story of 200 fraudulent voter registration cards being filed in Davidson County by a temporary employee of the Tennessee Citizen Action committee. The matter was referred to both Tennessee and FBI investigator Hobbs also has a fraud report special page with many, many links here.
WASHINGTON
There is a major battle taking place between the Republican candidate for Governor, Bill Rossi, and his Democratic rival, Christine Gregiore. Voter fraud plays a major part of the battle. There are enough reports of voter fraud to verify that the original election was seriously flawed, with more unlawful ballots counted than the original or current difference in election results. A new election is being pushed by more than half of the state voters.
To date, the only agency working for the Republican Party to face criminal charges (and in my opinion, well-deserved) is Sproul & Associates of Chandler, Arizona. The group's destruction of Democratic voter registration cards is unconscionable. We'll have to wait and see, however, if the courts agree.
On the other side of the aisle, there's no doubt that many workers for ACORN committed voter registration fraud, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, and Colorado at least.
The election farce in Washington State still has to play itself out, but don't expect any great surprises or "Cinderella" stories. This fiasco is being master-minded (if that's the right word) by the state Democratic machine, not some Soros-backed 527 or other group. The same can be said of vote fraud in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota at a minimum. Illinois and Missouri may also be in play. Less intense but still significant examinations of vote fraud should be carried out in North and South Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, New York, Florida, Ohio, California, Pennsylvania and Oregon.
"America Votes", a coalition of more than forty groups, mostly backed by Democratic party members, has dozens of its member groups under investigation for voter fraud. The Washington Times article has this paragraph: "Hundreds of questionable voter-registration applications, such as duplicates, and accusations of workers shredding registrations in favor of one party are under review by local, state and federal law-enforcement and election authorities in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, West Virginia, Oregon, Ohio, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Florida."
What this should tell us is that we need to update our voter registration and election laws to meet the needs of the 21st Century, and to put an end to vote fraud. We need national minimum standards for voter registration, felony voting, and provisional ballots. We need national minimum standards for early and absentee voting, and for overseas voting by military and civilian citizens of the United States that guarantees their right to cast their ballot. We need national minimum standards for voting machines and the voting process. Finally, we need national minimum standards for prosecuting fraud and lawlessness in any form relating to voting.
Voting is our way of selecting those that will represent us in our government. Fraud not only makes the election process unjust, it deprives us of our honestly chosen elected officials. It MUST become a national priority to crack down on voter fraud before all respect for the process - and for our government - is destroyed.
Suggested Minimum Standards for Voter Registration
- Proof of citizenship
- Proof of birthdate
- Proof of residency
- Acceptable Photo Identification
Suggested Minimum Standards for Felony Voting
Any person convicted of a felony anywhere in the United States should have his/her name, social security number, date and place of birth, and a photograph entered into a nationwide database, and made available to all state registrars. State registrars should be required to validate their state voter rolls at least six months before an election to determine if there are any felons who are not allowed to vote on those rolls. That same database should also include a report of any limited or full reinstatement of the right to vote. Anyone who appears on the database and argues that it's wrong should be given a provisional ballot and allowed to vote, with the onus being on the state in which the vote was cast to determine if it is a legal vote or not.
Suggested Minimum Standards for Provisional Ballots
- Provisional ballots should look exactly like the standard ballot, but printed on paper of a different color.
- Provisional ballots should be given to all voters when there is a dispute over their voter registration, they have completed a same-day registration, or there is any other reason to require validation of voter registration information before their vote can be legally counted.
- Provisional ballots should be given to any voter that does not have a valid photo identification card, or where the information on the photo identification and the information on the voter registration rolls do not match.
- Provisional ballots should be totalled and counted on the same day that all other ballots are counted. When provisional ballots may alter the outcome of an election, they must be validated and counted before the election outcome can be certified.
I don't know enough about voting machines, voting options, or practices to make a valid argument about those. Those should be done by state registrars and lawmakers, working with a list of acceptable options. There are thousands of ideas about how to improve early voting, absentee voting, and overseas voting - some group needs to create a committee, evaluate the options and come up with a few suggestions that can meet the needs of the people exercising their voting rights through them.
Penalties for legitimate, proven acts of fraud or criminal conduct in regard to elections should include, at a minimum, lifetime disenfranchisement, inability to hold public office at any elected or appointed level, and restitution to those deprived of their legitimate rights as the result of such criminal conduct. Incarceration may or may not be added to that punishment, depending upon circumstances.
The election's (mostly) over. Those elected are taking their places in government at many levels. Anyone elected by fraud has been seated. We shouldn't turn our back on this important question, however. Current election laws are far too easy to break. It's time to acknowledge the current system is broken, and to do what it takes to fix it.
posted by Old Patriot | 11:45 PM
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