Voter-fraud claims a case of mass, self-induced hysteria
The charge that liberal groups are trying to steal elections through massive voter fraud has become an integral part of the conservative belief system. I used to think it was just a claim they used in a cynical effort to gain political advantage, and maybe that’s all it was in the beginning. But at this point, the charge is fully and sincerely believed by millions, and they are acting on that sincere belief.
Yet, there is no factual evidence whatsoever to sustain that claim. For eight years, the Bush Department of Justice tried very, very hard to come up with evidence of such a conspiracy. They even pushed good, conservative, effective federal prosecutors out of their jobs because those prosecutors were allegedly lax in pursuing such cases.
But eight years of effort and investigation produced nothing. In the end, they found no proof whatsoever of any conspiracy to commit large-scale voting fraud. Zero, nada, zilch.
Yeah, I know:
“ACORN.”
At this point in the debate, conservatives wave that word around as if it were a silver cross capable of fending off all manners of vampires, zombies and facts that they might find threatening to their world outlook.
It doesn’t work. Mythology aside, ACORN has never been charged, let alone convicted, of any effort to subvert free and fair elections. If the Bush DoJ had any evidence that ACORN or any other group was involved in such an enterprise, you can bet every single thing that you own that it would have tried to make that case. And it should have, because election integrity is crucial.
Yet it did nothing of the sort.
Given all that, the GOP fixation on voter fraud is explainable only as a case of mass, self-induced hysteria. I understand that sounds harsh. But if you have a better explanation, I’d love to hear it.
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2012
October 27th, 2010
10:51 pm
NPR fires Juan Williams for something he said on FNC.
The View still pays Joy Behar after her “biatch….” comment.
Joy is poison.
Her and Rosie need to Podcast.
josef nix
October 27th, 2010
10:52 pm
Oh, well, time to check out while I’m still in a warm and fuzzy mood…really DO appreciate the civil tone of this p.m. Tbmorrow ought to be a good day since I’ll be at least going in dancing on air looking at the smiling faces of the future for us all…life is good!
Paul
October 27th, 2010
10:53 pm
@@
josef’s drinking.
(ISH)
For many here (josef excluded) it does seem to improve the quality of the posts…
Midori
October 27th, 2010
10:54 pm
I think 10 years from now, if I visit this blog, Dave R. and the likes will still be making the same stupid, nonsensical, error-in-fact judgments and touting them as “fact”.
Get a grip, man.
A REPUBLICAN governor certified that race.
Seems to me if something was up, HE of ALL people would have refused to certify it — then immediately launch an investigation.
Dave R.
October 27th, 2010
10:54 pm
In California, this happened:
“Today the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association notified the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles Board of Education today that, in abject ignorance of California state law, the political campaign of Senator Barbara Boxer has openly solicited teachers employed by LAUSD to urge their students to volunteer for her campaign.”
Students were to get “extra credit”, and teachers were urged to show a Boxer-supplied video of her with the President.
Nothing to see here, folks, just move along . . .
Cleveland school buses kids to make their first vote and only shows them a sample Democrat ballot before voting. School system sees nothing wrong with that.
Nothing to see here, folks, just move along . . .
AmVet
October 27th, 2010
10:54 pm
Doggone, the article does seem to debunk the crybabies at MindlessMajority.org.
The obvious fact is that it assumes not even thirty out of those 341 names voted against Franken.
Or for the math wizards out there, it assumes that only 4% of them voted for the Republican and 96% for the Democrat.
Talk about laughably desperate to make a non-point!
Apparently, grasping at straws is one of the favorite hobbies in the Cult of Victimhood…
Doggone/GA
October 27th, 2010
10:55 pm
“The report states that 341 felons voted illegally. Stuart Smiley won by 312 votes”
I think you need to take your ground-breaking evidence of fraud to Coleman’s lega team! And do it quick, nobody seem to have let them know! This is important! Get on the phone right away!
“Sen. Coleman was represented by some of the best lawyers there are in the country,” Elias said Wednesday. “At the end of that process, the lead lawyer for Sen. Coleman told the state Supreme Court that there was no evidence of persistent fraud in the election.”
http://www.npr.org/blogs/politicaljunkie/2010/07/14/128519720/pawlenty-suggests-fraud-in-franken-coleman-election-result
July 14, 2010
Dave R.
October 27th, 2010
10:55 pm
Midori, a Republican governor had no other choice but to certify at the time, as this information wasn’t available until much later.
Dope.
Dave R.
October 27th, 2010
10:57 pm
AmVet: “Or for the math wizards out there, it assumes that only 4% of them voted for the Republican and 96% for the Democrat.”
Yeah, because convicted felons always vote for the law and order party, right?
Doggone/GA
October 27th, 2010
10:59 pm
“obviously, somebody noticed, Why?”
“”As a team, I cheered for them as a whole. When he stepped up to the free throw line, it didn’t feel right for me to have to cheer for him after what he did to me,” she said.
So she quietly stepped back and crossed her arms”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/rape-high-school-cheerleader-vows-fight-school-district/story?id=11972052&page=2
Dave R.
October 27th, 2010
10:59 pm
“I think you need to take your ground-breaking evidence of fraud to Coleman’s lega team! And do it quick, nobody seem to have let them know! This is important! Get on the phone right away!”
Doggone, once certified and the official is sworn in, nothing can be done to change the result.
Doesn’t make the result any less wrong once investigated later on.
Dope.
Paul
October 27th, 2010
10:59 pm
Hi Midori!!!
Midori
October 27th, 2010
11:00 pm
Dave R,
sorry but you take dopiness to a whole new level with that pitiful, half as$ed “excuse”.
He had no choice but to certify?
Why, pray tell?
This ought to be good.
Midori
October 27th, 2010
11:01 pm
Hi Paul
RW-(the original)
October 27th, 2010
11:01 pm
Since when does the governor certify an election? Maybe Minnesota is different but that’s usually the Secretary of State.
Midori
October 27th, 2010
11:02 pm
Google is your friend, RW: http://www.google.com/search?q=pawlenty+certifies+senate+results&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Pick one.
Dave R.
October 27th, 2010
11:03 pm
Florida, 2000: Democrats try to get recounts in ONLY Democrat-friendly counties, rather than recounting the entire state.
Nothing to see here, folks, just move along . . .
Doggone/GA
October 27th, 2010
11:03 pm
“Doesn’t make the result any less wrong once investigated later on.”
In other words, you have no proof. Just a mindless conspiracy theory. Why am I not surprised?
AmVet
October 27th, 2010
11:03 pm
Dave, you’re slipping!
You failed to note my obvious mathematical boo boo at 10:54. LOL at me!
Yeah, because convicted felons always vote for the law and order party, right?
Are you making fun of my calling the GOP is the Anti-Law & Order Party?
My point is that is is really laughable that these people would go to these lengths to confirm………………………NOTHING!
They have nary a clue how these people voted. (Presuming that they weren’t watching them vote, of course!)
Some people really need to learn how to be good losers.
Instead of just losers…
Midori
October 27th, 2010
11:04 pm
and with that, good night.
that should give you two adequate time to come up with a credible “rebuttal”.
josef nix
October 27th, 2010
11:05 pm
@@, PAUL…
“Josef’s drinking.”
Awww, how could you tell! (ISH)
But, you’re right! Bur…I AM happy, so there! I’ll take my drunken a33 on outta here….
And, just a thought, but sobriety is not all it’s cracked up to be! ISH
2012
October 27th, 2010
11:06 pm
Who’s more qualified to serve in The United States Senate — Alvin Greene or Christine O’donnell?
Dave R.
October 27th, 2010
11:07 pm
Midori, unless there is actionable evidence AT THE TIME FOLLOWING THE RECOUNT, the governor has no choice but to certify an election. Otherwise, he would guilty of a failure to perform his Constitutional duties.
Since this evidence was not available to him (or anyone) until 18 months later, he had no choice but to certify.
Dope.
RW-(the original)
October 27th, 2010
11:13 pm
Just as I thought, but the governor does cosign the document.
The secretary of state is the chief election official in Minnesota and is responsible for administration of the Minnesota election law. In this capacity, the secretary of state operates the statewide voter registration system and prepares the official roster of voters for every election conducted in Minnesota. Other election activities include certifying voting systems, conducting administrative recounts, accepting filings by candidates for multi-county offices, and training of local election officials. The secretary of state chairs the State Canvassing Board, which certifies the results of state elections.
That would Democrat Mark Ritchie.
Dave R.
October 27th, 2010
11:13 pm
Doggone, the report is proof enough to me that convicted felons were illegally allowed to vote in that election, and that more convicted felons voted than the amount Stuart Smiley won by.
We’ll never know the REAL result of that election, but wouldn’t it have been nice to see some election officials get reprimanded for a failure to do their jobs? Of course, that would never happen when a desired result is achieved . . .
The sad part is that you see nothing wrong with this picture, while I think that if anyone, Democrat or Republican, were responsible for ANY of the above issues, they should be reprimanded or fired based on the severity of their failures.
Nothing to see here, folks, just move along . . .
barking frog
October 27th, 2010
11:14 pm
2012
October 27th, 2010
11:06 pm
Who’s more qualified to serve in The United States Senate — Alvin Greene or Christine O’donnell?
—————————————————————————
Really doesn’t matter, The one who serves will be the
one who wins the popularity contest in Delaware.
Dave R.
October 27th, 2010
11:16 pm
Uh, frog?
Alvin Greene is running under the Democrat banner in South Carolina.
RW-(the original)
October 27th, 2010
11:19 pm
Dave R,
In fairness Alvin Greene could throw his hat in the Delaware ring right now and probably do about as well as he will Tuesday in SC.
2012
October 27th, 2010
11:19 pm
A year ago folks mocked, dismissed and ignored us dang Tea Party people.
The gangs on the left still mock us but they aren’t laughing anymore.
“Birds on a wire….”
Dave R.
October 27th, 2010
11:21 pm
And BTW, I will largely agree with Jay on one of his earlier points regarding electronic voting machines (but not entirely). While it is very difficult to “rig” an electronic voting machine during the initialization process of setting up a ballot for an election, if the machines are not properly safeguarded (locked and stored properly), they can be “hacked” later on. As with any process, it is entirely up to human intervention and performance of the local registrars to make sure they are properly safeguarded and checked before being used on voting day.
Absentee voting is much more capable of fraud, as Jay said earlier.
Dave R.
October 27th, 2010
11:24 pm
RW, you’re probably right. I think the latest polls show DeMint with a roughly right 80% – 20% lead. That race gets called about :10 seconds after the polls close in SC.
2012
October 27th, 2010
11:24 pm
barking frog:
sorry but GONG on the Alvin Greene topic.
LMAO !
@@
October 27th, 2010
11:24 pm
Bur…I AM happy
Josef enjoys the cold?
Sleep warm, buddy.
Paul:
Years ago I came in here after drinking. Ended up on a closed thread with J$.
Have no idea how I got there.
It was fun. Tried to come up with creative ways to get the “F” word by the censor.
Dave R.
October 27th, 2010
11:25 pm
Off to bed now, in anticipation of a very busy day.
2012
October 27th, 2010
11:27 pm
If Alvin Greene has 20% of the voters of South Carolina what does that mean?
Uhhhhhhhhhh…..
Alvin Greene? Really?
@@
October 27th, 2010
11:30 pm
In the event that “no one” is “really” paying attention to me, just thought I’d let them know
I’m gone.
2012
October 27th, 2010
11:31 pm
A Republican controlled House can INVESTIGATE, INVESTIGATE and then INVESTIGATE.
barking frog
October 27th, 2010
11:39 pm
2012, Dave R, Stupid Question-Stupid answer. greene-no chance
o’donnell -no chance. Of the two o’donnell might win on popularity
in delaware.
barking frog
October 27th, 2010
11:45 pm
2012
October 27th, 2010
11:27 pm
If Alvin Greene has 20% of the voters of South Carolina what does that mean?
———————————————————
It means he does not have 80% of the voters in South Carolina.
dan
October 28th, 2010
12:18 am
No evidence huh?
VOTE fraud is a non partisan effort to manipulate our system to keep less than principled individuals to office. The criminals on both sides of the left right paradigm will do “whatever it takes” in their attempts to gain power.
You want change…find an honest way to count votes and verify voters
Daytona Beach, Florida City Commissioner Derrick Henry and his campaign manager, Genesis Robinson, have been arrested for committing absentee ballot fraud.
http://law.rightpundits.com/?p=2416
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/102710-City-Commissioner-Arrested-for-Voter-Fraud
http://www.wftv.com/news/25536806/detail.html
John Frum
October 28th, 2010
1:46 am
Democrats are rigging voting machines and switching ballots to change Republican votes into Democrat votes. If you plan to vote Republican, stay home–the Democrats will convert your votes into votes for Democrats!
USinUK
October 28th, 2010
5:16 am
barking – I just wondered where Alvin Green was keeping them … as of the 2000 census, South Carolina had a voting age population of 3 million people … if Alvin Green has 20% of them, he must have a heckuva big basement …
stands for decibels
October 28th, 2010
5:57 am
Have you ever though what it would cost to incarcerate every illegal immigrant caught in the U.S.?
Well, the prison industry folks who wrote AZ’s 1070 law likely have.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130833741
USinUK
October 28th, 2010
6:02 am
hey dB
http://www.redskitchendiaries.wordpress.com
Doggone/GA
October 28th, 2010
7:09 am
“If you plan to vote Republican, stay home–the Democrats will convert your votes into votes for Democrats!”
Now why would the Democrats have to go to all the bother of rigging voting machines…you’re doing a bang up job of vote rigging for them, and with no effort on their part.
stands for decibels
October 28th, 2010
7:12 am
“If they go home hungry, it’s their own damn fault”
nice.
stands for decibels
October 28th, 2010
7:15 am
If you’re looking for dishes that are stacked, fanned, foamed, dotted, smeared or otherwise faffed-around-with, you’re in the wrong place.
ok. Got it.
USinUK
October 28th, 2010
7:17 am
dB – you should have seen the spread she used to put on – not just for holidays, for any occasion … if less is more, imagine how much more MORE will be!
Joel Edge
October 28th, 2010
7:28 am
Kind of like the “vast right wing conspiracy” thing, huh? Or the squeal that Republicans are trying to disenfranchise minority voters. Heaven forbid that people should prove they have the right to vote. Or the “Supreme Court and Republicans stole the election” hysteria. You might want to think about who has more hysterical moments BEFORE you write these things.
stands for decibels
October 28th, 2010
7:29 am
I think I’ve found my favoritist VOTER FRAUD!!!!11!!-y reply evah:
Jay, I would like to respond to voter fraud but I don’t have the time to read the 2,980,000 hits that Yahoo came up with, SORRY.
To that I can only add this:
Jay, I would like to respond to Sasquatch but I don’t have the time to read the 3,580,000 hits that Google came up with, SORRY.
Jay, I would like to respond to fairy tale but I don’t have the time to read the 8,230,000 hits that Google came up with, SORRY.
Also, Jay, I would like to respond to Unicorns but I don’t have the time to read the 10,500,000 hits that Google came up with, SORRY.
Mick
October 28th, 2010
7:30 am
usinuk
I read an article the other day that said the conservative disease is spreading to the UK, any truth to that?
USinUK
October 28th, 2010
7:30 am
“Or the squeal that Republicans are trying to disenfranchise minority voters”
shhhhhhhhh … don’t anyone tell Joel about the Southern Strategy … “From now on, the Republicans are never going to get more than 10 to 20 percent of the Negro vote and they don’t need any more than that… but Republicans would be shortsighted if they weakened enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The more Negroes who register as Democrats in the South, the sooner the Negrophobe whites will quit the Democrats and become Republicans. That’s where the votes are. Without that prodding from the blacks, the whites will backslide into their old comfortable arrangement with the local Democrats” (Nixon stragegist, Kevin Phillips)
USinUK
October 28th, 2010
7:33 am
Mick – mmmmm … I think you have to calibrate your definition – “conservatism” here means something completely different than there – they leave the bible out of their politics (how refreshing!)
but, even fiscally, I think they are still incredibly liberal here, so even if they trend right, they still have a long way to go before they are anywhere NEAR US “conservatives”
plus, the stench from Thatcher is still lingering all over the North – they won’t vote Tory for generations to come …
USinUK
October 28th, 2010
7:37 am
Mick … case in point … housing benefits are being capped at £400 PER WEEK and some people are calling that “draconian” (including Tory Boris Johnson)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/8091862/Housing-benefit-cuts-to-stay-says-David-Cameron.html
stands for decibels
October 28th, 2010
7:39 am
shhhhhhhhh … don’t anyone tell Joel about the Southern Strategy …
and lest anyone forget, its somewhat more modern flyover-country counterpart, courtesy of Paul Weyrich:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglw
Mick
October 28th, 2010
7:52 am
usinuk
Thanks for the info, I feel better knowing that our homegrown special conservatives, stay confined to our borders.
Joel Edge
October 28th, 2010
7:54 am
USinUK
I was actually referring to ID checks that are being pushed these days. That seems to have you libs up in arms. Like I posted, heaven forbid you should have to prove you have the right to vote. If you want to reference half a century ago, go for it. I’m a Reagan Democrat myself.
USinUK
October 28th, 2010
7:57 am
Joel – the South has a ~”special” reputation when it comes to the right to vote … that’s why you still have to submit reapportioned Congressional maps to the DOJ every ten years …
but, other than that … all you’re doing is trying to create a barrier for the poor to vote – particularly when there is no evidence that there is a widespread problem of people wandering from polling place to polling place pretending to be other people so that they can cast their vote “early and often”
FinnMcCool
October 28th, 2010
8:02 am
but we have no idea if the machines are recording votes correctly.
We can put a man on the moon but….
USinUK
October 28th, 2010
8:09 am
England’s green and pleasant land …
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/8085758/Landscape-Photographer-of-the-Year-2010-winning-pictures.html
absolutely stunning … (particularly the full English breakfast)
Doggone/GA
October 28th, 2010
8:12 am
“Like I posted, heaven forbid you should have to prove you have the right to vote”
Yes, indeed…heaven forbid. In this country a founding principle is “innocent until proven guilty” – which means it is up to the government to prove someone does NOT have the rigt to vote. If that can’t be done, then their right to vote is already protected and they don’t have to PROVE anything.
stands for decibels
October 28th, 2010
8:19 am
That seems to have you libs up in arms.
Instead of throwing stuff like that out there, why don’t you provide actual examples of “libs” being “up in arms?”
What I remember about GA’s voter ID law was a very real concern that people who’d been able to vote legally, for years, based on proof of residency like utility bills and such, might have difficulty going in person to the required offices to get a county ID. It may not seem like a big deal to someone like you or me, for whom such a thing is a minor inconvenience, but for someone who’s physically disabled it could be quite difficult.
I wasn’t “up in arms,” I just wanted the state to make good on its claims that it would try to accommodate such people. GA said it would provide bus transportation to up to 300,000 or so apparently in need; here is, apparently, what actually happened…
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-139944963.html
headin’ upstairs for a bit.
barking frog
October 28th, 2010
8:22 am
USinUK 5:16 I believe Alvin’s 20% are residing in
NeverNever Land.
Mystified
October 28th, 2010
8:29 am
I hate I missed this blog…
So Bush looked for evidence for 8 years but couldn’t find it. Obama had the evidence fall in his lap and refused to allow the FBI investigate. Hmmmm. Who is more honorable?
I’m sure Jay is going to hang his hat on the fact that no one was ever investigated under Obama as proof that it didn’t occur. We’ll see if that holds true when the Republicans take over.
Joel Edge
October 28th, 2010
8:34 am
US in UK
“special” reputation when it comes to the right to vote … that’s why you still have to submit reapportioned Congressional maps to the DOJ every ten years”
Well thanks for that condescending remark for an area which just happen to live in. Along with your assumption that I am trying prevent poor people from voting. Starting from your assumptions, is it any wonder that that people like you would do whatever it takes to win an election.
Tom Shea
October 28th, 2010
9:38 am
“Self induced”, YOUR ASS! Look at the Minnesota senate race two years ago. And couple that with George Soros’ .
Thomas Shea
October 28th, 2010
9:40 am
“Self induced”, YOUR ASS! Look at the Minnesota senate race two years ago. And couple that with George Soros’ Secretaries of State Project.
Mark T
October 28th, 2010
11:23 am
No proof…nice try
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NuLVvVb4oc&feature=ytn%3Amptnews
Rob
October 28th, 2010
1:21 pm
So was there a column that called the so-far-unproven-in-this-age-of-ubiquitous-phones-and-cameras taunts and spittings by Tea Party supporters “mass, self-induced hysteria”?
Just curious — because it seems there is actually proof of what some people are saying here.
val mirasol
October 29th, 2010
3:11 am
Identity theft has become a major, major problem! And living without protection is like living in a crime infested neighborhood and not having protection on your home. You would probably at least have a really good guard dog and a fence right? Well, not protecting your identity today is the equivalent of living in that neighborhood and refusing to even lock your door. It’s so sad that it’s come to this, but there are always tradeoffs in life. Because we want better medical coverage and a nicer car we pay more to protect and insure them.
Likewise, with something as amazing as the World Wide Web there come tradeoffs also. One tradeoff for us having access to almost everything is that others have access to almost everything about us, our information. And that includes our personal information like social security numbers, banking information and even your medical and criminal history.
Luckily there is a lot of information out to help us understand and protect ourselves from these heartless criminals. Here is an informational website put together to help you and your family. We hope you find it helpful. http://www.pplnational.com
Susan McGuire
October 29th, 2010
12:13 pm
Jay, let’s just consider things that have been reported on CNN:
A large number of Nevada ballots already had Harry Reid’s name checked. In Arizona, an off-shoot group of SEIU dropped off almost 3,000 voter registrations on the deadline day…and over 60% of those were fraudulent due to forged signature, invalid addresses, and registrants being illegal immigrants. And in California, elderly voters were being told to hand over their absentee ballots to strangers at the front door.
I’m not going to pretend this just happens for one party…both parties are equally devious and dishonest, I think. But in a few elections, where it would be tremendously embarrassing for the Democrats to lose…Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, the “Obama” senate seat in Illinois…the Republican candidate might well win the election, but will lose the vote count. The system is just that damn crooked and corrupt.
While We Worry About Voting Funny Business, Pundits Think We’re Nuts : NO QUARTER
October 29th, 2010
7:05 pm
[...] a sampling from AJC columnist Jay Bookman’s “Voter-fraud claims a case of mass, self-induced hysteria“: The charge that liberal groups are trying to steal elections through massive voter fraud [...]
stage9
October 30th, 2010
9:46 am
I agree 100%. It’s blatant hysteria. So far there have been two separate hysterical occurrences in both Nevada and North Carolina where touchscreen ballots are being erroneously marked for the opposing candidate. Hysterical liberals have also reported this glitch happening as well. As far as ACORN is concerned that hysterical FBI investigation produced 8 employees pleading guilty to voter fraud charges. One such person, Maria Miles, was a former ACORN worker who pleaded guilty to and was convicted of one count of election fraud – falsely procuring voter registration, arising out of the November 4, 2008, Presidential Election.