2012 Tuesday: Voter fraud, not suppression, is real
It’s an election year, so we’re being treated to the usual back-and-forth about whether requiring voters to show a photo ID at the polls is an attempt to suppress voting or just voter fraud.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder — never hesitant to politicize an issue — last month likened voter ID laws to Jim Crow-era poll taxes that suppress minority voting. Of course, neither he nor any plaintiff in a court challenge to a voter ID laws has produced any evidence that suppression has taken place. I’ve always thought it is insulting to minorities to suggest they are incapable, or unmotivated, or whatever, when it comes to obtaining a free, state-issued photo ID.
On the contrary: Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp noted in a recent interview that since the General Assembly passed our voter ID law in 2006, the number of minority voters has soared — between both the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections, and the 2006 and 2010 gubernatorial elections. That’s strong evidence against the idea that the law is suppressing voting by minorities. (H/t: Georgia Tipsheet)
Critics of voter ID requirements argue that voter fraud is non-existent, and that champions of these laws are trying to solve a non-problem. A new book by two leading supporters of voter ID laws aims to take away that argument, too.
In “Who’s Counting?”, conservative journalist John Fund and former Civil Rights Commissioner (and one-time Georgia resident) Hans von Spakovsky argue that a current U.S. senator may be in office thanks to voter fraud. Byron York explains in a Washington Examiner column about the book:
In the ‘08 campaign, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman was running for re-election against Democrat Al Franken. It was impossibly close; on the morning after the election, after 2.9 million people had voted, Coleman led Franken by 725 votes.
Franken and his Democratic allies dispatched an army of lawyers to challenge the results. After the first canvass, Coleman’s lead was down to 206 votes. That was followed by months of wrangling and litigation. In the end, Franken was declared the winner by 312 votes. He was sworn into office in July 2009, eight months after the election.
During the controversy a conservative group called Minnesota Majority began to look into claims of voter fraud. Comparing criminal records with voting rolls, the group identified 1,099 felons — all ineligible to vote — who had voted in the Franken-Coleman race.
Minnesota Majority took the information to prosecutors across the state, many of whom showed no interest in pursuing it. But Minnesota law requires authorities to investigate such leads. And so far, Fund and von Spakovsky report, 177 people have been convicted — not just accused, but convicted — of voting fraudulently in the Senate race. Another 66 are awaiting trial. “The numbers aren’t greater,” the authors say, “because the standard for convicting someone of voter fraud in Minnesota is that they must have been both ineligible, and ‘knowingly’ voted unlawfully.” The accused can get off by claiming not to have known they did anything wrong.
York adds: “With 1,099 examples identified by Minnesota Majority, and with evidence suggesting that felons, when they do vote, strongly favor Democrats, it doesn’t require a leap to suggest there might one day be proof that Al Franken was elected on the strength of voter fraud.”
At the very least, those 1,099 examples — and 177 convictions, so far — represent far more evidence in favor of voter ID laws than opponents have ever mustered for their case.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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472 comments Add your comment
Tap Out
August 8th, 2012
8:43 am
Seriously Kyle….that’s all you have. The whining and lying by the right never ends. Thank goodness Federal tax revenues from northern states help keep Georgia afloat.
JDW
August 8th, 2012
8:49 am
You people are just flat obtuse…
Take Samantha for instance…”all this noise because you have to provide about the same ID as a library card?”
Don’t let facts get in the way of a good rant. Any one of these will get you a library card…
• Driver’s license
• Student ID card
• Voter registration card
• Printed checks with current address
• Rent receipts or lease
• Social services identification
• Fulton County property tax receipts
• Current utility bill
• Parent/Guardians may use their ID to obtain cards for their children
Only the Drivers License will suffice for voting.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
August 8th, 2012
8:49 am
See thats sort of the problem…The GOP doesn’t want “those people” voting…even though they are eligible.
NO, JDW, as usual the Libs do not want to require people to take on any personal responsibility, like obtaining an ID.
It is not the GOP suppressing the vote, anyone with an iota of individual responsibility who is eligible to vote may do so. Some, however, chose to do nothing and suppress their own vote!
JDW
August 8th, 2012
8:54 am
@Get over it…”intuitively obvious to me that I would need to identify myself to exercise the most fundamental right of citizenship”
Point is that you already had…when you registered.
skydog
August 8th, 2012
8:54 am
Acorn!
I just wanted to throw that in so all the parrot heads words were covered.
Some of these people are going to come unglued after Nov 2. They are barely holding on now with their only hope being a man with magic underwear.
JDW
August 8th, 2012
8:56 am
@Rafe…”It is not the GOP suppressing the vote, anyone with an iota of individual responsibility who is eligible to vote may do so. Some, however, chose to do nothing and suppress their own vote!”
O’ I see its just your job to make it as hard a possible.
That way you can just eliminate those that don’t have transportation, time or money needed to get an ID that is used AT NO OTHER TIME IN THIER LIFE.
stands for decibels
August 8th, 2012
8:59 am
Federal tax revenues from northern states help keep Georgia afloat.
Incorrect, I believe.
Last I checked, GA was pretty revenue-neutral; it pays out a bit more than it gets back, actually.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/8229012/Tax-Donor-or-Contrib-States
(the information is a bit old, though.)
Doug B
August 8th, 2012
9:00 am
So how would voter ID have stopped this fraud? Felons can’t get IDs?
Also, ID cards aren’t free, Kyle. http://www.dds.ga.gov/drivers/DLdata.aspx?con=1746395936&ty=dl
Centerleft
August 8th, 2012
9:01 am
In the state of Georgia they passed voter ID laws, but at the same time changed the laws to make it harder to get and renew a driver’s license. Is this a coincident, I thing not. It used to be that you only presented your birth certificate when you initially got your license, but right after the voter ID law passed they required you to present it every time you renewed your license, why? If it was valid the first time, how could it change? Not only was the requirement to present a birth certificate added to license renewal, but the presentation of other documents that were not required before. So, you make it harder to get a drivers license, but at the same time require that that license be shown in order to vote. What a tactic Georgia.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
August 8th, 2012
9:11 am
The harder requirements are from Congress, something called the Real ID act. They are stupid, but that is what congress does, use the shotgun when ever possible, to get everyone rather than target the guilty.
Kinda like voter ID, 99% of the people have an ID, but rather than require the other 1% to get an ID, JDW and others want to make victims of these poor unprepared people.
As I learned with my children, expectations are everything. If you have low expectations for someone, usually that is what you get. If you will not accept poor performance and attitude, you usually get better results. Victimhood produces more victims.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
August 8th, 2012
9:16 am
Centerleft
The above comment was for you. Georgia did not dream up this Real ID law, it was forced on them. Look it up. There goes your bad Georgia theory and support for the “victims”.
Voter ID is one small step to cleaning up elections, but if people refuse to support this small low cost step, what hope do we have, of ever knowing for sure about close elections.
bob
August 8th, 2012
9:19 am
My objection is not voter ID laws, it is the way they are being used. It is completely unfair to implement a new ID laws 90 days before a primary, the denial to vote if you only have a voter ID card and any picture ID, and the denial to vote if you only show ANY federal ID.
I think the voter ID card should have a picture on it and only require the OLD rules to get the driver’s license, not the Real ID crap! We are to prevent clear voter fraud, not disenfrancise voters that can only prove they are a citizen.
spiker
August 8th, 2012
9:24 am
Anybody remember the hideous voter suppression efforts of the Republicans in 2000? Talk about “hoards of lawyers”!
The election that was stolen that time was for the Presidency. The result was the Cheney-Rove regime: the worst self-inflicted disaster in American history.
jaysen
August 8th, 2012
9:46 am
I’m not sure if your article proves your point or not. The argument isn’t that there is no voter fraud. It’s that there is no need for a voter ID law to combat voter fraud. With voter ID laws, those same 177 people would have voted. That’s about felons voting, not people voting using another identity. Better luck next time
Whirled Peas
August 8th, 2012
9:49 am
Am I the only one to notice how quiet Al Franken has been? You don’t see or hear him in the news. The reason why is that the Democratic Party is well aware of the voter fraud that went on in the Minnesota Iron Range (where I grew up) and they want no attention drawn to him or it.
the red herring
August 8th, 2012
9:50 am
Voter I.D. applies to all voters –not just democrats or repbulicans for that matter. People have i.d. in order to drive, buy alcohol, buy cigarettes, get welfare, etc, etc.. A free state i.d. shouldn’t prove to harsh a burden if people truly wish to vote. It is foolish to think all those people acorn signed up (minnie mouse, etc) didn’t vote. Our laws should be reasonable and fair and this is. Our attorney general is playing the race card again in certain states. He also played it when he allowed whites to be intimidated by black panthers at the polls. Good article Kyle and you are spot on!!
stands for decibels
August 8th, 2012
10:15 am
It is foolish to think all those people acorn signed up (minnie mouse, etc) didn’t vote.
oh fercryinoutloud–those weren’t actual people signed up under pseudonyms.
The people who’ve submitted obviously phony names were doing piecework; they had a quota to fill and hoped to get paid by padding their sheets with BS. Such names were flagged. The system worked.
intimidated by black panthers at the polls
Two guys, one who had a stick, who the locals complained about and who were chased off by the cops, in one (1) Philadelphia precinct.
You do know that, yes?
stands for decibels
August 8th, 2012
10:16 am
Am I the only one to notice how quiet Al Franken has been?
How dare he quietly go about his work and learn the ropes as a freshman Senator? Obviously there’s some kind of skullduggery afoot.
stands for decibels
August 8th, 2012
10:18 am
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/al_franken/412378
From Jul 2009 to Aug 2012, Franken missed 0 of 903 recorded or roll call votes, which is 0.0%. This is better than the median of 2.4%. The chart below reports missed votes by calendar quarter (every three months).
ooh. sinister.
JDW
August 8th, 2012
10:47 am
@Rafe…”Kinda like voter ID, 99% of the people have an ID, but rather than require the other 1% to get an ID, JDW and others want to make victims of these poor unprepared people. ”
One of your problems Rafe is that you base your arguments on incorrect premises.
First off 99% of the voters DO NOT HAVE AN ID. Maybe 99% of the ones you know but the real number is that 11 million eligible voters do not have photo id…that’s about 5% of the electorate.
The next question, especially for one that claims to be against “gubment interference”, is why should they be required to obtain one if they don’t need it? Their eligibility was confirmed upon registration so it can’t be that. Requiring Voter ID only prevents voter impersonation…not exactly a problem with fewer than 100 cases in the last 50 years…so it can’t be that. So what is the reason, other than of course the oblivious of creating barriers for people that umm…well…we just don’t think meet our “standards” for voting purity?
What is it Rafe?
independent thinker
August 8th, 2012
10:53 am
Kyle – Keep spinning your fantasises about voter fraud. A bigger problem is voter suppression. Between voter suppression and Antonin Scalia and the Republicans on thhe Supreme Court , there is no question the Republicans rigged the election of George Bush in 2000. It is documented fact.
No legal scholars can stand behind the opinion of Scalia which found hilariously that George Bush’s civil rights were violated. That is the famous Karl Rove tactic of accusing the other side of wrongs and violations that your side has flagrantly committed.
“”"”In a report documenting its comprehensive investigation of the 2000 election, the United States Commission on Civil Rights found that approximately 11 percent of Florida voters in 2000 were African-American; yet African-Americans cast more than half of the 180,000 rejected ballots. The commission found that “statistical data, reinforced by credible anecdotal evidence, point to the widespread denial of voting rights.” The report then concluded that “the disenfranchisement of Florida’s voters fell most harshly on the shoulders of black voters.””"”"”"”
With simple research you can find the report ifyou want to be honest in your reporting. Your column belongs on Faux News.
Voter fraud, not suppression, is real
August 10th, 2012
7:47 pm
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