7 Papers, 4 Government Inquiries, 2 News Investigations And 1 Court Ruling Proving Voter Fraud Is Mostly A Myth
Voter ID laws are back in the news this week after a group of college students joined a lawsuit challenging North Carolina's new restrictive rules. And as Catherine Rampell pointed out earlier this week, it's not just ID laws - Republican state legislatures have been busy devising all manner of creative ways to make voting more difficult for traditionally Democratic-leaning groups.
All of these restrictive measures take their justification from a perceived need to prevent "voter fraud." But there is overwhelming scholarly and legal consensus that voter fraud is vanishingly rare, and in fact non-existent at the levels imagined by voter ID proponents. That hasn't stopped many Republican lawmakers from crying "fraud" every time they're faced with an unfavorable election outcome (see also: McDaniel, Chris).
For reference, a round-up of the latest research is below. Let me know in the comments if I missed anything.
It's really hard to prove in-person voter fraud, when you don't check IDs.
There's a big difference between an allegation and a conviction. If cases are not brought forward, it's easy to show no convictions. That is not proof that it doesn't happen.
It's absurd to think that people can't obtain life saving prescription meds without ID, but their rights are violated when ID is asked for in order to vote. Is the right to live not of the greatest magnitude of all natural rights?
What defines a "clerical error?" Oops - the clerk just let a fraudulent vote go through!
Why is there always so much opposition to cleaning up voter rolls?
The real fraud these days is in the electronic voting machines. There's no proof unless you can investigate the source code and the vote reporting process, which is confidential and proprietary. With no paper trail, you can't challenge the results presented.
Funny that when you go to register to vote in Maryland they require you show ID but not when you go to the polls. I also looked up the 4 government inquiries by 4 colleges. Does anyone want to guess who they gave the most money to for the past elections? Yep you guessed it Obama. I'm sure if I did the same for the other sources they used I would find the same thing. The Washington Compost is just another liberal rag.
12:03 Maybe you should go back and read the full article including the references. They admitted there was voter fraud just not as much as some people claim. Then maybe you will be big enough to apologize to 11:41 for your erroneous comment.
People are registering that aren't eligible for sure. Last month someone told me they had a conversation with some young people from Moldova who were working in OC for the summer. They had gone somewhere and a table was set up registering people to vote. They told the lady they were living in OC. She asked them where they were from (obviously because of accent) and they told her Brooklyn, NY! She proceeded to hand them the forms to fill out. They got a great laugh out of it.
12:37, the "loons" came out to protest the "stealing" carried out by the SCOTUS. Bush didn't steal anything because he didn't win the popular vote. Nice try.
I call BS. Most of these studies were fostered to support a foregone conclusion. Vote fraud is much like shop-lifting. Roughly 1 in 50 incidents result in apprehension. That does NOT mean that the other 49 incidents did not occur.
sure, tell that to wendy rosen
ReplyDeleteThese things do not 'prove' anything...especially when there are documented cases of actual voter fraud.....
ReplyDelete11:41 - No there arn't. Post your sources and stop babbling on the local blogs
ReplyDeleteIt's really hard to prove in-person voter fraud, when you don't check IDs.
ReplyDeleteThere's a big difference between an allegation and a conviction. If cases are not brought forward, it's easy to show no convictions. That is not proof that it doesn't happen.
It's absurd to think that people can't obtain life saving prescription meds without ID, but their rights are violated when ID is asked for in order to vote. Is the right to live not of the greatest magnitude of all natural rights?
What defines a "clerical error?" Oops - the clerk just let a fraudulent vote go through!
Why is there always so much opposition to cleaning up voter rolls?
The real fraud these days is in the electronic voting machines. There's no proof unless you can investigate the source code and the vote reporting process, which is confidential and proprietary. With no paper trail, you can't challenge the results presented.
Funny that when you go to register to vote in Maryland they require you show ID but not when you go to the polls.
ReplyDeleteI also looked up the 4 government inquiries by 4 colleges. Does anyone want to guess who they gave the most money to for the past elections? Yep you guessed it Obama. I'm sure if I did the same for the other sources they used I would find the same thing. The Washington Compost is just another liberal rag.
12:03 Maybe you should go back and read the full article including the references. They admitted there was voter fraud just not as much as some people claim.
ReplyDeleteThen maybe you will be big enough to apologize to 11:41 for your erroneous comment.
Of course if everyone remembers correctly back in 2000 Bush apparently 'stole' the election and the loons came out en masse to protest.
ReplyDeleteFunny how things change.
People are registering that aren't eligible for sure.
ReplyDeleteLast month someone told me they had a conversation with some young people from Moldova who were working in OC for the summer. They had gone somewhere and a table was set up registering people to vote. They told the lady they were living in OC. She asked them where they were from (obviously because of accent) and they told her Brooklyn, NY! She proceeded to hand them the forms to fill out.
They got a great laugh out of it.
Duh 12:03 look at the entry right above for one of the names....then go back and actually read the article...Thanks for the backup 12:19!
ReplyDelete11:41
12:37, the "loons" came out to protest the "stealing" carried out by the SCOTUS. Bush didn't steal anything because he didn't win the popular vote. Nice try.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, huh, Joe!
Imagine that 14 liberal agencies conduct investigation and nothing discovered!!
ReplyDeleteUmmm ACORN !
ReplyDelete4:29 you embarrass yourself
ReplyDeleteSo, when a precinct reports that 125% of the voters registered voted today, there's no fraud?
ReplyDeleteMore voted in precincts than were registered there in MANY states last election, yet there's not that much fraud?
How can you even evaluate it without ID?
There should be no opposition to voter i.d. unless you want to participate in fraudulent voting practices.
ReplyDeleteOH NO, ANOTHER DEMOCRAT LIE.
ReplyDeleteI call BS. Most of these studies were fostered to support a foregone conclusion. Vote fraud is much like shop-lifting. Roughly 1 in 50 incidents result in apprehension. That does NOT mean that the other 49 incidents did not occur.
ReplyDeleteHow many times was ACORN busted for voter fraud ? Some were even imprisoned.
ReplyDeleteOur political system caused 2 unnecessary wars by not allowing gore to be President.
ReplyDelete