Election fraud is a contentious matter, to say the least. It has also become a highly partisan issue. Republicans are concerned about it and claim Democrats are guilty of it. For their part, Democrats insist that voter fraud is a myth – that it simply does not happen. This problem is very real, though, and, in certain states, there are long-standing issues with inaccurate voter rolls, duplicate voting, and misuse of absentee ballots. In still other states, networks of progressive community organizers are working with local councils to re-engineer the electoral process itself: Election fraud of a different type, one might say.
Stealing elections isn’t about presidential candidates conspiring with foreign agents or investigating their political rivals. It is a more insidious and covert process, and it is happening at the local level, directed by a multitude of progressive groups that are working to shape the electoral landscape in their favor.
Uncovering Election Fraud, State by State
The Public Interest Legal Foundation has been gathering data on election fraud across the country and has initiated legal actions aimed at forcing local jurisdictions to purge their voter rolls of ineligible, duplicate, and – in many cases – deceased voters.
The organization’s president and general counsel, J. Christian Adams, recently discussed with Liberty Nation’s Leesa K. Donner the problems of election fraud and how Michigan, specifically, is failing to deal with the issue. Adams made an observation that is both intriguing and ominous:
“[S]uffice to say, it’s severe and the number of problems on the voter rolls are about the same number of problems that Hillary [Clinton] won the popular vote by. They are significant. The voter rolls are a mess. People are registered multiple times simultaneously – dead people are registered. This is not a Michigan problem. This is an American problem.”
The Foundation has a database of 42 states with electoral issues. One of those states is New Mexico. Doña Ana County, in the south of New Mexico, is a prime example of how progressive activist groups are working behind the scenes – and out of the public eye – to change the very way elections are run. This particular county has a long history of voter fraud. Since 2013, Doña Ana has seen at least six criminal convictions relating to election fraud, according to data from The Heritage Foundation: three convictions for false registrations and three for fraudulent use of absentee ballots.
In one case, a former Sunland Park city councilor, Silvia Gomez, was sentenced to three years’ probation for fraudulently registering two Texas residents, who she influenced to illegally vote for Daniel Salinas in the 2012 mayoral election.
The Myth
In fact, The Heritage Foundation has documented some 1,285 proven instances of voter fraud and 1,110 criminal convictions, going back to the late 1970s. In New Mexico alone, the Public Interest Legal Foundation identified 1,681 potentially deceased “active” registrants, 1,519 registrants over the age of 100 years, and 1,584 potentially duplicated registrations at the same address.
Voter fraud is a myth, though, according to most people on the political left. Ironically, while these many progressive groups across the country work tirelessly to tinker with electoral processes in the name of promoting democratic principles and ensuring fair elections, they reject the one measure that would go a very long way toward ensuring that elections are fair: the requirement that every voter verify his or her identity by producing a valid photo identification.
The real myth, of course, is that voter I.D. laws disenfranchise certain groups. Possessing a valid, state-issued photo I.D. of some type is essential to accomplishing so many everyday activities. In truth, one is hard-pressed to find American citizens who do not possess such an I.D.
The latest effort by the left is to promote mail-in voting, which obviously creates the potential for election fraud on a massive scale. Just as concerning, though, is the fact that the entire electoral process, if conducted exclusively by mail, is removed from the public gaze. Elections would become virtually secret affairs – bureaucratic procedures over which the public has no say and no control. Nothing is more fair, simple, and transparent than citizens going to a polling station, producing identification, marking their ballot paper, and putting it in the box. When people who claim to be defending democracy suggest a complete overhaul of the electoral process, Americans should be afraid. They should be very afraid.
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Read more from Graham J. Noble.
