I Worry About This Sort of Thing

[billroper]

Living next door to Chicago gives one a different perspective on politics and possible cases of vote fraud. If true, this article suggests that somebody is working on generating a lot of potentially fraudulent votes in the upcoming election.

I think that's a bad thing, regardless of which side is doing the dirty work. (Maybe both. Who knows?) But since they're talking (in the article) about going to people's homes to investigate whether the registrations and absentee ballot requests are valid and legal, I suspect that the next thing we're going to hear is about how "they" are trying to intimidate people into not voting. I believe that was the spin from Florida when officials there were out checking on registrations recently.

One of my friends tells me that he, his wife, his daughter, and his deceased mother have perfect voting records in their old Hyde Park district, despite the fact that none of them have cast votes there in the multiple years since they moved away. Of course, he could be kidding me.

Maybe.

But this is why I worry about plans that expand absentee voting and allow you to vote without showing a photo ID. Because vote fraud does occur and -- if an election is as close as the 2000 race in Florida -- it makes a difference.

And that means that this isn't a good thing either.

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"I suspect that the next thing we're going to hear is about how 'they' are trying to intimidate people into not voting. I believe that was the spin from Florida when officials there were out checking on registrations recently."

I don't know about "checking on registrations," but the Florida police did visit black activists who run get-out-the-vote campaigns. And the purging-minorities-from-voter-rolls in Florida has still not been cleared up. There are lawyers from both sides standing by on election day, so expect courtroom battles in several states.

I really should do an essay on election fraud. If people could check their partisanship -- which I know they can't these days -- there are some fascinating security lessons.

B

[billroper]

I might well have misremembered the exact circumstances of the Florida visits to houses, since I didn't go look them up before posting. If I did, I apologize for the error.

Actually, I'm happy to check my partisanship on the subject of election fraud. As you observe in your first post, it's important that people trust the results of elections. If they don't, we're starting down the road to civil disorder in a big hurry.

I don't want fraud by Democrats, Republican, or Naderites. I don't want people being told to get an absentee ballot so that their employers or union leaders can make sure that they're voting for the right candidates. I don't want ghost voters who aren't required to show photo IDs. I don't want legitimate voters purged from the rolls. (It happened to me once when the County Clerk just lost me.) I don't want Republican poll watchers who are really Democrats or vice versa. And I don't want electronic voting machines that can't be accurately audited.

But every single one of these things has a constituency that is pushing for them because it's to their electoral advantage, usually giving excuses like we're "making it easier for people to exercise their right to vote" and "making sure every vote is counted".

I'm not sure how we can convince people that procedures that would help eliminate fraud aren't some evil campaign to deprive people of their right to vote. But it's certainly a challenge...

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"I don't want ghost voters who aren't required to show photo IDs."

It's a more complicated problem than simply requiring photo IDs. There are many voters who don't have photo IDs. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. They need to be able to vote, too.

"I don't want Republican poll watchers who are really Democrats or vice versa."

Oooo, that's a good one. I'm doing an article on the topic, and I didn't think of that one. I will add it.

"I'm not sure how we can convince people that procedures that would help eliminate fraud aren't some evil campaign to deprive people of their right to vote. But it's certainly a challenge..."

This is the problem: process no longer matters. It was the Republicans who first figured out that process just gets in the way of your legislative agenda, but the Democrats have finally caught on. Both sides now have no respect for any process: it's just a tool. Honestly, I think it will take a decade or more before this gets better.

B

[billroper]

In Illinois, at least, you can get a photo ID at one of the places that you can go to register to vote -- your driver's license facility. You can get a photo ID even if you don't drive. If the states have to give out the photo IDs for free in order to reduce fraud, that would be cheap.

(Mind you, I have trouble understanding how anyone can operate in this country without photo ID unless they're completely on the cash economy. But that's a different discussion.)

The poll watcher comment comes from a report I've seen within the last few years about "being unable to find enough" Republican poll watchers in Chicago, so a Democrat is recruited for the post instead. I suspect that the Republicans have returned the favor in DuPage County from time to time...

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"Mind you, I have trouble understanding how anyone can operate in this country without photo ID unless they're completely on the cash economy. But that's a different discussion."

Many, many poor people are completely in the cash economy.

"The poll watcher comment comes from a report I've seen within the last few years about 'being unable to find enough' Republican poll watchers in Chicago, so a Democrat is recruited for the post instead. I suspect that the Republicans have returned the favor in DuPage County from time to time..."

Wow. That's bad. Although it's unlikely to affect the outcome of the election. If one party can't muster enough supporters to field election judges, then they're unlikely to be able to muster a plurality of the votes. Still, it's bad.

B