Presidential candidate John McCain said in last week's debate that ACORN, a group pushing to register over a million new voters this election cycle, "is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy." Wow. Very strong words. But is this really the case? What kind of fraud are we talking about here?
The allegations seem to be that certain ACORN registration collectors, who were paid for each registration collected, filled in fictitious registrations in order to get paid more. This is voter registration fraud. Thus we get the the stories that Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys were newly registered to vote in Nevada this fall. (After today's loss, the Cowboys MAY want to move to Nevada …) But it's not an election fraud problem — that is, it has no potential to effect the election — unless Mickey Mouse and his friends show up to vote in November.
As Prof. Rick Hasen of Loyola Law School says, claims like McCain's are
hyperbole because there’s no good evidence that voter registration fraud leads to election fraud that changes elections. And it’s irresponsible because it gins up worries that the election is going to be stolen.
I think Prof. Hasen has it about right.
Now a word from our Irony Department. The owner of Young Political Majors, a firm hired by the California GOP to sign up new voters, has been arrested on suspicion of voter registration fraud. Mark Jacoby allegedly registered himself at a childhood address so that he would meet a requirement to gather signatures in California. A warrant for Mr. Jacoby's arrest for voter registration fraud and perjury was also issued earlier this month by the L.A. D.A.'s office, arising out of charges that YPM allegedly tricked voters into registering as Republicans by saying they were signing a petition to toughen penalties against child molesters. Sigh.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I totally agree that this issue has been overblown, especially when ACORN workers were registering cartoon characters and the deceased. This is an issue of folks cutting corners to make more $$. I highly doubt anyone was intending on using those fictitious registrations.
My question is – what about the false registrations that contain info belonging to real folks, like the Dallas Cowboys? If those players are properly registered to vote in Texas, the fact that someone registered them in Nevada shouldn't have any bearing on their ability to vote in Texas, right? I'm not too familiar with election law, however, I don't think that states cross-check their voter registration rolls against those of other states…am I correct?
I agree that much of the concern over the REGISTRATION process is overblown; however, the greater the number of unqualified registrants, the greater the chance for actual fraud during the voting process.
I was an early voter this year. I recently moved to Akron (Lease started Oct 1) and I registered in my new county and voted same day (Oct 6th, I believe). Registering was a simple process. I simply filled in my information. The voting part was simple too. Without being asked for identification to prove who I was, I was given a ballot which I filled out and turned it at the voting area. I voted under my name for the address where I live. I know the address didn't match my drivers license (I didn't think to update that until the 15th). I also know that because my license didn't match the information on my updated voter registration, that the GOP was seeking to force an investigation into or possibly disqualify my vote.
I don't want to be disenfranchised, but I also understand where they are coming from. I might not have got away with voting as Mickey Mouse, and I certainly would NEVER actively seek to participate in voter fraud, but I believe there are less scrupulous individuals who would certainly vote under the name of a deceased person or otherwise fictitious person registered at a real or fictitious address. I think the concern is that once the ballot is cast, there are little to no procedural safeguards to ensure the vote was legitimate.
Both sides are worried about the election being “stolen.” With the polls tightening up the concerns over fraud seem legitimate. I heard recently that Portage county currently has more people registered than actual residents of legal voting age (according to population estimates). There have also been reports of elderly voters being given pre-checked ballots, mentally handicapped voters being forced to vote for a candidate who was not their choice, etc. That sort of activity is major problem in a free and fair election.
I think we ought to take one out of the Iraqi playbook and use red dye to fingerprint our ballots. That sort of thing would ensure there was no voter fraud… at least on election day.
Still, why don't we make absolutely sure there is no actual vote fraud by purging Mickey and Donald from the lists? The thing is, somewhere in this large, populous and diverse country, there is bound to be somebody named Donald Duck. Just as surely as there was somebody named Duran Duran in Albuquerque.
I think that it is important that people understand that registration fraud does not necessarily (and likely will not) lead to voter fraud. I think another important point is that it does not seem likely to me that many people would risk the penalties of voter fraud to obtain a few additional votes. Realistically, unless a group of organized individuals are fraudulently voting thousands of times, it does not seem that the "fabric of democracy" is in any real jeopardy. Given the scale of fraud necessary to influence the election, it seems unlikely that a stolen election is a real possibility and that people would risk criminal prosecution to pick up a few more votes for their candidates.
However, I am not saying that we should ignore fraud, such violators should be prosecuted. My point is simply that McCain, like many politicians are prone to do, is grossly overstating his position.