McCain Adviser: Are There Documented instances of voter fraud? “No.”

Posted by Mary Mancini on November 2, 2008 under Uncategorized |

First, let’s establish the difference between election fraud and voter fraud. Election fraud is a systematic effort by those with power to steal an election through vote manipulation and voter suppression. Voter fraud is when a voter attempts to vote more than once or by impersonating someone else. The McCain campaign has been huckstering the false narrative of voter fraud. We’ll see to what end on Wednesday.

In the meantime, From Chisun Lee of ProPublica:

For weeks Republican leaders have warned that widely reported problems with fake voter registrations could result in a flood of phony votes in pivotal states.

But Ronald Michaelson, a veteran election administrator and member of the McCain-Palin Honest and Open Election Committee, said in an interview that he could not name a single instance in which this had occurred.

“Do we have a documented instance of voting fraud that resulted from a phony registration form? No, I can’t cite one, chapter and verse.”
…
Asked for specifics about the dangers of fake registration, Ben Porritt, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, provided links to 13 news clips and a 2003 Missouri state auditor’s report. Eleven of the cases did not involve registration fraud. Two recounted how felons appeared to have cast illegal votes under their own names. The lone example of a forged registration leading to an illegitimate vote comes from The Wall Street Journal’s John Fund, who in April 2006 wrote that a community organizer had improperly registered a noncitizen, and then “someone eventually voted in [the noncitizen’s] name.”

And this from Keith Olbermann (Who keeps showing up in my dreams. Last night he was waiting in the cafeteria line with FOL* Delworthio and family and he wanted to hang out. That was nice.)

And finally, Nashville has its own distortionist willing to spread the “voter fraud” myth. In last week’s Tennessean, Phil Valentine wrote that Tennessee may have it’s own version of ACORN:

Friday, a week ago, I got a tip on my radio show that vanloads of non-citizens were showing up at an early voting poll and voting. Lynn Greer, a Davidson County Election Commission member confirmed the report. “What I’ve heard is they’re bringing in a group of Spanish-speaking people, many of whom do not have a voter registration card and cannot speak English,” Greer told me.

Here’s my response (submitted to the Tennessean):

Like many, I waited all month for an “October Surprise,” - an event so monumental that it would cause enough chaos to affect the outcome of this year’s election. I never expected that the actual October Surprise would be something much more low key - the insidious, and coordinated attack on ACORN and the subsequent cries of “voter fraud” it has enabled.

After more than four years of activists trying to get election officials to take seriously the very real issue of election fraud, i.e. large scale voter roll purging, broken electronic voting machines, intimidation, long lines, and negative legislative influence (like Florida’s stringent “No Match, No Vote” law), the righteous indignation and moral high ground that comes with trying to protect our precious right to vote has been co-opted by Republican operatives who, in a matter of days, were able to get the false narrative of “voter fraud” on the lips of almost every broadcaster.

Senator McCain, Fox News, and other conservative ideologues, like Nashville’s own Phil Valentine. have reported incidences that “prove” multiple and fake voter registrations as well as the intent of some to cast non-legitimate ballots. These accusations come despite scant evidence (or convictions) of voter fraud, a federal law that requires ID from anyone voting for the first time (in Tennessee, showing your voter registration card is sufficient), and a report by the Brennan Center that states that voter fraud is “extremely rare.”

Last Sunday, Valentine wrote in his column that Nashville has its own “well-organized voter fraud ring” because of a tip he received about “vanloads of non-citizens” showing up at an early voting location. This incident did not happen and his reporting of it serves no purpose other than to stoke fear and division. And this election year, with emotions on both sides so heightened, his false accusations could prove to be incendiary.

This year’s October Surprise may not be dynamic enough to swing votes prior to the election, but with people like Phil Valentine spreading rumors and innuendo instead of fact, it certainly will cast doubt on the legitimacy of the winner afterwards. Which, unfortunately, seems to be the goal.

*Friend of Liberadio(!)