PrintDecember 12, 2010
Vote Fraud as a Democrat Strategy
The Democratic Party's message to politically involved citizens is unmistakably dire. For those who attempt to expose voter fraud, expect to be harassed and even sued. This is what happened to a group called the King Street Patriots (KSP) in Harris County (Houston), Texas.
So far, intimidation has failed to deter these proud and steadfast citizens. "These lawsuits are exactly the kind of abusive disrespect for citizens that got our political leaders into trouble. We will not be intimidated by partisan attacks, by the Democratic Party, or by anyone," is the defiant retort from volunteer leader of King Street Patriots, Catherine Engelbrecht.
KSP received national attention earlier this year when their initiative, True the Vote, discovered "numerous incomplete, inaccurate or false voter registrations." KSP volunteers pored over voter rolls "double-checking all registrations" and even photographed vacant lots and non-existent addresses given on voter registration forms to validate their findings.
The reaction from the leftist goons has predictably followed the Saul Alinsky playbook for radicals. Texans Together Education Fund and the Texas Democrat Party sued KSP while Texans for Public Justice filed an ethics complaint in an attempt to "bind and gag" KSP volunteers. At the same time, progressive bloggers and websites launched a malicious smear campaign to discredit KSP efforts.
Voter fraud has become a pivotal strategy for the progressives. This is why they are coordinating such vicious attacks against honest citizens working to combat electoral corruption. Only with chicanery can collectivists successfully implement their social justice agenda rejected by most Americans. The uprooting of voter fraud jeopardizes the left's delusional aspirations, so they feel justified in using every despicable trick to thwart the efforts of groups like KSP.
It should come as no surprise George Soros, through his Open Society Foundation, funds Texans for Public Justice and Texans Together Education Fund. The benefits of controlling election outcomes are just too much of an enticement for an egomaniac who dreams of global tyranny.
By now, astute citizens understand that without direct participation by an engaged citizenry to purge voter rolls, corruption will fester and inevitably destroy a free society. Because of their abysmal performance, wholly trusting elected officials to accomplish this vital function seems unrealistic. According to a 2009 study, there are nearly 16 million dead or ineligible voters on registration rolls in the United States. This is the result of unethical activist groups, bungling and possibly complicit election officials, and the persistent dismantling of commonsense safeguards.
The "Yankee Pankey" events in Connecticut are a reminder free and fair elections are under growing risk from mismanagement and fraud. Voting rights laws and court rulings have only compounded the problem by encouraging misconduct that undermines the democratic process. Engelbrecht was correct when she said, "If our elections are not fair, we are not truly free."
To make matters worse, the now infamous Secretary of State Project (SOS) was specifically designed to manipulate elections. Soros openly boasts that financing the campaigns of far left ideologues was one of his better "political investments." Gloating over his brainchild is not unfounded since it has proven to be highly effective in winning key secretary of state seats and advancing the progressive agenda.
SOS cofounder Becky Bond of San Francisco revealed the SOS's objective in 2006 when she said, "Any serious commitment to wrestling control of the country from the Republican Party must include removing their political operatives from deciding who can vote and whose votes will count." It certainly does not sound like free and fair elections were part of her calculus.
The Soros/Bond scheme worked flawlessly in 2008 when SOS alumnus and ACORN endorsed Secretary of State Mark Ritchie dismissed a request to conduct an investigation of the 261,000 duplicate registrations and 63,000 voters who had listed non-existent addresses just prior the Franken fiasco in Minnesota. At the conclusion of the highly controversial election, Ritchie falsely claimed his office "received no reports whatsoever of fraudulent voting occurring."
After months of stonewalling by the Secretary of State's office, Republican lawmakers joined a citizen's action group called the Minnesota Majority and sued Ritchie in 2009 claiming the state's voter registration system had "not been adequately updated." The claimants also alleged, "Vote totals from canvassing boards exceed the stated number of registered voters by no less than 40,000."*
On their website, the Minnesota Majority list discrepancies they found with the registration records. These revelations alone should have triggered a thorough review and overhaul of the voter records, but Ritchie supposedly "ignored or dismissed" repeated calls for action.
Not surprisingly, issues resurfaced in the recent mid-term election when the GOP sued the State of Minnesota on November 17 over ballot tallies in a close gubernatorial race. Yet again, there were unanswered questions about precincts reporting "more votes than voters."
Much of today's registration fraud can be attributed to the National Voter Rights Act (NVRA). This seemingly innocuous legislation signed into law in 1993 by Bill Clinton was designed to make it "easier for all Americans to register to vote and to maintain their registration." Instead, it has turned into another civil rights inspired boondoggle.
To encourage voter enrollment, NVRA requires states to provide individuals with the opportunity to register to vote at the same time they apply for or renew a driver's license. Also, state run public assistance offices must offer and may assist in completing and returning voter registration forms. Both appear to be acceptable policies, but the Act also requires states allow citizens to register to vote by mail using mail-in-forms with no identification needed. This opens the door wide open to fraud and abuse.
In 2004, John Fund describes in a National Review article how NVRA establishes "fraud-friendly rules" which makes "fraud and foul-ups in election counts possible." Fund cautioned that continuation of this policy "accelerates our drift toward banana-republic elections."
Regrettably, Fund's prediction appears to be accurate.
To illustrate the documented abuse that has already occurred as a result of the "Motor Voter Act" Fund wrote, "CBS's 60 Minutes created a stir in 1999 when it found people in California using mail-in forms to register fictitious people, or pets, and then obtaining absentee ballots in their names."
In an odd twist of irony, Mexico has much tighter controls in place than the US. Every voter must present a tamperproof picture voter card, submit to thumbprint verification, and give their signature before they can cast a vote. These are all policies that advocates for illegal immigrants and progressives vehemently denounce as discriminatory, amount to voter suppression, and are a "threat to the Progressive Agenda."
On November 15, KSP filed a counter lawsuit against the Texas Democratic Party.
"It is outrageous that a group of American citizens who simply volunteered to get involved in the political process are forced into court by the Texas Democratic Party," said Kelly Shackelford, president and chief counsel of Liberty Institute, who is helping to defend KSP. "Using a political party to sue and attack citizens, and to try to reduce the Constitutional rights of all Americans, is a disgrace."
The Democratic Party may regret picking a fight with these Americans.
*number corrected 12/13 10
*number corrected 12/13 10
