Vote fraud?

[raefinlay]

Ok, so let's say you have the humor and sophistication of a 10-year-old. You register to vote as "Elvis Presley."  How do you then turn that into a fraudulent vote? What would you do?

Comments

[rosefox]

In New York, you could then request an absentee ballot, stating that you will be out of town. As long as an envelope sent to Elvis Presley at your address will reach you, you can fill out the ballot and vote by mail. Of course, it won't be counted unless the election is close enough for absentees to matter.

[ccfinlay.livejournal.com]

In Ohio, your registration would have to match a social security number or driver's license number for the vote to be counted. No match, no absentee ballot. (There are acceptable alternatives for those few people with neither, but again, documentation is required.) Although Ohio is the only place I've lived, I'm pretty sure that's standard everywhere.

[rosefox]

I just checked the voter reg form for NYS and they ask for your DL number or the last four digits of your SSN. You can check a box that says "I don't have either" but I don't know what happens after that.

I do know they check the rolls before sending a ballot, because when I asked for an absentee ballot I got back a letter saying "Hi, did you formerly register as Rose W. Platt? If you've changed your name, please fill out this name change form. Otherwise, please fill out a new absentee ballot request under the name we have on file".

[ccfinlay.livejournal.com]

When I voted absentee last week at the early polling place, people who had neither then had a set series of documents they could present instead, including things like -- I think -- green card, state-issued ID, military ID, etc., but I don't remember the exact list.

The point is that "Elvis" wouldn't be able to produce any of those documents, so his registration gets flagged and kicked out of the system. "He" can't get the absentee ballot.

That's why the claims equating voter *registration* fraud with voter fraud are total B.S.

[rosefox]

It's possible to get fraudulent SSNs or other documentation, but that's a lot of effort to go to for one vote.

I could maybe get away with voting under my old name and my new name, if I was careful about it: re-register instead of sending the name change form, request an absentee ballot under one name, go to the polls under the other. The shared SSN would eventually catch up with me, though.

[ccfinlay.livejournal.com]

But there are multiple layers of registration, as well as checks and balances, built into the system to catch exactly this sort of thing--just reference your previous reply about getting the contact confirming that you were the correct Rose. There was a 2007 study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law that found no substantiated cases in which registration fraud led to fraudulent votes being cast.

You can't turn a fraudulent registration into a fraudulent vote in the US. Even if you could do it, you couldn't get away with enough of them in order to change the outcome of an election. This is a fake crisis.

[rosefox]

Oh, of course it's a fake crisis. I didn't think that was ever in question.

[leftbase.livejournal.com]

When I first heard about this the other day, my thought was that if Mickey Mouse actually shows up at the polls and is allowed to vote, then the Republicans might have a case. I'm pretty sure he'll be a no-show.

I found you on the latest posts page, and I really like your journal. Hope it's ok that I added you.

[stevenagy.livejournal.com]

The other points that bother me about recent events is the FBI leak about an investigation into ACORN.

First, it's possible the Justice Department was warned against leaking news about investigations because it tainted the process, creating an environment where people believed voter fraud existed, which called election results into doubt.

Second, the possible collusion involved, where the administration in power (Republican) takes actions to block the opposing party and aid their candidate. The GOP is not setting a good example for the rest of the world. Though I'm coming to believe they don't care about that as much as they care about winning.

I did hear a good argument yesterday for why Joe the Plumber would question Obama's tax plan, expressing concern about the potential loss of wealth if he happened to make too much money. You could make a case against distribution if you held that view. I don't know ... I can't shake the image that trickle-down economics is an upside down pyramid; unstable in other words.

[ccfinlay.livejournal.com]

The longer we have trickle-down economics, the less trickle-down we see. The top 1% of Americans now own more wealth than the bottom 90%. The last time we had this much wealth disparity in America was in 1929 just before the stock market crash and the great depression.

Do I blame the top 1% or top 10% for wanting to force redistribution of American wealth from the poorest people to the richest by funding 700 billion dollar bailouts or hundreds of millions of dollars off defense contracts to make themselves richer? Well... yes, I do. It's short-sighted and will kill the goose that is laying their golden eggs. We need a fairer system. Not a socialist system--like the Republicans like to bandy about--just a fair one. If you don't force me to make you rich with bailouts and defense spending, then you don't have to make me rich either. Just give me a chance to earn a decent living in my own country, educate my children so they can have a better life, and make sure that everyone who gets sick can get basic health care so they can keep contributing to the system.

Grrr, must walk away from politics and get back to writing....

[raecarson.livejournal.com]

Welcome! *shakes hands*

[stevenagy.livejournal.com]

I'm feeling exactly the same way. Though my frustration is going to make it easier to write a "villain" into the current WiP.

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

My roommate was technically double registered for a period--absentee from her home state of Illinois, and then motor-voter registered when she got a DC license. I don't know if there is a federal process checking to avoid such things later on, but she could have at least voted in both states for that election. I don't know if they would have caught it farther up the food chain, but on election day, no one would know she had already absentee voted in IL.

[crimini.livejournal.com]

I totally agree!

[crimini.livejournal.com]

Most states have checks and balances to weed out the silliness that often plagues jokesters. It's not fraud unless "Elvis" tries to vote with a false picture i.d. and/or social security number--fraud is intent to deceive for gain. An honest mistake or a joke (with no intention of following through by showing up to the voting station as "Elvis") is not the same as fraud.

And a false registration is not the same as a falsely cast vote.

Mountain out of a molehill, again a "look! a monkey!" tactic.

Then again, it's not unlikely that someone somewhere is indeed trying to throw the vote to their candidate. Corruption isn't only partial to one political party.

[java-fiend.livejournal.com]

Well... you can absolutely turn that into a fraudulent vote if you're a desperate-as-hell Republican presidential candidate that needs to throw up as much mud and smoke as you possibly can to keep people talking about fringe issues that have nothing to do with anything, are ridiculous on their face and don't amount to anything more than a pile of fresh dog crap on the sidewalk rather than focusing on the actual issues that matter.

That's how you do it. :-)