In Brief: Voter Fraud? What Voter Fraud?
“Democrat Party precinct,” you might say while driving past a graveyard.
We cover voting and election integrity with some regularity, so we took note of a recent report from Power Line’s John Hinderaker about his native Minnesota, Tim Walz’s state.
In Minnesota, our legislature has enacted laws that 1) allow illegal immigrants to get drivers’ licenses, and 2) automatically register those who get drivers’ licenses to vote. Secretary of State Steve Simon assured us that there is nothing to be alarmed about; safeguards are in place, he guaranteed, to make sure that unqualified voters don’t get ballots.
Now, several honest (and legal) non-citizens have contacted the Republican Party to say that they received ballots in the mail after having obtained drivers’ licenses. Republicans are calling for an investigation, but Secretary of State Simon disclaims any responsibility, pointing his finger at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Of course, he was the one who told us there was no possibility of these new laws enabling unqualified persons to cast ballots.
How many illegal ballots are cast in every election cycle? No one knows. Liberals assure us that the number is close to zero. But how could we know that? The hallmark of a successful fraud is that it is not discovered. And in most places, little effort is made to detect voter fraud, even when that is possible. Nevertheless, there are a large number of successful prosecutions of illegal voters.
He spends time hashing out the fact that most Americans oppose voter fraud for obvious reasons before wondering rhetorically why elected Democrats seem to pretend it doesn’t exist. The vast majority of Americans support simple measures like voter ID, while elected Democrats do not. He concludes:
Normally, when a political party sees that an issue is overwhelmingly popular — start with voter ID, at 81% support, and go down the line — they get behind it. Why wouldn’t Minnesota’s Democrats (or Democrats in any other state) get on the bandwagon? For some reason, Democrats in every state fight all efforts to improve ballot security tooth and nail, no matter how much public support those measures have.
How can we explain such seemingly perverse behavior? I think the only reasonable interpretation is that Democrats consider voter fraud an important part of their electoral strategy, and therefore are determined to stymie any attempt to prevent it.
