In Horry County, officials are training poll workers, including telling them to ask voters to show either a voter registration card, a driver’s license or an ID card issued by the S.C. Highway Department, said Sandy Martin, voter registration and elections director. This has been the same procedure Horry County Voter Registration officials have followed for years. Georgetown County will also stick to requiring pollsters to ask for one of those same three forms of identification, said Donna Mahn, county director of elections and voter registration. Hopefully South Carolina voters without one of the three required forms of ID won’t be expecting the generous “reasonable impediment” provision included in the new law, which the court delayed until 2013 due to DOJ’s months-long stalling with baseless litigation.
Wednesday’s ruling that upheld South Carolina’s photo voter ID law did not “set off an avalanche of calls from confused voters,” according to local election officials:
Author Archives: ELECTIONLAWCENTER.COM
Gov. Scott confident counties will continue cleanup of Florida voter rolls: “We want fair, honest elections.”
The Governor told Univision/ABC: “The county supervisors of elections are responsible for their local voter rolls. They’re elected, and every citizen will decide if they’re doing their job properly. We fought to make sure they had the right to the SAVE database so they can look and make sure they have fair, honest elections in their area.” Federal judge William Zloch dismissed charges that Florida violated federal law by seeking to remove noncitizens who might be registered to vote. The U.S. Justice Department and advocacy groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Service Employees International Union aimed to prevent the voter purge, arguing that it could not be done within 90 days of an election. “Certainly, the National Voter Registration Act does not require the state to idle on the sidelines until a non-citizen violates the law before the state can act,” wrote Zloch in his opinion. A representative from the ACLU was not available for comment, but the group has become more open to admitting voter fraud is a problem in the Sunshine State. More here.
“Double-Voting a Real Concern in Florida”
“Double voting is especially a concern in Florida, where part-time residents, known as snowbirds, have a second home in a different state, giving them the chance to register to vote in two states, according to elections supervisors. Absentee ballots, which are growing more popular, make it easier to pull off this fraud because the person doesn’t need to travel to both places. “The problem stems largely because there’s no national database that enables all states to cross-check registration and voting records… In 20 states where officials match records, thousands of people turned up as possibly double voting during the 2010 general election. But these cross-check systems have a lag and often don’t catch questionable votes until long after an election is over… “Election supervisors say preventing this type of fraud is paramount because once an unlawful ballot is cast, it can’t be reversed, even if the person is convicted of the crime.” A 2012 Pew Center study found that, of more than 24 million U.S. voter registration records that are inaccurate, out of date, or duplicates, “Nearly 2.8 million people are registered in two or more states.” Will more states get serious about cleaning up and cross-checking their voter registration rolls, to prevent this fraudulent activity and restore public confidence in election outcomes?
Not just in Florida. TCPalm offers an in-depth look at the problem of illegal cross-state double voting and which states are addressing the problem:
Should photo ID be required to vote? Majority of Minnesotans say “Yes”
More on why a majority supports Minnesota’s voter ID amendment here.
“Our votes control trillions of public dollars and unfathomable political power. Think no one would be tempted to steal them?”
Rhode Island Democrats Disprove Media Myth That Voter ID Is “Racist”
“The keyword is balance. There’s always a concern about disenfranchisement, and we should make every effort to ensure that everyone who is eligible to vote can vote. But it has gotten to the point where there is such fear over disenfranchisement that people just buried their heads when it comes time to deal with voter fraud, and that is not healthy for our democracy.” More here.
By raising the bogus specter of racism to undermine and discredit new ID laws, the news media is doing a great disservice to those Americans who are victimized by voter fraud. The list includes Democratic Rep. Anastasia Williams, an African-American from Providence, RI, who was turned away from the polls after someone illegally voted in her place.
State Senator Harold Metts, a black Democrat who championed Rhode Island’s new photo voter ID law in response to multiple voter fraud complaints from his own constituents, says:
“States blasted for late absentee ballots”
Air Force Times reports: A group of key lawmakers want assurances from the Defense and Justice
departments that the rights of military and overseas citizens who vote
absentee will be protected in the Nov. 6 elections.“We are
concerned that, absent prompt and effective remedial action, some men
and women in uniform will be deprived of the 45-day window to vote
guaranteed” by the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act, stated
an Oct. 11 letter signed by Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the
House Armed Services Committee; Rep. Daniel E. Lungren, R-Calif.,
chairman of the House Administration Committee; and Rep. Lamar Smith,
R-Texas, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee
15 states and several military organizations back Ohio in early voting case
AP reports: Fifteen states and several military organizations announced their
support for Ohio’s elections chief on Friday in a dispute over early
voting in the presidential battleground, which is being appealed to the
U.S. Supreme Court.
UPDATE: “Ohio Voter Fraud Billboards Will Stay”
Clear Channel says “it has no plans to take the ads down,” which are appearing in Milwaukee as well as Cleveland and Columbus. Free Speech – 1, Racialist Bully AFL-CIO Executive VP Arlene Holt Baker – 0.
Criminal Voter Fraud Defendants Play Race Card in Florida
As we’ve seen so many times before, defendants charged in a criminal voter fraud case in Madison Florida are playing the race card, this time in Florida. “Racially motivated voter suppression.” In August 2009, Rosie Lyles reversed herself and entered a guilty plea to possessing forged absentee ballots. The following month, Valada Paige Banks did a similar about-face and entered a guilty plea to possession of forged absentee ballot applications. The convictions of Tinker, Lyles, and Banks all involved actions identical to the ones Faye Cochran had complained about to DOJ lawyer Avner Shapiro a decade earlier.
Let’s journey back to Hale County Alabama. From my book Injustice (Amazon link over there <—–)
As the investigation wrapped up, Attorney General King described “a systemic problem of corruption” in Hale. “It is a culture problem, an elite believing they have the right to decide who holds office,” he declared. Eventually three women active in the all-black political faction would face justice. Two of them, Valada Paige Banks (who had previously been convicted of welfare fraud)and Rosie Lyles, were indicted on multiple felony voter fraud counts in August 2007. In a stunning display of racial solidarity, more than 200 people, almost all black, packed their arraignment hearing and loudly applauded when not guilty pleas were entered. In a corrupt appropriation of the moral authority of the civil rights movement, they wore t-shirts that said, “Greensboro 2: Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere.” Outside the courthouse, supporters held hands in a huge circle, sang songs from the civil rights movement, and prayed for the defendants’ legal deliverance. . . .
#MI Sues Own Counties Over #MilitaryBallots
Michigan has brought a lawsuit against numerous Michigan counties for failing to mail #militaryballots on time. One wonders, as usual, where is @DOJ? http://tinyurl.com/8pu55hr
The inadequate remedy of extended time is being sought. But when lawsuits are brought late, this is all that might be available. @DOJ could have brought a lawsuit 19 days ago, but as far as I can tell, has not. If #DOJ gets around to intervening in this case, will it demand #ExpressMail via @DHL? Will @FVAP tweet the option of #ballotbyemail?