“Justice and Voting Laws”

“Contrary to the ‘voting fraud is a myth’ crowd, a civil rights group alleges glaring voting irregularities in two Mississippi counties. Moreover, it says the Justice Department flatly refuses to enforce Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (aka the “Motor Voter Law”), which requires states “to make a reasonable effort” to remove ineligible voters from registration lists.”  Pittsburgh Tribune Review. 

Everybody Requests DOJ monitoring in Meridian, Mississippi mayoral election



Republican Mayor Cheri Barry and Democrat challenger Percy Bland have both reportedly asked the U.S. Department of Justice to monitor Tuesday’s mayoral election in Meridian, Mississippi.  Via the Clarion-Ledger:


 


“Bland’s camp wants the election monitored to prevent any voter intimidation, while Barry’s camp wants it monitored to prevent any voter fraud, campaign spokespeople said.”


 


Barry’s fraud concerns are heightened by “the Bland campaign’s involvement with Ike Brown, a name associated in recent years with a Noxubee County voter fraud scandal.” For engaging in, among other fraudulent voting activities, massive absentee ballot manipulation, Brown was found guilty of violating the Voting Rights Act and barred from participating in Noxubee County Democratic Party elections (though he remains a member of the state Democratic executive committee).


 


Bland initially denied, then later acknowledged, that Brown was working for his campaign. “The connection came to light when Brown ordered lists of absentee voters in the 2009 and 2012 elections from the Meridian city clerk’s office and Bland picked up the files,” setting off red flags given Brown’s history of absentee ballot fraud.


 


Barry’s campaign said it encouraged the Justice Department to be involved in the election as “quickly as possible” considering “Percy Bland’s use of a convicted felon.”  A decision on monitoring is expected on Monday.


 


Fla. Democratic Congressman: “System is prone to fraud”

Faced with a criminal investigation of his office, a Democratic Congressman admits voter fraud exists and that the system is prone to fraud:  

South Florida congressman Joe Garcia said Saturday that the “system is prone to fraud” following the resignation of his chief of staff amid a voting fraud scheme.
The Miami Democrat said he asked Jeffrey Garcia, no relation, for his resignation on Friday after the staffer took responsibility for the plot. Law enforcement investigators had also raided the homes of the congressman’s communications director and his 2012 campaign manager.  At a press conference on Saturday, Garcia said: “I think it was a well-intentioned attempt to maximize voter turnout.”  Link.
Actually there is growing evidence this was a plot of Republican voter suppression who vote absentee in large numbers.  The intent was not to provide thousands more absentee ballots for eligible voters. By using foreign IP addresses, thousands of improper requests raised in the media the specter of a foreign country interfering with requests.  This is more likely an attempt to scare legitimate absentee voters away from requesting absentee ballots online. This was a dirty trick. 

Preventing voter fraud in close elections a concern for Kansas Secretary of State



A “handful” of fraudulent votes is enough to steal a close election, a valid concern for Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who introduced the Secure and Fair Elections (SAFE) Act in 2011 to prevent voter fraud:


 


Kobach said his concern is with the way voter fraud can impact close elections. 


 


“The question is, are there any close elections and the answer is, of course, yes. We have many close elections in Kansas. We had one primary on the Democrat side in 2012 which was a dead tie and the race had to be settled by a coin toss. We had another primary where it came down to eight votes. We had a case in 2006 where it came down to two votes in the general election. And these are all state legislative races I’m talking about, so these are significant offices, and if you have a race that comes down to two votes or eight votes, then just a handful of fraudulent ballots is enough to steal the election.”


 


“U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia’s staff chief implicated in fraudulent-ballot scheme”

Miami Herald reports on a absentee ballot fraud and voter fraud scheme in South Florida. When the dust settles and all the search warrants issued, the evidence will likely reveal the motive behind the plot was to scare potential Republican absentee voters away from requesting absentee ballots online. In Florida, Republicans and Cuban Republicans are more likely to vote absentee. By making thousands of fraudulent requests from an foreign IP address, the plot would unnecessarily raise public fears of a lack of online security.  Once the media reported on the alleged breach of security in requesting ballots, voters would shy away from making legitimate online absentee ballot requests.  



 

Illegal Aliens May Become Key Vote in New York City

 Fox News: “A controversial proposal in New York City to give voting rights to hundreds of thousands of non-citizen immigrants could make them into a key vote in America’s largest city.

The Big Apple proposal, though, could resonate with other municipalities, inspiring them to follow suit — and, if Congress approves an otherwise unrelated immigration overhaul, the number of newly eligible immigrant voters could swell into a potent voting bloc on the local level.”