We are three days from the election and stories continue to come to light of voter fraud. Ballots thrown out, burned, dumped in lots. People trying to influence votes, you think of it, it probably happened somewhere in the United States. It makes you wonder how long it has been going on?
Well damn, a quick search and you can find mass intimidation and fraud since the Civil War. Between 1865 and 1900, there were 262 disputed House of Representative elections. Freed black slaves leaning Republican were harassed, beaten or even lynched to have their vote stopped. A group of armed citizens called the “Red Shirts” used intimidation by force to keep black voters away from the polls. Gee who was behind this, Democrats. If a case of fraud made it to the House Committee on Elections just as we see today, the members of the committee vote right down party lines. The evidence of fraud could have been plain as day. Members of the committee wouldn’t show up to vote or the vote would be scheduled after Congress as a whole adjourned. History repeats itself!!
After the quick search, a more in-depth search reveals all sorts of underhanded ways to secure votes. 1910 Adams County, Ohio, an entire election was thrown out for being bought by one candidate. 1950 Chicago, one candidate enlisted the police and firefighters to break up and bust up meetings for the opposition. 1982 Chicago, 100,000 fraudulent votes cast by means of impersonation, voting by non-citizens, fictitious voter registrations, phony absentee ballots. 2004 Lincoln County, West Virginia, for 14 years six people fixed traffic tickets, laid down paved roads, used liquor and $20 per vote to buy votes. 2012 Martin, Kentucky the mayor, who owned public housing, said she would evict residents if they did not sign absentee ballots for her.
As I went thru my research one thing becomes more apparent, it seems voter fraud is easier to commit in our digital age. You can request an absentee ballot in some cases and not have to provide ID to get it. In some states you don’t have to show an ID to vote.
Here is my take. It only takes a few bad apples to ruin it for everyone. The amount of voter fraud committed in this country from it’s inset is staggering. The last big thing Congress did about it was the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. It included a “law” that the states needed to clean up their voter rolls. Today Judicial Watch has been suing states to enforce that law. Both sides claim to want to hear the will of the people but will stoop to any means to win. That means we loose! Our two parties have their own agendas they follow not what is best for the citizens. In this case I would call Congress complicit, if this has been an issue from the beginning of this country you have had 244 years to make it work and haven’t!! Bottom line it needs to be mandatory to vote in person, with an ID! Integrity, not a word used too much anymore, this easy fix would give us election integrity!