05.23.07

Voter IDiocy - More On The Fraud Fraud

Posted in Elections, 80th Legislature, Around The State at 11:06 am by wcnews

Juan Castillo has a good expose (except for his quoting of indicted money launderer John Clolyandro) on what a sham Voter IDiocy is, Voter ID debate replete with drama, but is voter fraud an urgent problem? He does a good job, using only the words of Republicans, to show that there is no problem. And not only does he show there’s not a problem, but he also shows that what’s proposed wouldn’t fix it, even if there was a problem.

However, even Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, House Bill 626’s sponsor, acknowledges that “there is no evidence of extensive fraud in Texas elections or of multiple voting,” but it could occur. His bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

The Secretary of State’s office, which oversees elections, says it has no way to track whether noncitizens vote, and Attorney General Greg Abbott has said that the rare voter fraud prosecutions in Texas have been mostly related to mail-in ballots, which HB 218 and HB 626 do not address

Critics say the measures are intended to add hurdles that would effectively suppress voter turnout among minorities, the elderly and the poor, who they say would probably vote for Democrats.

Republicans have said the bills are vital to ensuring that only citizens vote.

“For most Americans, this is a no-brainer,” Dewhurst said last week.

In his letter, Dewhurst cited figures he said proved noncitizens voted in Harris, Bexar, Dallas, Tarrant and El Paso counties.

Opponents dispute the data, which was drawn from jury summons, arguing that some people claimed that they were not citizens merely to get out of jury duty.

Dewhurst also produced results of a poll he said showed that Texans overwhelmingly support HB 218.

However, the poll of 1,001 voters by Austin-based Baselice & Associates asked only if voters should be required to show a driver’s license or other photo identification “to ensure that they are U.S. citizens before they are allowed to vote.”

Yet, the identification required by HB 218 wouldn’t guarantee that the voter is a citizen. Most of the acceptable forms of identification under the measure, such as a driver’s license issued by the state Department of Public Safety, do not verify citizenship.

A driver’s license, for example, can be issued to immigrants who are legal permanent residents — meaning they’re authorized to live and work here.

But legal permanent residents can’t vote; only citizens can.

“House Bill 218 doesn’t in any way address undocumented voting,” said Luis Figueroa, an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “The only thing it prevents is voter impersonation.”

Critics say independent research shows that illegal immigrants do not vote. Figueroa said undocumented immigrants have no motivation to vote illegally because voting would jeopardize their chances of acquiring citizenship.

No evidence of extensive fraud, AG says only issues are with mail-in ballots and this bill doesn’t address that issue, GOP is using flawed and misleading stats and polling to make their case, ID’s in bill don’t verify citizenship, and illegal immigrants aren’t voting and don’t want to vote.

What we have are a few mail-in ballots and an occasional person that slips through the cracks and gets registered to vote. But were going to put in all this new law because and “conservative” Rep. Phil King mentioned it COULD happen. I thought” conservatives” were for less government, not legislating for what could happen, that opens us up a whole bunch more government.

But let’s also want to focus on a more insidious point that’s getting little, if any, mention on this issue. There would be a need for tighter voter identification if this was a problem, a wide-spread problem, meaning a coordinated or orchestrated effort by some group to commit voter fraud to advance their chance of winning elections. Those advancing the cause of Voter IDiocy - The GOP nationally and the Texas GOP in this case - are rigging polls and statistics to try and show that there’s a problem where none exists. But also there’s an implication in this effort, that there’s a coordinated effort on the part of some group to commit this fraud. Let’s be frank, they’re implying the the Democratic Party has been orchestrating this voter fraud. Otherwise, if a group isn’t doing this, we’re supposed to believe that ALL this fraud is being done by a bunch of people, illegal immigrants most of them, that show up on election day and decide to risk being tossed out of the country to vote in an election.

That’s why Lt. Gov. Dewhursts flunkies stooped to using the post-911 frame of fear and name calling in that attack letter last week. Because this has nothing to do with protecting the right to vote, it’s about making sure only the “right” people vote.

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