On the heels of a news story indicating Democrats in Delaware County, PA are continuing to increase their registration edge over Republicans, the local Delco Times published an editorial by conservative writer Chris Friend in support of Voter ID laws. (The PA Voter ID law was struck down in 2014.)
Since Chris’ piece was short on facts, I decided to write an in-depth response. I include it here for your use or comment.
We can’t let Conservative or alt-Right disinformation campaigns go unanswered at any level. Hope you all have your pens at the ready, and fingers on the keyboard. Enjoy!
10/18/16
It’s like clockwork. Every election in Pennsylvania,Voter ID rears its ugly head. ‘Votes are being illegally cast by immigrants!’ ‘Voters are being impersonated at the polls by criminals!’ Chris Friend recently picked up the vote fraud banner in an editorial last week, pointing to an amazing up-tick in Philadelphia faux real estate sales.
And now this noble attempt to protect our voting rights is being spearheaded by Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump, who has accused nameless idividuals in Pennsylvania of fixing the upcoming State-run election process. “The Pennsylvania Election is rigged! It’s a scandal!” He’s been screaming this at all his whistle stops on the trail for weeks.
Imagine that now: An election in Republican-controlled Pennsylvania, rigged against the Republican Presidential candidate. I’m shocked, just shocked.
It certainly is rigged Donny; but not the way you or Chris Friend imply. Let’s examine the facts and separate it from your egotistical fiction.
FICTION: Voter ID is needed because in-person voter fraud is rampant in Pennsylvania.
FACT: There have been no incidents of in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania - and state election officials have admitted as much in court testimony.
In 2012, during a trial over the constitutionality of Voter ID, PA state election officials acknowledged that there have been no investigations, or prosecutions, or evidence of in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania, or in other states. Their statement goes on to say that: “[the state] will not offer any evidence in this action that in-person voter fraud has in fact occurred in Pennsylvania and elsewhere [nor will it] offer argument or evidence that in-person voter fraud is likely to occur in November 2012 in the absence of the Photo ID law.”
In other words the State Republican majority proposed a solution to a problem that does not exist. They wasted thousands of dollars of our tax money to implement Voter ID. In the end, the courts rejected the law as fatally flawed.
There are two studies, backed with reputable research and solid data, that reveals the truth about all incidents of voter fraud in Pennsylvania and nation-wide.
Loyola University conducted a comprehensive investigation going back to 2008. It finds only 31 credible incidents of voter impersonation out of one billion ballots cast. And Arizona State University’s Voter Integrity Project reported that there is little or no evidence of voter fraud (including in-person voter fraud) in elections nationwide. In their study, they report less than 3000 cases of documented and prosecuted voter fraud since FY 2000.
Oh, and the report that Chris Friend cites claiming hundreds of thousand illegal votes? It was published by the Electoral Studies Journal of Old Dominion University. As the reports own authors admit, it’s riddled with errors: "extrapolation to specific state-level or district-level election outcomes is fraught with substantial uncertainty." In other words it’s worse than useless for justifying policy decisions or new laws.
So there are no immigrant gangs perpetrating voter fraud in any major US city or suburb. No hoards of homeless claiming multiple residencies in Philadelphia to tip election results. No reputable studies to back-up outrageous voter impersonation claims made by Conservatives. Plenty of studies showing votes cast during past elections were fair and legal.
And no evidence of in-person voter fraud anywhere in Pennsylvania. None.
FICTION: Voter ID is easy to obtain, and doesn’t adversely effect voters.
FACT: Voter ID discourages the elderly, the poor, and minorities from voting or registering to vote.
The Brennan Center For Justice published a report in 2012 (The Challenge of Obtaining Voter Identification, Gaskins & Sundeep) that directly addresses issue of voter ID equity. It’s doesn't paint a pretty picture.
It states: “More than 1 million eligible voters [in states with voter ID] fall below the federal poverty line and live more than 10 miles from their nearest ID-issuing office open more than two days a week. These voters may be particularly affected by the significant costs of the documentation required to obtain a photo ID. Birth certificates can cost between $8 and $25. Marriage licenses, required for married women whose birth certificates include a maiden name, can cost between $8 and $20. By comparison, the notorious poll tax — outlawed during the civil rights era — cost $10.64 in current dollars.”
The result is obvious: Voter ID laws make it harder for hundreds of thousands of Americans to vote. And it targets the most vulnerable – the elderly, poor and displaced. The laws create serious physical and economic barriers before citizens trying to exercise their Constitutional right. It is the modern version of a poll tax; an ugly relic of Segregation that had been banned by the 24th Amendment. Shamefully given new to life by a Republican majority in Pennsylvania and other states.
FICTION: Voter ID laws will not be abused by election officials.
FACT: Voter ID laws are being used by State officials to disenfranchise millions of voters right now.
In-Person Voter fraud is not a problem; voter suppression is. And you can actually see it happening around the nation today, in the wake of newly passed Voter ID Laws.
On July 29 of this year, US District Judge James Peterson called Wisconsin’s process for issuing voter IDs “unconstitutional,” “a wretched failure,” and “pretty much a disaster.” The state’s voter-ID law “has disenfranchised a number of citizens who are unquestionably qualified to vote, and these disenfranchised citizens are overwhelmingly African American and Latino,” Wisconson's Governor Scott Walker is fighting to keep the law unchanged.
Ohio has purged more than 2 million voters since 2011, using their version of Voter ID - more than any other state - and is also refusing to mail absentee ballots to 1 million registered voters because of it. State election officials are refusing a judges direct order to reinstate those purged voters before the November election.
And finally in Texas, a federal court ordered the state to relax its voter-ID law and allow those without strict forms of photo ID to cast a ballot. In response, Texas County Election Officials has issued misleading information to voters, and is threatening to prosecute anyone who signs and presents the curt-authorized affidavit instead of showing photo ID.
Let that sink in for a minute: millions of citizens are being adversely affected by Voter ID, right now. That’s the ugly reality: Where Voter ID laws have been passed by Republican-controlled legislatures, they are being used improperly by Republican officials to control the outcome of elections.
Our election process does needs protection - from those who would suppress the vote. And right now, that attack is being led by State Republican majorities across the nation. Faced with dwindling registration numbers, watching as Democratic Party registrations increase, it appears they see no other option then to revive the voter suppression tactics of old. And with the Voting Rights Act left un-renewed by Republican-controlled Congress, the gloves have come off.
I’ve been a voter, and a member of the Democratic Party for years. I’ve been a canvasser, signature collector, phone dialer and appointed poll watcher. I’ve even had the honor on several occasions to participate in counting the vote. I’ve seen the electoral process first hand; the good and the bad. But this continuous call for Voter ID, in the face of such damning evidence of its negative impact on voting, has me gobsmacked.
Is the GOP so desperate for power and influence that they are willing to believe election rigging conspiracy theories floated by the likes of Donald Trump and his dangerous alt-right entourage? Are GOP leaders and officeholders willing to damage our very election process by continually pressing for Voter ID, regardless of the known negative impact it has? It seems they are, and have all thrown their lot in with Trump to boot – Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Toomey and Meehan. None of them have spoken out against Trump’s madness the whole time its been happening. Not even now, as Trump continues to accuse PA State officials of election fraud - before the election even happens!
Maybe the Donald – and all his deplorable shenanigans - is exactly what the GOP leadership deserves. Someone who will lead their party into the electoral wilderness with a ‘yuge’ and embarrassing General Election loss nationwide. They can wander there until they develop more civil, intelligent leadership. Till they rediscover a moral compass, and work their way back to political relevancy. But by the looks of it, they may be off wandering for a long time to come.
By the way Chris; I hear you like real estate deals. Trump’s got a bridge he’s willing to sell you, cheap