Conservatively Speaking

Voter fraud legislation isn't dead yet

Posted by Mary Lazich on April 27, 2010

Legislation

One of the better moments in the just completed general legislative session was the failure of election overhaul legislation to move forward. Critics of the legislation including myself saw the dramatic changes for what they were: a blatant attempt to pave the way for voter fraud.

The effort to encourage cheating may have died in Wisconsin; however, the issue is alive in Washington D.C.

John Fund of the Wall Street Journal follows and covers election issues extensively and writes in an opinion piece, “Congress may rush to pass ill-conceived legislation this year that would only sow confusion and increase the potential for chaos on a national level.”

Who is leading the charge in the nation’s capital?  Fund writes, “Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold, a Democrat, has introduced federal legislation to mandate same-day registration in every state, claiming the system has worked well in his state.”

Has same-day registration worked well here? Fund contends real evidence of voter fraud materialized in Wisconsin due to same-day registration:

“In 2004, John Kerry won Wisconsin over George W. Bush by 11,380 votes out of 2.5 million cast. After allegations of fraud surfaced, the Milwaukee police department's Special Investigative Unit conducted a probe. Its February 2008 report found that from 4,600 to 5,300 more votes were counted in Milwaukee than the number of voters recorded as having cast ballots. Absentee ballots were cast by people living elsewhere; ineligible felons not only voted but worked at the polls; transient college students cast improper votes; and homeless voters possibly voted more than once.

Much of the problem resulted from Wisconsin's same-day voter law, which allows anyone to show up at the polls, register and then cast a ballot. ID requirements are minimal. The report found that in 2004 a total of 1,305 ‘same day’ voters were invalid.”

Senator Feingold is not alone. Fund reports, “Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York is readying a bill to override the election laws of all 50 states and require universal voter registration—which would automatically register anyone on key government lists. This is a move guaranteed to create duplicate registrations, register some illegal aliens, and sow confusion.”

I concur with Fund that elections need to balance ease with integrity. You can read his opinion piece here.