President-elect Donald Trump has blamed his loss of the popular vote on voter fraud. While unlikely, it doesn’t matter. Voter fraud is a earnest problem that could undermine the election. The Trump administration should put election integrity at the top of its agenda.
What sets the US apart from many other countries is that the government is accountable to the people, who actually elect their leaders. In Donald Trump’s case, they have rejected the near-unanimous advice of their “betters,” the cultural, business, and political elites who expect to govern. The common people have taken America back.
The greatest threat to democracy is the undermining of the electoral process. Enabling every eligible citizen to vote is, of course, incredibly essential. But it is equally essential to ensure that those who are not eligible do not vote. Fraud is not a victimless crime. It threatens democracy.
Sure, the left insists that voter fraud is a myth. But if that’s the case, why is it so steadfastly opposed to even the simplest forms of voting security, such as requiring voters to show valid ID or prove citizenship when registering to vote?
Of course, there are renowned cases of voter fraud in American history. Lyndon Johnson got to the U.S. Senate—and ultimately the presidency—by virtue of enough fraud in Texas. Fraud in Chicago likely gave Illinois’ electoral votes, along with the presidency, to John F. Kennedy in 1960.
We know that the dead, along with foreigners, vote here today. We do not know the total number, and it is probably not several million. But they do not have to be so numerous as to affect the presidential election, as was evident in Kennedy’s triumph.
In three of our last six contests, relatively tiny swings in votes would have changed the outcome. A thousand extra votes for Al Gore in Florida in 2000 would have given him the presidency. Four years later, a few hundred thousand votes in Ohio would have made John Kerry president. Last month, a few tens of thousands of votes would have swung Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to Hillary Clinton, giving her victory.
Moreover, in each election cycle, a handful of House and Senate races are decided by tiny, sometimes narrow, margins. Even more so at the state and local levels. If illegal voting becomes widespread, it will change the nature of American government. The consent of the governed will no longer have control.
One of the biggest problems, and what makes voter fraud possible, is incorrect voter registrations. The American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) monitors counties whose registration rolls contain more names than residents eligible to vote. When necessary, it files lawsuits to force local officials to adopt procedures to pristine and maintain voter registrations.
It doesn’t matter whether the errors are caused by malice or incompetence. Inaccurate lists provide fertile ground for voter fraud, especially if there are no requirements for ID.
Of course, we can always pretend that no one will cheat. But as ACRU’s Bob Knight reported, there are hundreds of registered voters in Pennsylvania between the ages of 100 and 200, and many of them are voting vigorously, election after election.
There is no innocent explanation. And Pennsylvania is one of the swing states that made Donald Trump president-elect. A few more mystery voters and Hillary Clinton could win that state.
In September, the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) released a report detailing illegal voting in Virginia, a “purple” state whose electors were hotly sought by both major presidential candidates. Some of the state’s elections have been remarkably close: the 2013 attorney general election went to Democrats by 165 votes out of 2.2 million cast.
However, PILF also found that in Virginia, some jurisdictions had more registered voters than eligible residents. The group concluded, “Based on voting history, large numbers of ineligible aliens are registering to vote and casting ballots.” It found that just eight of the 133 jurisdictions had more than 1,000 registered aliens, and one-fifth of those voted before being removed from the rolls.
The Obama Justice Department ignored the problem and even sued the state when Florida tried to pristine up its voter rolls before the 2012 election. At the same time, the department was prosecuting scores of people for other crimes. One suspects that the Obama Justice Department would have shown more interest if it believed that votes for Republican candidates were illegal.
A modern administration will take over in January. There will be a modern attorney general, Senator Jeff Sessions. Fighting voter fraud should be at the top of his agenda because American democracy is worth protecting.
