# How exactly is this voter fraud thing supposed to work anyway? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 17, 2016, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813 "2016-10-17T10:09:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/41 "2016-10-17T16:51:16Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > If we didn’t have racists, this would be a non-issue. > [@SmartAlecCat](#): > > Go to certain polling places (you know which ones I’m talking about, wink wink), stand there keeping your eyes out for riggers, and just make sure they know you are watching. Boy, did I misread that last quote. :eek: We’re into MAD Magazine territory, here - “This is a Watchcat, watching YOU!” But yeah, I think a few anti-thug watchers in vulnerable polling sites might be a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/42 "2016-10-17T17:33:50Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > If we had voter ID laws this would be a non-issue. > Just sayin’ You think the people who brought you the idea that the President of the United States has a fake birth certificate are going to be convinced that the drivers license of a poor black woman couldn’t be faked? Give me a break. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/43 "2016-10-17T17:37:33Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > We’re into MAD Magazine territory, here - “This is a Watchcat, watching YOU!” > > But yeah, I think a few anti-thug watchers in vulnerable polling sites might be a good idea. Taco Trucks is the answer. Park taco trucks nearby every polling station and staff them with observers. Please someone make this happen. (yes I know they’ve been using Taco Trucks as voter registration, not quite the same) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/44 "2016-10-17T17:48:13Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > If we had voter ID laws this would be a non-issue. > Just sayin’ Did he even mention voter id laws? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/45 "2016-10-17T18:29:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Dems are going all out on this one. First, they rig all the polls to make it look like their candidate is winning. That way, people won’t be surprised when she does. Then, they pore over the records to find out who is registered to vote and has recently rung down the curtain and joined the Choir Invisible. Then they gather the volunteers and swear them to secrecy. (Democrats are surprisingly good at ultra-secret conspiracy.) Then, they gather transportation resources and lay out the schedules. (Democrats are _astonishingly_ good at logistics, even better than they are at ultra-secrecy!) > > At this point, things can get a little complicated… If Dems are so good at this stuff, how did they let Dubya get elected twice? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/46 "2016-10-17T20:03:54Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Other than intimidation, I’m not sure I understand how this is supposed to work. Sure, poll workers or attorneys for one party or the other could challenge a voter’s eligibility, but what is your average Joe off the street going to be able to do? What authority do they have to question someone else’s eligibility? See Bill Door above. Under PA law, anyone can challenge anyone else’s right to vote and the challenged person has the onus of proving that he does. Or at least getting someone else to sign an affidavit to that effect. There are two sides to this. Many people can’t up with either proof and will be turned away. And it will slow the voting down to the point that many people will be discouraged and go home. Of course these challenges will mostly happen in the black neighborhoods of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/47 "2016-10-17T20:09:38Z")
The real goal always has been to prevent people who lean democratic from voting. I’m surprised they are pushing for voter intimidation at the polls now. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/48 "2016-10-17T20:22:06Z")
> [@SmartAlecCat](#): > > Go to certain polling places (you know which ones I’m talking about, wink wink), stand there keeping your eyes out for riggers, and just make sure they know you are watching. Oh, you said, “Riggers”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/49 "2016-10-17T20:41:48Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > You think the people who brought you the idea that the President of the United States has a fake birth certificate are going to be convinced that the drivers license of a poor black woman couldn’t be faked? > > Give me a break. Is she Republican? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/50 "2016-10-17T20:58:32Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I hope you don’t consider this a snarky answer, but I think it will be an attempt to intimidate those who have the temerity of voting while Hispanic or voting while black into either leaving the polling places before voting or staying away from the polls altogether. And you would be wrong. Poll watchers have been around for a long time. They are watching to make sure that people who vote are registered in that precinct, and they are also there to prevent exactly the things you said they were there to cause. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/51 "2016-10-17T21:14:39Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > …and if you can make them wait an extra hour to vote, a certain number of them will bail out. :smack: Over on this site of the puddle, using archaic methods such as paper & pencils, providing ready access to cardboard ballot boxes and no voter ID we would have reasonable expectations to complete the voting process in 15 minutes or less with negligible instances of fraud. Ain’t it just amazing what can be achieved in technically developed democracies nowadays? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/52 "2016-10-17T21:48:37Z")
We have ever more efficient methods for fucking things up. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/53 "2016-10-17T22:16:10Z")
Yeah but like, what was wrong with the old methods? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2016, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/54 "2016-10-17T22:17:27Z")
America is always on the side of TOMORROW. Except for yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/55 "2016-10-18T00:19:28Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Oh, so he’s going to do the Black Panthers thing? Smart. I hear they don’t prosecute you for that anymore. An isolated incident by renegades at one precinct is exactly the same as calls by the GOP nominee for massive nation-wide voter intimidation. Got it: “Your side does it too, nanner nanner nanner.” BTW, note that the guy who raised such a stink about not prosecuting those Panthers is a long-time Hillary-hater who now writes opinion for the _Washington Times_. :smack: Interesting that **adaher** , who claims not to support Trump — he’d rather have Kasich, Huckabee or Brownback as Potus — has to defend voter suppression, which is a key Republican value, as central to the GOP philosophy as homophobia, wearing flags in lapel, or cutting school lunch nutrition. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/56 "2016-10-18T03:06:40Z")
The CT about Hillary rigging the primary focuses on how she overwhelmingly won in states without paper trails, implying the machines and not the votes themselves were rigged, similar to Diebold in 2004. Some dudes standing around with rifles isn’t going to stop that. > [@Aspenglow](#): > > First, it strikes me as odd that any organization would be dumb enough to spend time, money or effort attempting to fraudulently turn the election in Indiana. It’s a blood red state whose former Governor is on the Republican ticket. Indiana went for Obama in 2008. Many people there hate Pence, including Trump supporters. Pence stood a good chance of losing his reelection campaign. Hillary winning Indiana would be unlikely, but not impossible. ---
**Author:** ![ganthet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de0a6/32.png) [@ganthet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ganthet)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/57 "2016-10-18T03:53:42Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > And you would be wrong. Poll watchers have been around for a long time. They are watching to make sure that people who vote are registered in that precinct, and they are also there to prevent exactly the things you said they were there to cause. How are poll watchers (which implies a very passive job) supposed to determine if someone who is trying to vote is voting in their proper precinct (their place of registration is irrelevant)? How are poll watchers supposed to prevent anything? In many states, such as Ohio, people who wish to be poll watchers have to undergo some basic training and even then can only alert actual poll workers or law enforcement if they see or suspect some kind of wrong-doing. They don’t prevent anything. They simply provide an avenue for citizens (and campaigns and organizations) who want to oversee the process. And they aren’t allowed to interact with voters, let alone appoint themselves voter ID inspectors. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2016, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/58 "2016-10-18T05:09:51Z")
There’s another reason to run up the score. Our fellow citizens of the knuckle-walking right have an unrealistic estimate of their numbers. Add to that Trump’s fixation on pep rallies, his unreasoning belief that the energy and enthusiasm he sees at his rallies reflect that larger picture in America. Once again, we see the dire consequences of Cognitive Dissonance! And you guys thought I was kidding when I said it was the number one threat to the Republic! ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/59 "2016-10-18T05:22:01Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > The CT about Hillary rigging the primary focuses on how she overwhelmingly won in states without paper trails, implying the machines and not the votes themselves were rigged, similar to Diebold in 2004. Some dudes standing around with rifles isn’t going to stop that. > > Indiana went for Obama in 2008. Many people there hate Pence, including Trump supporters. Pence stood a good chance of losing his reelection campaign. Hillary winning Indiana would be unlikely, but not impossible. Thank you for taking the time to partially respond to my post. I had begun to feel like a rock in the middle of a river, with the water just flowing around it as if it wasn’t there. I know Indiana went for Obama in 2008 and I recognize that Pence is not a beloved figure in Indiana. But in _this_ election, Trump seems comfortably ahead there. I was more interested to hear what might explain what appears to be a significant and credible investigation into voter impersonation fraud, as indicated by the links I provided. The fact that an extensive and growing investigation is being conducted does not seem to be in dispute. I well understand that an investigation is not proof that any voter fraud has occurred, and further, that foiled voter fraud is no fraud at all. But… does the attempt at such fraud seem to be a real thing in this instance? If yes, it’s disturbing, if only for the reason that it will install further mistrust in the election process and results. I mean, let’s say you’re right, and Clinton _does_ manage to pull Indiana out of her… hat. With this investigation going on, who in Indiana is going to trust those results? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2016, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813/60 "2016-10-18T05:42:24Z")
If I happened to spot a Trump-supporting monitor, I’ll probably walk past him while announcing my intent to vote for Clinton. Then I’d put on a different hat, walk past him again, repeat, put on a different shirt, walk past him, repeat… Of course, it’s unlikely that I’ll even be in the U.S. on November 8th, and I’m not a citizen anyway, but it would be fun to mock/tease/distract the guy, then have him arrested for assault if he gives me grounds to do so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-is-this-voter-fraud-thing-supposed-to-work-anyway/768813.md?page=4)