# No Such Thing as Voter Fraud? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 21, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613 "2009-10-21T15:44:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/81 "2009-10-31T16:49:07Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Did you actually read that article I linked to and quoted? I did. Sorry it took this long to get back here. Even if we take your article at face value, I don’t think it actually proves your point that voter ID should be required at the polls. The “illegals” your article talks about were registered to vote. Presumably this gives them some kind of credential or puts them on a list that makes them able to go to a poll and cast a ballot. Having a picture to compare with this credentialing at the poll strikes me as much ado after the horse has left the barn. Rather, we should be worrying about the registration process itself in those districts. Seems to me there’s a problem with registration procedures, not in an after the fact comparison of in-hand ID (which may or may not be valid) to a fraudulent registration. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/82 "2009-10-31T18:45:00Z")
Voter fraud is not a problem. Constantly harping about it is buffoonery. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/83 "2010-04-29T03:32:52Z")
[Petitioners conned voters into switching to the GOP](http://www.ocregister.com/news/-244428--.html) > [@](#): > > Petitioners prowling parking lots and community college campuses tricked dozens of young Orange County voters into registering to vote as Republicans, an Orange County Register investigation has found. > > The con occurred at the end of January and the beginning of February at places like Cypress College and Golden West College, and outside of discount stores like Wal-Mart and Food 4 Less. It appears to be the same kind of voter registration fraud that engulfed Orange County four years ago and landed eight signature gatherers in jail. > > Since mid-March, at least 99 written complaints have been submitted to state elections officials by Orange County residents who say they were registered to vote Republican without their consent. The Register found an additional 74 voters who said they were duped or coerced into registering to vote as a Republican by signature gatherers who initially asked them to sign petitions for causes like legalizing marijuana > [@](#): > > Some voters told the Register they specifically remember marking themselves as something other than a Republican. Others say the petitioner told them they had to check Republican in order for their signature to count, or because Republicans were sponsoring their signature gathering or for some other vaguely official-sounding reason. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/84 "2010-04-29T03:57:31Z")
Is this any more toothy than the Acorn “scandal” of paying people to collect registrations and getting stuck with the bogus forms turned in? As for the registrants, I can see them being pissed if they wanted to vote in the Democratic (or other) primary but were barred from doing so because they are on the Republican roles, but that seems an awfully tenuous harm. Can someone tell me a story of the motivation behind this? To make it seem as if the county weighed much more Republican? I could see if it were to collect names for Republican mailers, but that could have been done without the chicanery. I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/85 "2010-04-29T03:59:14Z")
This thread has now been zombified like a dead voter in Daley’s Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/86 "2010-04-29T04:09:11Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > This thread has now been zombified like a dead voter in Daley’s Chicago. (If the mods do close it, can it be shunted off to a new topic in GD?) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/87 "2010-04-29T05:06:33Z")
How about the appropriate prosecutorial office investigating and filing charges if warranted. Voter fraud occurs frequently, such as throwing 20,000 people off the voter roles in Florida in 2000 because they had similar names to convicted felons? I’m all for prosecuting all voter fraud. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/88 "2010-04-29T05:18:38Z")
So, not enough Republicans in Derange County? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/89 "2010-04-29T05:18:40Z")
Prosecute away, ra ra ra! But what the hell were they thinking? What benefit was there to expending energy to falsely register people as Republicans? Would their ballots be tossed out later if their registrations were proven unlawfully obtained? Who the hell spent money on this campaign and why? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/90 "2010-04-29T05:20:24Z")
Revenge of ACORN! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/91 "2010-04-29T05:40:45Z")
Some Republicans paid some guys to go out and get Republican voter registration. They got boned by the people they hired. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/92 "2010-04-29T08:22:30Z")
They get paid to register people as Republicans. [http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2010/04/22/da-to-team-with-secretary-of-state-on-voter-registration-probe/55723/](http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2010/04/22/da-to-team-with-secretary-of-state-on-voter-registration-probe/55723/) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/93 "2010-04-29T09:13:39Z")
The irony is that the Republicans have inadvertently expanded the leftist wing of their party by adding people who would normally be Democrats or other. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if this tips the balance for more moderate GOP candidates? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/94 "2010-04-29T10:25:06Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Whoa, that’s just a few miles from me. > > Hey, I have a question, if someone would be kind enough to answer it. In NY, I do have a voter registration card - but no one ever asks for it at the polls. Why do they go through so much trouble to issue me one and even tell me to bring it if they aren’t going to look at it? > > And obviously I don’t have a problem with a voter ID card and I think they should be issued, preferably scanned. I don’t think I got a voter ID card when I registered in New York. When I was in New Mexico, I first got the little paper card that told you all the various districts you were voting in. Several years later, the Bernalillo County clerk (I believe this was done only at the one county) sent out a whole bunch of updated plastic cards. Nice to look at, more durable than the paper ones, but totally unneeded for actual voting. And I’ve never understood the “you must have a reason to request an absentee ballot” thing. Why isn’t “I don’t feel like going to the polling place” good enough? Of course, I got used to a state with on-demand absentee voting and early voting. So the level of outrage I have that someone made a false claim to obtain an absentee voting form and then used said form, assuming he did not vote twice, is minimal. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/95 "2010-04-29T12:05:32Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I assume you’re referring to Acorn, right? No he isn’t. > [@](#): > > Do you understand that the fraudulent registrations were the result of workers who perpetrated fraud on Acorn? No they weren’t. > [@](#): > > Do you understand that Acorn in most cases flagged suspicious names for election officials? No they didn’t. > [@](#): > > Do you understand that registration fraud isn’t the same thing as voter fraud? Prove it. > [@](#): > > Why are you suggesting that people have said there has never been a case of voter fraud? Who said that? Of course there has. No there hasn’t. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/96 "2010-04-29T14:16:58Z")
Well, that certainly settles\* that\*! Any further questions? No? Case closed! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/97 "2010-04-29T14:17:16Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I don’t see how the evidence cited in the OP proves that voter fraud exists. What it demonstrates is election fraud. The voters were innocent victims when absentee ballots were cast in their names; the voter committed no fraud. If ballot boxes were stuffed with bogus absentee ballots, that is not voter fraud. Voter fraud is when a voter registers illegally, or casts more than one vote in different jurisdictions. Not to worry, **Fear Itself**. I have found some more convincing evidence that voter fraud exists.: > [@When is a US citizen required to prove it?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-a-us-citizen-required-to-prove-it/537525/33): > > My ex was not a citizen (had a green card), but had no problem registering to vote (California). She voted in at least one presidential election that I was aware of, but she claimed she had always voted. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/98 "2010-04-29T15:38:10Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Not to worry, **Fear Itself**. I have found some more convincing evidence that voter fraud exists.: And this reflects badly on the Democrats, how? ---
**Author:** ![PhiloVance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@PhiloVance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhiloVance)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/99 "2010-04-29T15:59:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Okay, how about this: once you choose a political party, you are never, ever allowed to change it, for so long as you live. You cool with that? No? What’s that you say? It’s an overly restrictive solution that creates a larger problem then the one it seeks to solve? > > That’s why your voter ID program is a bad idea. I know nothing of Voter ID cards, but if they state your party and you change parties, get a new one…simple as that. If you change your address you usually need to get a new drivers license reflecting the change, how is this any different? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613/100 "2010-04-29T16:43:36Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > And this reflects badly on the Democrats, how? I don’t know - perhaps she’s a Democrat. :rolleyes: Who cares? This thread isn’t about Democrats. It’s about voter fraud. “The wicked flee where no man pursueth.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-such-thing-as-voter-fraud/514613.md?page=6)