# So....Where Was All The "Voter Fraud"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 6, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517 "2008-11-06T20:33:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/21 "2008-11-06T23:30:34Z")
ACORN was the best thing that has ever happened in American politics. It provided one of the easiest dipshit detectors ever. Anytime over the last few months I heard anyone mention ACORN in an anti-Obama argument, I was perfectly happy with putting up my hands and saying “Ok, discussion over. You’re too fucking stupid to research things for yourself, so you’re not going to bring any original thought to the table. Bye”. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/22 "2008-11-06T23:43:39Z")
Well, [fivethirtyeight](http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/what-in-hell-happened-in-alaska.html#comments) is wondering why the total votes in Alaska dropped by 14% in this election and why all the Republican candidates out performed their polls by 12-14%. No one’s saying “fraud” yet (well, ok, a few bloggers are), but some eyebrows are definitely rising. The mostly likely explanation, though, is that many Democrats in Alaska blew off the election. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/23 "2008-11-07T00:10:25Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > Classic example of wanting to have your cake and eat it, too. Also a classic example of Elucidator’s intellectually vacant reasoning powers. Ordinarily, might take some umbrage. But President-Elect Obama has me in such a good mood, I’ll reach across to pat your pointy little head and offer you heartfelt condolences. There, there. It won’t be so bad!, what with President Obama leading a mandated landslide type administration, and President Obama has assured us of a genteel and accepting administration, after President Obama’s landslide victory. Did I mention President Obama? Good, didn’t want to forget about President Obama… ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/24 "2008-11-07T00:15:21Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Ordinarily, might take some umbrage. But President-Elect Obama has me in such a good mood, I’ll reach across to pat your pointy little head and offer you heartfelt condolences. There, there. It won’t be so bad!, what with President Obama leading a mandated landslide type administration, and President Obama has assured us of a genteel and accepting administration, after President Obama’s landslide victory. Did I mention President Obama? Good, didn’t want to forget about President Obama… Who? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/25 "2008-11-07T00:20:55Z")
President-ELect Barack _Hussein_ Obama! Just elected in a landslide, rout, crushing victory, total wipe-out, massacree of the Forces of Darkness! Wiped the floor with them, kicked their asses into next week, romped and stomped, left them standing there not knowing whether to cuss or spit out broken teeth! Not that I’m gloating… ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/26 "2008-11-07T00:22:51Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > [Out of state voters have absentee ballots voided.](http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2008/10/23/story_voters.html?sid=102) What absentee ballots were those? What voting took place at all in that link? > [@](#): > > [Congressman Hall adviser fired, linked to Ohio voting fraud probe.](http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081029/NEWS/81029041) If there is proof of fraud, toss them in jail. I don’t see that proof in the linked article, and I notice that we don’t have a verdict yet. So, so far, zero voter fraud. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/27 "2008-11-07T01:24:05Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Good point. If the elections are so vulnerable to being stolen by nefarious Republican operatives, where were they? There weren’t enough of them to counter the ten million vote defecit apparently. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/28 "2008-11-07T01:37:50Z")
We discussed this, **Bricker.** At length. The plan of the nefarious Republican operatives was to use “voter fraud” as an excuse to insert themselves into the polling process. Not to change votes, not to steal votes, but to _impede_ the process, with the goal of suppressing votes from disadvantaged districts. I’m rather surprised you have forgotten this so soon. Obama dispatched teams of lawyers on alert for this kind of crapola. Is that the answer to the question? Perhaps. Perhaps not, perhaps the Republicans were smitten off their collective asses on the road to Damascus, and resolved to play clean and play fair. Its possible. I prefer to think they were defeated by raw people power. If people are willing to stand for 7 hours in order to vote, if _enough_ people are willing, their power its, like, awesome. You don’t sweep back the sea with a toothbrush. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/29 "2008-11-07T01:59:29Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Ordinarily, might take some umbrage. But President-Elect Obama has me in such a good mood, I’ll reach across to pat your pointy little head and offer you heartfelt condolences. There, there. It won’t be so bad!, what with President Obama leading a mandated landslide type administration, and President Obama has assured us of a genteel and accepting administration, after President Obama’s landslide victory. Did I mention President Obama? Good, didn’t want to forget about President Obama… Man, this had me laughing. Not that you’re that funny anymore - you grew tiresome years ago. But I watched South Park last night, and you reminded me of Randy Marsh just now. It’s on again tonight at ten, if you want to know what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/30 "2008-11-07T02:05:13Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Well, [fivethirtyeight](http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/what-in-hell-happened-in-alaska.html#comments) is wondering why the total votes in Alaska dropped by 14% in this election and why all the Republican candidates out performed their polls by 12-14%. No one’s saying “fraud” yet (well, ok, a few bloggers are), but some eyebrows are definitely rising. > > The mostly likely explanation, though, is that many Democrats in Alaska blew off the election. It’s somewhat suspicious, for sure. But remember that Obama was declared the winner at least two hours before the polls closed here, and it was pretty apparent even much earlier than that, which would make a lot of people say “ah, fuck it.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/31 "2008-11-07T04:29:54Z")
You’re not going to see cries of voter fraud when the results are a blow-out like this. Who’s going to complain? If the Republicans cheated, the Democrats can afford to ignore it - they won. If the Democrats cheated, the Republicans know they lost anyway. Obama won by a 7,000,000 vote plurality - nobody can steal that many votes. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/32 "2008-11-07T05:06:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It’s somewhat suspicious, for sure. But remember that Obama was declared the winner at least two hours before the polls closed here, and it was pretty apparent even much earlier than that, which would make a lot of people say “ah, fuck it.” Well, that might hold if the presidential race were the whole of it, but as [Mudflats](http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/crunching-the-numbers-in-alaska/) points out, there were some very heavy duty local races, Stevens/Begich Senatorial and Berkowitz/Young Reps that should still have brought the Dems out in droves–I mean, really, the downticket races were a big issue this election and the Obama campaign made a big deal out of it so you think that regardless of the presidential race being called early that Alaskans would want to get out there and give the convicted felon the boot–and it seems odd that Young won by seven points when all the polls since May showed Berkowitz beating the pants off him by 5-14 points. Something’s kinda smelly up there for all you’d figure the subzero temps would keep things from rotting… ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/33 "2008-11-07T05:17:34Z")
This is one of the biggest reasons to keep the Electoral College. If 100,000 people attempt to commit voter fraud for Republicans in Illinois, who cares? The outcome is the same. This is true everywhere. To commit successful voter fraud, you would have to know the hotspots in swing states and that is the realm of psychics. Nobody can do that reliably. Voter fraud at the federal election level is almost impossible to have any meaningful results. We have to keep in mind that the popular vote doesn’t elect presidents, the individual states do. To predict where this fraud needs to occur for your desired outcome and then get an insane amount of people to go along with it is in itself insane. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/34 "2008-11-07T06:38:28Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Man, this had me laughing. > > Not that you’re that funny anymore - you grew tiresome years ago… There was a time when I would have found that hurtful, my eyes brimming with tears, I would have curled up with my banky and sobbed. (Texans are quite vulnerable and delicate, and are widely known for their sensitivity.) But now with the dawn of That One, I am filled with compassion, and understanding. I seek only to guide you gently, but firmly, from the path of political error. And, yes, Obama has shown me that my humor has, in the past, been a bit harsh, even sarcastic. But henceforth, I shall confine myself to harmless joshing, jokes about puppies, LOLkatz, stuff like that. (By the way, did you see\* Family Circus \*today? Those little scamps!) So, I will just overlook this intemperate outburst, knowing that you’ll recover, and be once again the roly-poly ball of sunshine that we all so know and love. Peace on you. **e.** ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/35 "2008-11-07T10:06:56Z")
> [@Parthol](#): > > I’m only half serious, but if I were a Nefarious Dieboldian who could rig voting machines, I wouldn’t dare risk doing so during an election whose polling was so lopsided. Given how far ahead Obama was the week before the election, a McCain victory would have been extremely suspicious – suspicious enough to invite unwanted scrutiny regarding the security of machines. That’s quite possible - election tampering could easily be an example of a self- **un** fulfilling prophecy in these circumstances. On the other hand, they could well have tried tampering with the vote, and it simply wasn’t enough. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/36 "2008-11-07T13:21:34Z")
If I can respond to the OP, I have to admit that I was surprised, after all the build-up given by the leftist activists, that there wasn’t a lot of the sort of shenanigans reported in 2000 and 2004 with voter suppression. All I could think was that in those elections the race was much closer, and it was easier to sway things, but the number of electoral votes Obama garnered was so much bigger than what McCain got that you’d have to have tampering on a huge scale to affect the result. but i note that there ARE reports of voter suppression, they just haven’t made the Big Time. On his website, Greg Palast is reporting voter suppression in the Georgia voting. If true, it;s surprising that this hasn’t been reported elsewhere, because he claims that 50,000 voters have been prevented from voting: > [@](#): > > Ground zero is Georgia. It’s here where the sick little vulture named Saxby Chambliss won the US Senate seat six years ago by calling his Democratic opponent, a guy who’d lost three limbs in Vietnam, a friend of Osama bin Laden. > > There’s no way in hell that Chambliss can slime his way back into the Senate in the face of over half a million newly registered voters (Black and young - 69% for Obama) without jacking them out of their votes. That’s what the Republicans are up to. Right now. As we speak. > > Over 50,000 the new voters in Georgia have been blocked from voting by using a nasty little new law, the Help America Vote Act signed by George Bush. (Bush is helping us vote - look out!) > > I just got this from Christina Rush in the Peach Pit state: > > “They really have stolen my vote and I don’t know what to do about it at this late stage. I just found out 2 days ago that I do not exist on the voters rolls in Georgia. I have disappeared. After calling 866-OUR VOTE and the Secretary of State (for GA), it has been determined that the last vote I was accounted for was the 1996 General Election. That’s awfully strange to me, considering that I voted in the recent Primaries and that last two General Elections (2000 and 2004).” > **[The Pits: Georgia's GOP Swipes the Peach State - Greg Palast](https://www.gregpalast.com/the-steal-you-wont-see/)** > > Even as they drown in the anger of platoons of pissed-off voters, Republican operatives are swiping Further down the page they note that there is to be a runoff in December, so this is subject to correction, but it’s pretty scary, nonetheless. CNN corroborates the story, but I haven’t seen it reported on TV or in my newspaper: > **[Some voters 'purged' from voter rolls - CNN.com](https://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/26/voter.suppression/index.html)** > > College senior Kyla Berry was looking forward to voting in her first presidential election, even carrying her voter registration card in her wallet. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/37 "2008-11-07T16:03:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You’re not going to see cries of voter fraud when the results are a blow-out like this. Who’s going to complain? If the Republicans cheated, the Democrats can afford to ignore it - they won. If the Democrats cheated, the Republicans know they lost anyway. Obama won by a 7,000,000 vote plurality - nobody can steal that many votes. Mayor Daley (the [original](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_J._Daley)) could have! _sigh_ Those were the days . . . what’s happened to us, man?! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/38 "2008-11-07T16:28:29Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Well, that might hold if the presidential race were the whole of it, but as [Mudflats](http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/11/06/crunching-the-numbers-in-alaska/) points out, there were some very heavy duty local races, Stevens/Begich Senatorial and Berkowitz/Young Reps that should still have brought the Dems out in droves–I mean, really, the downticket races were a big issue this election and the Obama campaign made a big deal out of it so you think that regardless of the presidential race being called early that Alaskans would want to get out there and give the convicted felon the boot–and it seems odd that Young won by seven points when all the polls since May showed Berkowitz beating the pants off him by 5-14 points. > > Something’s kinda smelly up there for all you’d figure the subzero temps would keep things from rotting… You have a point, certainly, and the Stevens/Begich contest is far from over at this point, with something like 60,000 votes still to be counted. But unless somebody initiates an investigation, we’ll likely never know if fraud was involved. There’s never been a whiff of it in the past, to my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/39 "2008-11-07T16:33:09Z")
I support efforts by any party to investigate voter fraud. Transparency benefits everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517/40 "2008-11-07T17:02:32Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > There has never been a problem with voting fraud in America. Cases are very rare. But when they exist, they are doozies. Take, for example, the infamous Box 13 scandal that launched LBJ’s political career. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2151840](http://www.jstor.org/pss/2151840) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-where-was-all-the-voter-fraud/471517.md?page=3)