Baseless right-wing accusations of voter fraud? Must mean an election is near
In the final days before the midterm elections, following a very familiar pattern, conservative media have yet again turned to hyping baseless and misleading claims of voter fraud.
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Right-wing media baselessly claim SEIU rigged machines to cast votes for Reid
Conservative media hype claims of voter fraud in Nevada to baselessly suggest SEIU is stealing votes for Reid. Several conservative media figures, including the co-hosts of Fox & Friends, The Washington Examiner, the Fox Nation, HotAir, Jim Hoft, and Michelle Malkin all promoted a Fox5 Las Vegas story highlighting claims from early voters that when they went to vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's name had already been checked on the electronic ballot. They cited this story to baselessly suggest that because the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) represents the technicians to repair the voting machines, SEIU is engaged in a conspiracy to fraudulently cast votes for Reid.
However, Fox5 Las Vegas also reported Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax called claims of fraud "patently false." Fox5 also reported that although "some voters complained that Sen. Harry Reid's name had been pre-selected" in Clark County voting locations, "election officials insisted on Tuesday that electronic voting machines were not malfunctioning." The article quoted Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax as saying "those claims were 'patently false' " and "at no time did any of those voters report the incident to staff at their polling location." From the article:
Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said those claims were "patently false" and said at no time did any of those voters report the incident to staff at their polling location.
"In fact, although over 160,000 people have voted early in Clark County, those allegations that have been made have gone directly to the media as opposed to election board officers," he said.
Lomax advised voters to be aware that touch-screens on the screens are sensitive. For that reason, a person may not want to have their fingers linger too long on the screen after they make a selection at any time.
"Especially in a community with elderly citizens (they have) difficulty in (casting their) ballot," Lomax said. "Team leaders said there were complaints (and the) race filled in."
Lomax previously called for an investigation into allegations that ACORN engaged in voter fraud. In 2009, The New York Times reported that Lomax called for an investigation into allegations that ACORN had engaged in voter registration fraud, noting that Nevada's Secretary of State "investigated Acorn at the behest of the Clark County registrar of voters, Larry Lomax, who noted a high number of forms turned in featuring the names of famous football players and cartoon characters."
Right-wing media hype Angle's fabricated claim that Reid is stealing election with bribes of free food
Angle campaign attorney: Reid "intends to steal this election" by offering free food in exchange for votes. The Las Vegas Sun reported that Nevada GOP senatorial candidate Sharron Angle's campaign attorney, Cleta Mitchell, wrote a fundraising letter to supporters in which she asserted that "Harry Reid intends to steal this election if he can't win it outright" and that "Harry Reid has been offering free food" at "voter turnout events." Mitchell went on to say: "What Harry Reid is doing is clearly illegal. Nevada law (NRS 293.700) provides that, 'A person who bribes, offers to bribe, or use and other corrupt means, directly or indirectly, to influence any elector in giving his or her vote or to deter the elector from giving it is guilty of a category D felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130.' "
Conservative media picked up and ran with the Angle campaign claim. Several conservative media figures advanced Mitchell's claim. For example, Sweetness & Light blogger Steve Gilbert linked to the Sun article and added: "If Democrats didn't buy their votes, you have to wonder if they would win any elections anywhere." Similarly, the Fox Nation linked to the Sun article with the headline, "Reid 'Intends to steal this election.' "
NV Secretary of State: Angle's campaign "fails to cite any evidence of 'vote buying' "; offering voters free food regardless of who they voted for does not violate election law. In a statement responding to the Angle campaign's allegations, Nevada's Secretary of State Ross Miller wrote that the campaign "fails to cite any evidence of 'vote buying.' " Miller added that activities such as offering free food to voters "irrespective of how and for whom they voted" does not violate state law so long as "it is not connected to any specific candidate and does not compromise the will of the elector." Miller also wrote that actions which "promote the act of voting," such as offering food to voters, "support the democratic process." Additionally, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State reportedly noted that despite Mitchell's allegations, the office "has not received a single report of voter fraud from someone who experienced it personally."
Right-wing media distort Arizona court ruling to suggest it will influence election
Scarborough falsely claimed "a judge ... overturned an Arizona law that would actually require people to have a photo ID to vote." From the October 27 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:
JOE SCARBOROUGH (co-host): By the way, I just -- a judge, I understand, overturned an Arizona law that would actually require people to have a photo ID to vote. I mean, seriously, how low does the bar have to go? Seriously? That is such a joke.
HAROLD FORD JR. (former Democratic congressman): We do have a history in the country where people were denied the right to vote because they had [inaudible] --
SCARBOROUGH: Well, yeah, sure we do. So you let -- so you let people steal votes now? A photo ID, Harold, a photo ID.
FORD: Right, but you don't actually have to have one. If you show up and you have proof of ID and you sign something saying it's yourself -- these are just federal rules that we have, so, I don't disagree with you, having someone there at the polling booth or polling place -- should not intimidate voters, but to suggest that we don't have an ugly -- which I know you know -- and pernicious history in this country of people, particularly blacks and minorities and even women --
SCARBOROUGH: Well, but why are you bringing that up when all I want to do is make sure that whoever goes and votes is who they say they are, and they have a photo ID. What is so wrong with that?
In fact, a three-judge panel overturned an AZ state law that required proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and upheld the portion of the law requiring voters show ID. As reported by Reuters and The Associated Press, the panel of the 9th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals found that a portion of the Arizona law, which required residents to provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, is inconsistent with the National Voter Registration Act, which, according to the AP, "allows voters to fill out a mail-in voter registration card and swear they are citizens under penalty of perjury, but doesn't require them to show proof as Arizona's law does." In addition, as the AP reported, "The ruling left in place a requirement that voters provide proof of identity when casting ballots."
Conservative bloggers linked court ruling to other examples of alleged voter fraud, suggest ruling will affect 2010 elections. In an October 27 post on her blog updating a previous "voter fraud round-up," Malkin wrote: "[T]he 9th Circuit Court of Appeals just undermined Arizona's citizenship proof rules for voting -- sabotaging efforts to ensure that only legal U.S. citizens vote in U.S. elections." An October 27 post on RedState on its "recap" of "some of the 'coincidences' leading up to next week's mid-term elections" includes the Arizona ruling. In fact, the ruling will not take effect until the next election. According to Reuters, "The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' invalidation of requirements for proof of citizenship comes too late for any prospective new voters who were barred from registering before the deadline for the November 2 U.S. mid-term elections."
North Carolina voting machine problems exaggerated by conservative bloggers
Right-wing blogs promoted reports of irregularities with voting machines in North Carolina. An October 23 article in the New Bern (NC) Sun Journal reported that a Craven County voter "pushed the button to vote Republican in all races, but the voting machine screen displayed a ballot with all Democrats checked." An October 25 report from local station WITN noted that the State Board of Elections said at the time that "only 2 counties have reported early voting problems with the touch-screen Ivotronic machines." On October 26 and 27, right-wing blogs Gateway Pundit, the Jawa Report, Ace of Spades, and BigGovernment all included links to the reports of irregularities with voting machines in North Carolina. Indeed, BigGovernment highlighted several accusations of voter fraud:
But, according to the county's Board of Elections chairman, "in each case the voter was able to cast his or her ballot as desired." According to the Sun Journal article, M. Ray Wood, Craven County Board of Elections chairman, "issued a written statement saying that the elections board is aware of isolated issues and that in each case the voter was able to cast his or her ballot as desired." WITN noted that in the two counties where problems were reported, the deputy director of the state Board of Elections said that "the machines were recalibrated when voters reported the problem, and everyone was able to cast votes of their choice."
Like clockwork, conservatives cry voter fraud in advance of elections
Conservative media have repeatedly issued baseless claims of voter fraud in previous elections As Media Matters has noted, conservative media have consistently made baseless claims of voter fraud during the past six years.
This an interesting development though. If the Republicans had the landslide they thought they had, do you think they would try tactics like this. Since accusations like this are unlikely to work, this may be a good sign that the Democratic Party is doing better than expected.
Most credible allegations of election fraud seem to be against Republicans, but the "common wisdom" among wingnuts is that it's the Dems who have the record of fraud.
I recall before the '08 elections, Hugh Hewitt was shilling a book called something like " If it's not close, they can't cheat".
I never heard him mention any evidence that the dems were rigging elections, but it didn't seem to matter to his fans.
May I please have some VALID proof of this AK? Thank You. omg
It seems to me that this indicates that the elections are quite unlikely to be affected by fraudulent or erroneous registration on a massive scale. It's the appalling failures in the technologies used to record and count votes which would be more likely to skew an election.
Does this include our military fighting and dying for us overseas not getting their ballets in time to vote (e.g.: N.Y. this year and Nationwide 2000)? Why wouldn't you want to make sure they get the chance to participate in our elections BEFORE it's too late for their vote to count?
That should get you started, but you'll have to do some research on your own.
Have you been living in a cave for the past few decades?
BTW, this will be about the third time I've asked, but have you come up with any examples of the "several times you've proved me wrong"? Or will you pretend you don't see this?
Won't "pretend" AK. But I will state this is the first time I have seen your request. In fact, I'll use this as my first example of you being wrong! Stay tuned on the rest. Don't have time now because I gotta go outta town for a few days. Don't worry about my safety though. My oldest grandson is going with me to help with the driving.
And thanks for the "sources" regarding supposed Republican voter fraud. Of course what you cite is questionable and trivial compared to what the Left does - and everyone knows this. To argue this is truely laughable.
Wow, So you think your "everyone knows this!" outweighs AK's actual evidence? You asked for evidence, got it, and then dismissed it without even attempting to counter it with anything of substance. Yeah, you're a mental giant alright.
I think he was better off just pretending he didn't see them.
OK, I get it now. You "proving me wrong" involves ignoring everything I give you, and claiming that "everyone knows" stuff that you don't even specify. Good night, trolly.
Of course, based on earlier comments I will assume that you have already made up your mind and that any data that does not support your beliefs will be discounted as false, no matter who did all the support work.
Google "Democrat Voter Fraud" for hundreds of examples of Democrat Voter Fraud.
Right now, they are BASELESS allegations.
And if evidence becomes available, it won't change the fact that when the allegations were first made, THEY WERE BASELESS ALLEGATIONS.
Seems pretty clear in all these cases that what Fox, big government, et all are doing is taking voting machine irregularities, ignoring the glitches in favor of GOP or Tea party candidates, and claiming the glitches in favor of Democrats are proof of conspiracy and foul play. Even in the cases where it appears there are glitches that favor or harm both candidates randomly or equally, they report it as a case of voter fraud perpetrated by democrats against the GOP or tea party candidates. That's giving their audience only half the story.
I'm sorry, but cherry picking and disregarding relevant information does not constitute anything more then speculation.
Keep up the good work Joy.
BTW...
I notice not one mention on Obama on this forum for what seems like weeks? That disastrous appearance with Stewart didn't work out quite like you planned? I thought John was on your side? He made the Dude in Chief look feeble and stumped. Not good (for Barry) going into these historic mid-terms.
One more little tidbit. Was watching the Chris Matthews show this weekend. All the lefties on the panel were lamenting how Barry "hasn't found his voice" yet and "the message isn't getting across". After almost two years, I think we hear Barry's voice loud and clear! The voters will send Barry a loud roar come Tuesday.
OMG OMG OMG!!!
A liberal said something unkind about a conservative! OMG OMG OMG! Where are the liberals CONDEMNING Joy Behar!!!! WHY DIDN"T SHE LOSE HER JOB OMG OMG OMG!!!!
A little perspective please. If this is the worst example of a liberal saying something hateful you can find, and it is such a big deal to you, then first off, I think we libs are in pretty good shape. One or two hateful comments are not a good thing, but every now and then even the good guys slip up. Secondly, it's the pinnacle of raw hypocrisy to shrug off hundreds of hateful comments by conservative commentators every year, and then demand all kinds of apologies and condemnations of a liberal commentator making one or two statements that are par for the course from the right wing media daily.
Tell you what, when you guys start condemning the routine hate filled comments from your media figures, I'll worry about the fake outrage generated by one comment by comedian Joy Behar.
Jeez, you people are thick. I posted an example of a leftist's pathetic obscene slam aginst a conservative. Where did I say it was the "worst"? The "worst" is probably Jerry Brown's staff stating Meg Whitman is a whore. Another recent one is some lefty posting trash about his dating of McDowell years ago - of course after getting paid for same. And while we're at it, can you provide a few examples of your asserted "conservative commentator's hateful comments". This should be easy since you say there are hundreds done every year.
Wouldn't it be sexist of him not to back up a woman?
You're really reaching here, bh. Time to go have a lie down, I think. Come back tomorrow when you're not so busy trying and failing to find your posterior with both hands.
This site is out to smear conservatives, any way, any how.
A "smear" is an untrue accusation!
I though you guys were supposed to be the tough "rugged individualists" but the fake outrage pouring out over some comments made by Joy Behar, that aren't half as bad as what Michael Savage says every night, is just plain weaksauce.
Somebody call them a "WAH"mbulance, a public figure had her feelings her by a comedian!
Although to be fair....and to continue this absurd off-topic distraction, I suppose you guys don't have to deal with an opposition media like you support, so you aren't used to being constantly attacked in the most dirty and despicable ways that you can get away with. We libs are generally a thoughtful and intelligent bunch, so I wouldn't worry too much about one comment.
On the other hand, we libs EXPECT that kind of angry rhetoric from your side. We're used to it.
Not only that, but Millions of illegals and ex-cons have been registered by ACORN and are ready to vote (D) on demand. $100 Billion dollars of payouts have been made by the Socialist and Communist parties of the U.S., and Al-Qaeda too!!!
BWAHaaaaaaHaaHaaHaa!!
You haven't got a chance. Might as well just stay home.
containing ACORN confessions of voter fraud for the Democrat Party-
their "employer."
This fraud is not new; it's been going on since I was a dem 50 years ago. Do you really believe that Holder will investigate voter
fraud by dems? Really?
http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/10/acorn-employees-tell-fbi-of-deliberate-election-fraud-according-to-new-documents/#ixzz13bZ58pTG
You really need to adjust your Bullsh!t detectors. If an item that begins "The radical activist group ACORN “works” for the Democratic Party and deliberately promotes election fraud.." doesn't stink to you, you've been in the stink too long.
I know it isn't exactly fancy news style investigative reporting, but it really does garner results. Really. It does. Try it.
And Mika, I am painfully aware of the lack of journalistic credentials not to mention intelligence on the part of your side kick, "Duh Joe Scarborough", but you at least have some kind of responsibility to appear as if you have journalistic integrity.
Sitting there for three hours making exasperated faces at Joe the whole time is just is not cutting it anymore. It is so tedious. You look like you don't even want to be there anymore. Do you?
The whingey, whiney pre-emptive accusations coming from a group who have demonstrated a proclivity for perverting the electoral system says more about them than those that they accuse.
Of course, that seems to fool them.
I'm glad you came right here to let us know about it, though.
It is more likely that an individual will be struck by lightning than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls.
Of course your chances of being hit by lightning are about 1 in 700,000 so voter fraud must be pretty prevalent.
I would guess it to be at least 1 in 100 which is 1% or more. Elections have been determined by a 1% margin.
Well, that is what you get for guessing. I am too lazy to google so you can take the time but; some of the numbers that I have seen have put the actual incidence of voter fraud (someone voting who shouldn't have) at around 0.001% of the election total.
If you want to worry about something. Be concerned with voter suppression. People actively trying to suppress the votes of minorities.
I'm not going to worry about whether or not someone decides to vote.
These voting machines with proprietary software are serious concerns to me. Programmers can easily program them to behave differently on different dates, etc.