"Voter Fraud Fraud"

It occurred to me that we haven't heard much about "voter fraud" recently, which is, I guess, not too surprising. First of all, we're a little more than ten months away from the election. Those claims are usually made as we get down to the wire. Also, the claims usually come with demands for "voter ID," and so far, most laws requiring special identification papers at the polling station have been struck down by the courts as a form of poll tax. Finally, the use of the Justice Department for political purposes and the firing of US Attorneys who underperformed when it came to finding and prosecuting voter fraud blew up in the administration's face this past year as Congress looked into the situation. The investigation was the primary reason Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was forced to resign to spend more time with his family.

However, all of that doesn't mean that the claims of voter fraud and the demands that something be done won't resurface. It's just not time yet. Unless a concerted effort to debunk the coming claims before they get into the public discourse is made now, the next election will be as marred and as ugly as the last two have been.

An editorial in yesterday's Boston Globe is an excellent start in this regard. Titled "Voter Fraud Fraud," the editorial refers to careful analysis of voter fraud performed by the Brennan Justice Center and the conclusions that study reached.

New Jersey's state Republican Party also claimed that 4,397 people had voted twice in 2000, and another 6,572 voted both in New Jersey and in one of five other states. But a systematic review by the Brennan Justice Center at New York University Law School found most of the matches ignored different middle names, dates of birth, or other discrepancies. All told, the center found that eight of the 3.6 million New Jersey voters in 2004 intentionally cast invalid votes - a "fraud rate" of four ten-thousandths of one percent.

These fraud alarm bells - even if they are false alarms - distract Americans from real problems in the democratic process, from electronic voting machines that leave no paper trail to campaign tactics that confuse or intimidate voters. Also, supposed fraud is often used to build support for stiffer voter requirements, such as government-issued IDs, which would almost surely drive down participation among poorer, older, and less-educated voters. "The voter fraud phantom drives policy that disenfranchises legitimate voters without a corresponding benefit," the Brennan Center's report concludes. ...

In the current anti-immigrant environment, charges of voting by noncitizens are on the rise. But given that criminal prosecution and deportation await anyone caught, it's no surprise that most claims turn out to be based on outdated or inaccurate information.

In fact, voter fraud is a remarkably inefficient way to steal an election. So many individual acts need to be coordinated - each with its own risk of discovery - that the cost is greater than the likely benefit. And yet lurid tales of massive fraud continue. It's enough to make a citizen wonder if what's really going on is an attempt at voter suppression. [Emphasis only]

You think maybe?

Voter Fraud Fraud is just that, and it can be mighty effective in distracting citizens from the real issues surrounding fair and honest elections and in keeping the most vulnerable at home on election day. More editorials like this would go a long way towards discrediting this tactic. So would a few frank speeches from candidates. Now is a good time to start this kind of campaign.

Nicely done, Boston Globe.