Brennan Center Op/Ed in WaPo: ‘The Myth of Voter Fraud’ and the U.S. Attorney Purge Scandal

From attorneys Michael Waldman and Justin Levitt of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law in today’s WaPo…

As Congress probes the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, attention is centering on who knew what, and when. It’s just as important to focus on “why,” such as the reason given for the firing of at least one of the U.S. attorneys, John McKay of Washington state: failure to prosecute the phantom of individual voter fraud.

Allegations of voter fraud — someone sneaking into the polls to cast an illicit vote — have been pushed in recent years by partisans seeking to justify proof-of-citizenship and other restrictive ID requirements as a condition of voting. Scare stories abound on the Internet and on editorial pages, and they quickly become accepted wisdom.

But the notion of widespread voter fraud, as these prosecutors found out, is itself a fraud. Firing a prosecutor for failing to find wide voter fraud is like firing a park ranger for failing to find Sasquatch.

And three more notable money quotes from the piece worth running here…

Proven voter fraud, statistically, happens about as often as death by lightning strike.
…
[T]hose chasing imaginary fraud are actually taking preventive steps that would disenfranchise millions of real live Americans.
…
Pressure on prosecutors to join a witch hunt for individual voter fraud is a scandal, not just for the Justice Department but for voters seeking to exercise their most basic right.

4 Responses

  1. “Who knew what and when” needs to be done with the voting industry perps. Instead, they are parading perps like Brit Williams and R. Doug Lewis before committees as “experts.”

  2. There’s at least one documented instance of voter fraud – Ann Coulter.

    It’s a pity that R. Alexander Acosta, U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida, has no jurisdiction to prosecute it.

  3. House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) is seeking information about slides targeting 20 Democratic-controlled Congressional districts for the 2008 Election. In January, the White House sent J. Scott Jennings, an aide to Karl Rove, to present a slide show to a group of employees of the General Services Administration.

    Waxman believes the presentation, and subsequent remarks made by GSA Director Lurita Alexis Doan may have violated the ‘Hatch Act,’ which prohibits federal employees from using their positions for political purposes.

    http://rawstory.com/news/2007/White_House_Power_Point_slides_target_0330.html

    WHERE’S THE SUBPOENA’S FOR E-VOTE FRAUD?????????????

  4. These creeps rant and rave about “false” voter fraud cases,while they use those DAMNED E-VOTE MACHINES TO STEAL OUR ELECTIONS!!THEY MUST THINK AMERICANS ARE REALLY TOO DUMB TO SEE THROUGH THIER CROOKED SCHEMES!!John Kerry had it right,as he was caught on tape saying how crooked these people are,THEY ARE SIMPLY EVIL!!

    Does anyone think we have a chance for a FAIR ELECTION IN ’08?We MUST insist on NOTHING BUT PAPER BALLOTTS,COUNTED BY REAL PEOPLE!!

    Jeannie