Opinion
Ineligible voters could tilt election
Examiner Editorial
-
October 6, 2008
A new study released today estimates that as many as 2.3 million undocumented immigrants will illegally vote on November 4th. And given that the two presidential candidates were separated by less than 2 million votes in three elections since 1960, these ineligible voters could conceivably add up to a “balance-tipping bloc” in a handful of battleground states, notably Colorado, Virginia, New Mexico, Nevada and Florida.
David Simcox, author of the Social Contract study, says the federal government has failed to enforce its own ban on non-citizen voting. Since 2002, only 120 people have been charged with voter fraud by the Department of Justice, and only 86 have been convicted. Meanwhile, community groups like ACORN make no secret of the fact that they've been busy registering non-citizens. During recent May Day rallies, pro-immigration activists were photographed with signs that read: "Hoy Marchamos, Manana Votamos" ("Today we march, tomorrow we vote").
Voter registration got a lot easier when Congress passed the Motor Voter Act of 1993, which required no proof of citizenship to register to vote and apply for a drivers license at the same time. The law has no built-in safeguards to prevent widespread voter fraud. The Government Accountability Office reports that most states don’t bother to check for duplicate registration, felony convictions, or immigration status of applicants because it’s so difficult to do. In "sanctuary" cities, voting registrars are not even allowed to ask if you're a citizen; everyone who registers to vote is presumed to be eligible.
Not surprisingly, evidence of voter fraud is already surfacing a month before this year's high-stakes election. In Ohio, where an appeals court allowed "early voting" to proceed, all you need to produce is the last four digits of a Social Security number – which is routinely stolen by identity thieves. Lawsuits are already being filed against citizens who dare to challenge the names on approved voter lists, and things will undoubtedly get worse after Election Day, when political experts predict a barrage of litigation that could delay election results for weeks and seriously damage the public’s trust in our democratic process.
Voting is a right of citizenship, not another government freebie. When ineligible people are allowed to cast ballots, they rob every law-abiding American of their own hard-won franchise.
David Simcox, author of the Social Contract study, says the federal government has failed to enforce its own ban on non-citizen voting. Since 2002, only 120 people have been charged with voter fraud by the Department of Justice, and only 86 have been convicted. Meanwhile, community groups like ACORN make no secret of the fact that they've been busy registering non-citizens. During recent May Day rallies, pro-immigration activists were photographed with signs that read: "Hoy Marchamos, Manana Votamos" ("Today we march, tomorrow we vote").
Voter registration got a lot easier when Congress passed the Motor Voter Act of 1993, which required no proof of citizenship to register to vote and apply for a drivers license at the same time. The law has no built-in safeguards to prevent widespread voter fraud. The Government Accountability Office reports that most states don’t bother to check for duplicate registration, felony convictions, or immigration status of applicants because it’s so difficult to do. In "sanctuary" cities, voting registrars are not even allowed to ask if you're a citizen; everyone who registers to vote is presumed to be eligible.
Not surprisingly, evidence of voter fraud is already surfacing a month before this year's high-stakes election. In Ohio, where an appeals court allowed "early voting" to proceed, all you need to produce is the last four digits of a Social Security number – which is routinely stolen by identity thieves. Lawsuits are already being filed against citizens who dare to challenge the names on approved voter lists, and things will undoubtedly get worse after Election Day, when political experts predict a barrage of litigation that could delay election results for weeks and seriously damage the public’s trust in our democratic process.
Voting is a right of citizenship, not another government freebie. When ineligible people are allowed to cast ballots, they rob every law-abiding American of their own hard-won franchise.
