As Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell considers whether to sign updated voter ID legislation passed by Virginia’s legislature this week, Virginia State Police issued the Commonwealth’s 39th arrest warrant for election fraud since the 2008 election.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the majority of the 38 prior election fraud arrests have resulted in convictions, and 26 additional cases are still being actively investigated. Over 400 voter or election fraud allegations from 62 jurisdictions in Virginia were initially reported by the Virginia State Board of Elections after the 2008 election.
Memo to Attorney General Eric Holder: Voter fraud does exist!
Virginia isn’t alone in its desire to curb potential fraudulent voting on Election Day. It is just one of 32 states with some type of voter ID legislation currently under consideration after widespread allegations of election fraud during the 2008 election.
For example, in Minnesota, a state where voters will decide on a constitutional amendment requiring voter ID in November, election watchdog group Minnesota Majority uncovered evidence of widespread election fraud.
The group’s research has identified nearly 100 cases of double-voting as many as 50,000 voters registered to non-existent addresses, and as many as 1,400 felons illegally casting ballots (of which over 100 have been convicted of voting illegally since 2008). Minnesota Senator Al Franken was elected by a margin of only 215 votes in 2008, making the group’s findings particularly troubling.
Signing Virginia’s proposed bill is unlikely to hurt Governor McDonnell’s popularity. Numerous national polls show widespread support for laws requiring voters to show some form of identification prior to voting. A series of Rasmussen polls conducted over the past two years indicate that 72 to 80 percent of Americans support voter ID laws.
It doesn’t seem that widespread allegations that voter ID laws discriminate against minorities, which has been propagated by Holder and other liberals, has caught on with the rest of America. A recent Rasmussen poll found that 73 percent of Americans do not believe that Voter ID requirements are discriminatory. It’s hard to fathom that 73 percent of Americans – a figure that must include significant numbers of racial minorities – are unabashed racists.
In Virginia, as in most voter ID states, voters can use a variety of documents to prove their identity at the polls, including a free voter identification card. Obtaining and presenting one of these forms of identification is generally no more burdensome than the providing them as part of the mandatory voter registration process.
As arrests and convictions for election fraud continue to pile up nation-wide, and polls continue to show remarkable support for voter ID laws, opponents of voter ID are starting to look a bit foolish.