Voter fraud is voter suppression

Democrats have been having a cow about voter ID laws.

One might wonder why a political party that feverishly scrambles to suppress the military vote would publicly complain about... voter suppression.

Paul Hollrah recalls one of the countless examples of Democratic voter suppression in the 2000 presidential election:

Realizing that military people normally vote heavily Republican, Democratic election law attorney, Mark Herron, distributed a five-page letter to the Gore organization and to Democratic organizations all across Florida, instructing them on the many ways that overseas military absentee ballots could be challenged. The letter was distributed on November 15 when Bush was still leading by a razor-thin margin of 300 votes.

As Herron indicated in his letter, State and Federal law provided for the counting of qualified overseas absentee ballots for up to ten days after the day of the election. However, he continued, “You are being asked to review these overseas absentee ballots to make a determination whether acceptance by the supervisor of elections and/or the county canvassing board is legal under Florida law. A challenge to these ballots must be made prior to the time that the ballot is removed from the mailing envelope…”

Herron instructed Florida Democrats and Gore campaign personnel to insure that: a) the voter affirmatively requested an absentee ballot, b) the ballot envelope was signed by the voter, c) the signature on the envelope matched the signature on the voter registration books, d) the ballot envelope was properly witnessed, e) the ballot envelopes contained an APO, FPO, or foreign postmark, and f) the voter had not already voted in person or by absentee ballot.

To be fair, Herron did provide the appropriate legal cautions. He concluded his instructions by quoting 18 USC 241, which states that if anyone conspires to “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person… in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States… they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.”

Of course, the threat of a ten year stay in a federal penitentiary has never deterred Democrats in pursuit of fraudulent votes. Within days, overseas military absentee ballots were challenged by Democratic operatives all across Florida and more than 1,000 ballots were disallowed… most for lack of a postmark, and most containing votes for the Bush/Cheney ticket.

This in spite of Florida Administrative Code Title 1S-2.01(7), which stated, “With respect to the presidential preference primary and the general election, any absentee ballot cast for a federal office by an overseas elector which is postmarked or signed and dated (emphasis added) no later than the date of the Federal election shall be counted if received no later than 10 days from the date of the Federal election as long as such absentee ballot is otherwise proper.” (WorldNetDaily, November 29, 2000)

If the Democrats demonstrated anything that night, it is that they have no soul. There is no political act more despicable than to deny the right to vote to the best and brightest of our young people… those who are overseas, risking their lives, wearing the uniforms of the U.S. armed forces. But that’s what the Democrats did in Florida in 2000.

Of course, their strategy didn’t work. The people of Florida gave George W. Bush a small but clear majority and he went on to become President of the United States. One would think that Democrats would have at least suffered pangs of conscience for their attempt to disqualify the votes of overseas military personnel… but apparently not.

In October 2009, the Congress approved the Military and Overseas Voting Empowerment (MOVE) Act, ensuring that members of our overseas military forces are aware of their voting rights and that they have every opportunity to register to vote and to have their absentee ballots cast and counted.

The impetus for the new law was a Senate Rules Committee study which showed that roughly one in four overseas military voters who requested absentee ballots did not have their votes counted in the 2008 General Election because they never received their ballots. The MOVE Act requires that every state send absentee ballots to overseas military voters no later than 45 days prior to an election so that time in transit will no longer be an issue.

However, in a July 28, 2010 Fox News story we learn that the Obama Justice Department is now urging the states to use waivers to avoid having to abide by provisions of the MOVE Act.

Former litigation attorney for the DOJ Voting Rights Section, Eric Eversole, is quoted as saying, “It is an absolute shame that the (Voting Rights) section appears to be spending more time finding ways to avoid the MOVE Act, rather than finding ways to ensure that military voters will have their votes counted.”

According to J. Christian Adams, another former litigator in the Voting Rights Section, “Everybody in Washington knows it doesn’t matter how good the law is, it comes down to who’s enforcing it.”

Both attorneys point out that the Department of Justice website makes absolutely no mention of the MOVE Act, but it does contain a detailed section devoted to instructing convicted felons on how to have their voting rights reinstated.

It is no secret that members of our military services, veterans, and retired military personnel vote heavily Republican. It is also no secret that the party of choice among prison inmates, convicted felons, and parolees is the Democrat Party. (Birds of a feather…?) As for me, I’ll take our guys and they can have theirs. In the meantime, let’s let Barack Obama and Eric Holder know that it’s time they started enforcing the laws, ALL the laws, that are on the books.

Voter fraud is voter suppression. Each time Mickey Mouse or deceased Aunt Bessie votes, a real vote for the other candidate is nullified.

Democrats have no problem with voter suppression. They are the masters of it, working diligently to suppress the military vote and working via voter fraud to suppress legitimate votes for their opponents since the 19th century. For the past century and a half, from Tammany Hall to the Daley Machine in Chicago to ACORN, nearly all voter fraud in the United States has been Democrat voter fraud.

The solution to voter fraud is voter ID, which is why Democrats oppose voter ID.