-Caveat Lector-
National Review Online-11/09/00 2:10 p.m.
Vote Fraud Is Alive and Well
It’s not colorful; it’s criminal.
By Deroy Murdock, a columnist with the Scripps Howard News Service
After an election night as suspenseful as an Alfred Hitchcock
thriller, deadlock has set in. In light of Florida's
electoral-vote dispute, the U.S. must focus on ballot integrity.
Americans may consider this republic above vote fraud and ballot
irregularities, but neither Serbia nor Zimbabwe has a monopoly on
this problem.
Supporters of Vice President Al Gore in Palm Beach County,
Florida, are complaining that a ballot they found confusing —
previously approved by Democratic county elections supervisor
Theresa LePore — generated accidental votes for Pat Buchanan. The
NAACP claims that blacks were barred from voting in some polling
sites.
Republicans say that resident aliens in Broward County voted
although they are not yet citizens. GOP voters in the
conservative Panhandle, within the central time zone, may have
stayed home after the networks inaccurately projected Florida for
Gore once voting ended in the eastern time zone.
Miami poll watchers told MSNBC's Jonathan Alter that some
absentee-ballot recipients signed affidavits at the polls
swearing that they had not mailed in their absentee ballots, then
voted normal ballots. "Quite a number of people in the past in
Miami, in Dade County, have voted twice," Alter said. "They
filled out the affidavit, but they also filled out their absentee
ballot." Officials now may have to compare affidavits and
absentee ballots to eliminate repeat voting.
In New York, the horror stories started early. Many of the city's
1962-vintage voting machines failed. Others appeared not to
register votes for GOP Senate nominee Rick Lazio.
At her Upper West Side polling place, attorney Nicole Tell saw
people line up to vote who had not even spoken with poll workers.
"I could have gone into the ballot booth several times because I
did not have to show a voter signature card," Tell told me. "Once
someone realized that it could be done, they could certainly try
to vote again and likely be successful."
Stephen Malone, also an attorney, watched a neighbor walk into
the voting booth after flashing his registration card at a poll
worker. Since officials had not checked him off their voter list,
he could return and vote again. "Chicago has had a reputation for
dishonest elections, but after the lax inspectors and antiquated
equipment I experienced today, New York takes the cake," said
Malone, a Windy City native. "I left the polls doubting that my
vote was registered by that old machine or would be counted by
the inspectors."
Several GOP activists told me that poll workers instructed
Democratic voters to support the party's entire ticket. This may
have discouraged some Democrats from splitting their tickets and
supporting Lazio or other Republicans. While Senate candidate
Hillary Clinton beat Lazio decisively, 55 percent to 43 percent,
her margin might be slimmer absent these anomalies.
New York Democratic donor Connie Milstein--who gave $402,000 to
Democrats this election cycle and hosted Al Gore at a Park Avenue
fundraiser--was caught just before the election giving packs of
cigarettes to homeless people in Milwaukee if they would vote for
Democrats. "I'm here representing the Gore-Lieberman campaign,"
she told WISN-TV. "I'm down here trying to get out the vote."
Milstein, who was accompanied by two volunteers, later
contradicted that statement and claimed to be operating
independently. The Democratic National Committee also disavowed
her actions. Wisconsin law forbids encouraging someone to vote in
exchange for anything worth more than $1.00.
Meanwhile, the victorious Senate campaign of Missouri's deceased
governor Mel Carnahan took yet another odd turn when voter logs
disappeared and Republicans charged that improperly registered
voters cast ballots. At 21 precincts, ballot boxes reportedly
were left unattended. One judge extended voting hours in St.
Louis due to high turnout until another judge halted the
additional balloting.
St. Louis's Democratic Mayor Clarence Harmon told the Los Angeles
Times that this chaos "brings into question the whole issue of
whether we got an honest vote and an honest vote count."
At this writing, Al Gore leads George W. Bush by about 98,000
votes nationally. Did unorthodox balloting procedures in New
York, Wisconsin, and elsewhere swell Gore's overall total,
perhaps eclipsing an actual Bush popular-vote victory? Americans
may never know.
These shenanigans cannot be dismissed as colorful anecdotes, no
matter who benefits. Disenfranchising voters with bogus ballots
is illegal and should be prosecuted vigorously.
Federal and state officials should put ballot integrity at the
top of next year's agenda. The reason is simple: As last Tuesday
proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, every vote counts.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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