If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal. -- Emma Goldman
The Origins of Voter Fraud
October 24, 2008 5:59 PM by S.M. Oliva
Imagine a fictional kingdom. The king has died and the small band of noblemen at court have yet to announce a successor. One afternoon, two local merchants discuss the situation:
"So did you hear about the new king?"
"No, who is it?"
"The former king's advisers couldn't decide, so they're asking the public to 'elect' a new king?"
"Elect? What does that mean?"
"It means we're going to pick the new king."
"Huh. Well, that seems fair. You and I pay a ton in taxes to the kingdom, so we should get a say."
"True. But it's not just us who will decide..."
"Sure, everyone who pays taxes should get a say."
"See, the thing is... they're letting everyone have a say."
"What, even the people who don't pay taxes?"
"Yeah."
"But that's like half the population."
"So?"
"If they don't pay to support the king, why should they get a say in electing him?"
"Because they live in the kingdom too."
"I dunno, it doesn't seem fair."
"Sure it is. Heck, the kingdom is even calling their new program, 'one man, one vote'. It's catchy."
"So what about the merchants who travel here from the neighboring kingdoms?"
"What about them?"
"Well, some of these guys are here three or four days per week peddling their wares. They have to pay taxes to the king on those sales. Do they get a vote?"
"I don't think so."
"But what about 'one man, one vote'?"
"That only applies to people who live in the kingdom."
"Okay, what about my cousin Irv? He used to live in the neighboring kingdom, but he's been crashing on my couch for a few weeks. Does he get to vote?"
"Does he have permission from the kingdom to crash on your couch?"
"Uh, no."
"Then I'm pretty sure he can't vote."
"Wow, this whole thing sounds nutty. Okay, so when do we all have to get together and vote?"
"Get together?"
"If we're going to pick a new king, don't we need to get everyone in the kingdom together?"
"Not all at the same time."
"So we're going to elect the king in shifts?"
"Well, there will be polling stations open throughout the day."
"And people will just vote when they feel like it?"
"Yeah, or they can vote on earlier day by mail if they don't want to show up."
"Huh. So all you have to do is show up and show some identification?"
"No, just show up."
"So I could pretend I'm you and cast your ballot?"
"Sure, I guess, if you get to the polls before me."
"Yeah, but when I sign the ballot, won't they be able to tell it's not your signature."
"You aren't going to sign the ballot. The ballot is 'secret'."
"If the ballots are completely anonymous, and there's no way to tell who actually voted, how will we know if the person elected king really won?"
"The kingdom will tell us. They're running the election, after all."
"So there's nothing stopping the kingdom from simply picking a winner and then making it look like the new king actually won this 'election'?"
"I suppose not."
"Well that's pretty much the system we already had, except now we're wasting time and money to make it look like the people in the kingdom actually support what the rulers wanted to do all along."
"Huh. I never considered that."
"I think I'll stay home on this 'election day'."
"Does that mean you don't want to hear about the kingdom's new 'campaign finance' laws?"
http://blog.mises.org/archives/008848.asp
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