Voter fraud fizzle?
After weeks of hysteria about "voter fraud" leading into today's elections, what kind of dastardly deeds have been turned up?
Today, Facing South has been monitoring dozens of Twitter feeds, websites, reports from state officials, tips to Facing South and other sources for information about cases of voter fraud.
The result? Very few cases of have been reported. Following the words "voter fraud" on Twitter, for example, reveals a small handful of cases being endlessly repeated (which, incidentally, are stories featured on Fox News' website): one about two mentally incapacitated people allegedly being coached how to vote in Minnesota; and another about a glitch in Missouri's voter database.
Another popular Tweet, originating from Republican Drew Ryan, suggested that "things are looking fishy" in Missouri's 3rd Congressional District, but offered no elaboration.
There was another favorite: In North Philadelphia, a lone Black Panther apparently stood in front of a polling site -- although Glenn Beck's website The Blaze was acknowledged that "Thankfully, Fox 29 reports that there have been no complaints of voter intimidation today."
There was one Tweet that proved to have more substance: A report from Kentucky that "100+" cases of "voter fraud" had been identified, including four cases of "vote buying."
The story, from the Kentucky Herald-Leader, begins like this:
However, digging deeper into the story, it's clear that the calls weren't exactly evidence of widespread "fraud." For example:
* The paper reports that, "The largest number, 29 calls, were procedural questions." In other words, 20 percent of the calls were questions about where and how to vote, etc. -- not complaints of fraud.
* The largest number of calls came from Jefferson County (the biggest county), which offers a microcosm of the kind of calls the state hotline received. The paper reports that the 28 calls to the county included "four complaints about election officials, four allegations of electioneering, five reports of general election fraud, eight procedural questions, one complaint about exit polling, one question about residency, and five complaints about voting machines."
Nine of those -- 13 if you include complaints about election officials -- could constitute fraud, broadly speaking. The rest are related to election administration which, while frustrating, clearly don't constitute fraud.
And of course, all of these are just reported allegations -- of which none, or all, could prove to be prosecutable offenses. The four charges of vote-buying are the worst, although they technically aren't voter fraud (when a person fraudulently votes), but a broader election offense.
We'll learn more about the outcome of these cases in the coming months. But for now, it seems that "voter fraud" didn't live up to the hype.
Today, Facing South has been monitoring dozens of Twitter feeds, websites, reports from state officials, tips to Facing South and other sources for information about cases of voter fraud.
The result? Very few cases of have been reported. Following the words "voter fraud" on Twitter, for example, reveals a small handful of cases being endlessly repeated (which, incidentally, are stories featured on Fox News' website): one about two mentally incapacitated people allegedly being coached how to vote in Minnesota; and another about a glitch in Missouri's voter database.
Another popular Tweet, originating from Republican Drew Ryan, suggested that "things are looking fishy" in Missouri's 3rd Congressional District, but offered no elaboration.
There was another favorite: In North Philadelphia, a lone Black Panther apparently stood in front of a polling site -- although Glenn Beck's website The Blaze was acknowledged that "Thankfully, Fox 29 reports that there have been no complaints of voter intimidation today."
There was one Tweet that proved to have more substance: A report from Kentucky that "100+" cases of "voter fraud" had been identified, including four cases of "vote buying."
The story, from the Kentucky Herald-Leader, begins like this:
The Kentucky election fraud hotline received 145 calls by 4:30 p.m. with complaints from at least 54 counties, including 10 allegations of vote-buying in Carter, Crittenden, Knott, Metcalfe, Perry and Russell counties.
However, digging deeper into the story, it's clear that the calls weren't exactly evidence of widespread "fraud." For example:
* The paper reports that, "The largest number, 29 calls, were procedural questions." In other words, 20 percent of the calls were questions about where and how to vote, etc. -- not complaints of fraud.
* The largest number of calls came from Jefferson County (the biggest county), which offers a microcosm of the kind of calls the state hotline received. The paper reports that the 28 calls to the county included "four complaints about election officials, four allegations of electioneering, five reports of general election fraud, eight procedural questions, one complaint about exit polling, one question about residency, and five complaints about voting machines."
Nine of those -- 13 if you include complaints about election officials -- could constitute fraud, broadly speaking. The rest are related to election administration which, while frustrating, clearly don't constitute fraud.
And of course, all of these are just reported allegations -- of which none, or all, could prove to be prosecutable offenses. The four charges of vote-buying are the worst, although they technically aren't voter fraud (when a person fraudulently votes), but a broader election offense.
We'll learn more about the outcome of these cases in the coming months. But for now, it seems that "voter fraud" didn't live up to the hype.
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Chris Kromm
Chris Kromm is executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies and publisher of the Institute's online magazine, Facing South.