Election Fraud? What Election Fraud?

Election Fraud? What Election Fraud?

Election Fraud? What Election Fraud?

Let’s face it. The 2018 mid-term elections will go down in the history books. People became engaged in the system this mid-term and exercised their right to vote. The bad news is that there were so many issues with the process, including allegations of voter fraud, that it makes the hanging chad controversy of the 2000 election seem minor. Now we have the latest in a long line of fraud allegations, this time coming straight from Los Angeles.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the scheme targeted the homeless on skid row. The homeless were approached and asked to “forge signatures on state ballot measure petitions and voter registration forms.” In return, they were given “$1 — or sometimes a cigarette.” That’s a pretty small price to pay to undermine one of the primary cornerstones of our nation’s foundation.

Nine people have been charged with felonies in this scheme. It is alleged they paid for”false and forged signatures on ballot petitions and voter registration forms.” Kirkland Kauzava Washington, Harold Bennett and Louis Thomas Wise each face approximately six years in prison if convicted. Also charged were Richard Howard, Rose Makeda Sweeney, Christopher Joseph Williams, Jakara Fati Mardis, Norman Hall, and Nickey Demelvin Huntley. They face more than four years in prison if convicted.

What we must remember is that this wasn’t an isolated instance. According to the DA’s Office, “there were hundreds of solicitations for false or forged signatures.”

Hundreds of solicitations for false or forged signatures.

Worse, District Attorney Jackie Lacey said these alleged violations took place not only during the 2018 mid-term election cycle but also during the 2016 election.

But never fear, state officials assure us they don’t believe the scheme was wide-spread. There are further reassurances that local staff would have identified the fraudulent signatures. The problem? The assurances are hollow, especially in light of the fact the charges filed by the DA’s Office include allegations going back to the 2016 election. It should be simple enough for the DA’s Office or the election officials to point out how they caught at least one of the forged signatures. But they didn’t. Instead they said the signatures “would have been identified by staff.”

That’s not very reassuring on so many levels.

The first question we must ask is simple. Why did it take so long to file charges for actions that took place two years, or more, ago?

According to the Los Angeles Times,” [t]he charges, which were filed three weeks ago but made public Tuesday, followed a Los Angeles Police Department crackdown on suspected election fraud on skid row earlier in the year.” And that brings us to our second question. Why did the DA’s Office wait three weeks to announce that charges had been filed? Was it to give the police time to locate the defendants and arrest them? Or was it to keep the news from breaking before the election? LA County residents should ask their district attorney that and more.

Oh, but wait. A little digging–very little digging–shows the news of the investigation and arrests broke in September.

Now, an LAPD crackdown this year on suspected election fraud on skid row has yielded eight felony arrests, including three last week, booking records show.

Arrests in May were bumped down to misdemeanor violations. The district attorney is still deciding how to charge the recent cases.”

While it isn’t illegal in California to pay people to go out and find signatures for petitions, etc., it is illegal to pay people for their signatures. However, it is obvious at least some lawmakers saw the potential for abuse in the current system. A bill “banning per-signature payment for petition circulators” made its way to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk in September. What did Governor Moonbeam do? He vetoed it, proclaiming the law might “enhance ballot control by ‘the wealthiest interests’.”

I guess the potential for voter fraud doesn’t outweigh the paranoia that the evil capitalists might just ruin his vision of a beautiful socialist paradise in California.

Officer Deon Joseph, the senior lead officer on skid row, said it best. The payment for forged signatures on petitions and voter registrations is “an assault on our democracy.” As voters, we must demand our elected officials and law enforcement protect and preserve the sanctity of the ballot box. If they fail to do so, it is time for them to be removed from office. We can exercise our right to vote and our ability to demand recalls if necessary. Let’s hope California, especially LA County voters, remember that.

 

WELCOME Instapundit Readers!

Featured image via UC Berkley Advanced Media Institute.

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23 Comments
  • GWB says:

    Election fraud? There was no election fraud here! They were just paying them to sign petitions! And that’s what the people vetting petition signatures DO is find bogus signatures.

    Well, the petitions and some voter registration forms…. *sccccccrrrrriiiiiitch* Wait, WHAT?
    Since California is one of more than a dozen states that still does not require an ID to vote, this one would have NEVER been caught. And, even if someone managed to figure it out, they never could have been purged from the voter rolls because progs would have sued on every level imaginable.

    These people need to go away for a lot longer than 4-6 years. Preferably to a foreign land – like Saudi Arabia or North Korea.

  • cthulhu says:

    Can we please change the penalty for each count to 500 years?

    • Amanda Green says:

      That would be something I’d give thanks for this day. Of course, the squealing of the liberals in protest might be a bit annoying, but I could live with it. VBEG

  • Romey says:

    1. There is no election fraud in the United States.
    2. If we never look for it in any meaningful way, we will never find any.
    3. Repeat step 2 over and over and over…

    • Amanda Green says:

      1. There is election fraud in the United States.
      2. If we look for it in a meaningful way, we will find it.
      3. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

      There, I fixed it for you. Now to find folks with a strong enough sense of ethics to make it stick.

    • yeah says:

      Only once has the FBI looked into election fraud. It was back in the Reagan administration (either 82 or 86). They found 100,000 fraudulent votes in Chicago alone (10% of the city’s ballots). 65 poll workers were indicted, 63 convicted (of the two not convicted, one was found incompetent to stand trial, the other died before trial). The FBI found that fraud was institutionalized. The election workers had been taught by their predecessors, and that had been happening for decades. Whenever it is seriously looked for, it is found: https://www.heritage.org/voterfraud

  • Aussie says:

    Being Australian, i do not understand U.S laws 100%,nor the power of Federal Execs over States.

    But surely the following could be attempted by Trump.? Thru Exec Order?

    1. National Punishment system (under National Security laws) for rigging elections and fraud at every Government level.

    2. Requirement for I.D standards at polling stations.With data sharing with NSA and FBI etc.

    3.Punishment for illegals getting caught voting, immediate jail, followed by expulsion, never to return.Banned for life including family.

    4. Massive fines for Political Parties involved in voter fraud.

    5.Mandatory terms for subverting system

    A massive attempt should be attempted and tested at Supreme Court level right now, Supreme Court must protect the system which is being attacked at every level.

    Must spark the fight so it becomes a National Issue

    • Lewin W. Wickes says:

      Yes, all that makes sense. There is only one obstacle enacting such measures: The Democratic Party.

    • Amanda Green says:

      Oh, the howls of outrage if he even suggested it.

      One problem with him trying to do that is our Constitution leaves much of the power over elections with the states. That is why some states have a variation of one sort or another of ID laws while others don’t. It also explains why some states allow ex-cons to vote while others prohibit it. Yes, there are certain federal requirements for federal elections, but removing the states from the equation would be problematic, at the very least. It would also play directly into the liberals’ hands.

      • SDN says:

        Well, it used to. Until the 15th Amendment was passed.

        “Section 1.
        The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude–

        Section 2.
        The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

        If voter fraud abridges the rights of citizens to vote and have their votes mean something, Congress can address it.

      • SDN says:

        That’s the whole basis for the Voting Rights Act.

    • Mike Davis says:

      I like your comments but unfortunately there are too many judges that would strike them down for various “political” reasons. Mr. Trump was correct in his assertion of “Obama judge” in his war of words with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It is unfortunate but a fact of life. Our courts have become very politicized.

  • Doug Loss says:

    US Constitution, Article I, Section 4:

    The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Place of Chusing Senators.

    From that I should think that Congress could make a law stating that voting for any federal office shall take place only on election day, with no early voting allowed. Further, absentee ballots would only be allowed for military personnel not in their voting precinct on election day or for those with verified medical or business reasons for being absent, those reasons provided at least 2 weeks before election day (and the absentee ballots must be received at the polling station before the close of voting on election day). All those voting for federal office must provide photo ID proof of identity upon voting. Federal voter rolls must be purged after every election (every two years); those who haven’t voted in at least one of the past two elections would be removed. Registration for federal voting would require a photo ID proof of identity and proof of citizenship (passport, birth certificate, naturalization certificate). All federal voting must provide the voter with a paper receipt showing the votes cast, which would be put into a locked ballot box after voter inspection for accuracy, to allow meaningful hand recounts if needed.

    Should state election laws meet these criteria, the voter rolls and election counting could be combined, otherwise federal elections must be done separately.

  • […] circulating a petition with fake names, voter fraud and registering a fictitious person. . . .Nine people have been charged with felonies. There were hundreds of solicitations covering both 2018 and […]

    • Gerald says:

      The Democrats are behind this there want to Win any way they can! Everything about them crocked they raise our taxes,steal our social security,allow illegals want to take our guns from good citizens kill babes through abortion,& legalize drugs WHY would you Vote For the devils WAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Steven Katz says:

    And the next question is who paid these people to obtain the questionable/illegal votes? For whom did they work?

    • scott says:

      Local democrats, the DNC, and Soros… next question? If any of them were actually investigated, they’d never see sunlight again, especially that REAL Nazi Soros..

  • […] admit to giving homeless in L.A. money, cigarettes to sign voter registration forms, ballot petitions.”  – KTLA Los Angeles […]

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