Conservatives are trying to claim there's rampant voter fraud in America. Fact check: There isn't.

[Triana]

Right-wing media outlets have used misleading voter fraud stories to stoke fears of rampant voter fraud in the months leading up to the 2014 midterm elections. But experts state that voter fraud in the U.S. is virtually non-existent and that voter ID laws would actually disenfranchise voters.

MYTH: Voter Impersonation Fraud Is A Major Problem

Fox Correspondent Eric Shawn Disputes Argument That Voter Impersonation Fraud Is A Problem That "Doesn't Exist." On the October 29 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News senior correspondent Eric Shawn responded to a statement from Attorney General Eric Holder condemning "unnecessary restrictions that discourage or discriminate or disenfranchise in the name of a problem that doesn't exist," by saying: "of course voter fraud exists in the United States," and that Holder is "not actually factually correct." But as O'Reilly pointed out, Holder was talking about strict voter ID and voter impersonation, while Shawn nevertheless shifted the conversation to cases of vote buying, which would not be prevented by voter ID laws. [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 10/29/14]

FACT: There Is No Evidence Of Massive Voter Impersonation Fraud

Experts Agree That Voter Impersonation is "Virtually Non-Existent." The New Yorker reported that experts agree that actual incidents of in-person voter fraud -- the type of voter fraud that strict voter ID laws can prevent -- are "virtually non-existent," and fears of voter fraud have been largely invented as a way to "excite the base." [The New Yorker, 10/29/12]

Brennan Center For Justice: Allegations Of Widespread Voter Fraud "Simply Do Not Pan Out." The New York University School of Law's Brennan Center has repeatedly explained that in-person voter fraud is not a justification for strict voter ID laws, because voter impersonation is "more rare than getting struck by lightning," and allegations of widespread fraud typically "amount to a great deal of smoke without much fire" and "simply do not pan out." [Brennan Center For Justice, 2007]



THE REST:

http://mediamatters.org/research/2014/10/30/debunking-the-conservative-medias-2014-voter-fr/201382

[CincyDem]

2. You just don't understand.

Let's go back to that pesky document called The Constitution. IIRC, there's something in there about counting the non-white vote at 60%. Well some liberal upshot gone and changed that to 100%, clearly violating the "original intent" of the framers. The fraud is letting that "extra" 40% of the vote influence the outcome of an election. The only solution is to get back to the original intent ensure that 40% of the non-white population can't vote. Then, all is back as it should be...just like in 1776.

Ya see - it all make sense. Nothing to see here. Move along.

[librechik]

3. it's so easy to confuse the term voter fraud with election fraud--run by election officials

there's a lot of the officially -run fraud. They have access to the machines and ballots. I think people intuit that there's a lot of crooked election officials, so it agrees with their untaught suspicions about that when the phrase voter fraud is used.

[Triana]

4. Agreed. I believe *election* fraud is rampant, while voter fraud is non-existent. n/t

[rickford66]

5. My experience

I live in upstate NY. My district is 99.9% Republican. They run unopposed. The few times I put up election posters, they were gone the next day. When we vote, we sign a document and it shows all our past signatures also. A few years ago when I went to sign, someone else's signature was already on my line. Completely different of course. The nice little old lady said, "no matter, you can sign on his line". Since they check every signature, how did this happen? What other mistakes are made? We used to have the old mechanical voting booths. They said they couldn't be repaired any more so now we have paper ballots that get fed into a machine to be counted. Slightly better than the touch screen machines.

[Harry_Scrote]

6. It's

Classic projection on their parts. They're heading the fraud, but blaming Democrats for the infraction. Typical.

[Initech]

7. Two things conservatives love: invisible boogeymen and false idols.

And they chase both like Wiley Coyote chases the Road Runner. Often leading to hilarious, epic fail results when things don't go their way.

[JHB]

8. The surest "tell" of Republican dirty tricks...

...is whatever they're accusing the Democrats of.

[Johonny]

9. Conservatives consider welfare a form of vote buying

According to the GOP food stamps and similar programs exist to vote buy for Democrats. Million dollar donations to campaign slush funds and golden parachute lobbying jobs part of what makes America great. You listen to conservative views and then wonder how anyone respects them. No conservative voter has my respect. Period.

[freshwest]

10. You nailed it. They are for 'welfare' for themselves under different names. Same thing, though.