CNN: The Truth About Trump's Voter Fraud Commission

[CousinIT]

In the abstract, matching voter rolls with other available data may not seem like a bad idea. After all, we all want accuracy in our voter registration information.

The problems come about when one looks deeper into Kobach's history, which I'll discuss in a moment, and which offers some blunt clues about his true motivations.

To begin, the information he's seeking will reveal what we know already -- that some voter registration rolls are bloated -- and not much else. The voter databases include extra people for a particularly innocuous reason: Individuals die or move quite frequently.

But there is no evidence whatsoever that outdated voter lists lead to any kind of voter fraud. Simply put, dead people, or those who have moved, do not vote illegally in any significant number.

In addition, election data experts -- notably lacking on this commission -- know that simply comparing large lists of voters will not provide useful information because of the number of false matches. The well-known "Birthday Problem" shows that it is somewhat likely that two people with the same common name -- say, John Smith -- will also share a birthday. The fact that two different state voter rolls might list this same name is not evidence of voter fraud.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/30/opinions/voter-rolls-demand-douglas/index.html

[JoeOtterbein]

1. What the GOP & Trump afraid of?

[Maeve]

2. Going down in history as LOSERS

All caps, total f-ups.

[Sneederbunk]

3. A 3 million vote loser.

[SCantiGOP]

4. They have ton

Demographics will lead to their extinction. They have to rig the system now to stay in power.
I just hope our institutions - especially the Courts and the free press - are strong enough to resist the attempt.

[calimary]

5. Yep. They have to rig the system now to stay in power. They have to CHEAT to win.

And what does it say about a party that aims to win by cheating? We've now had two of them in a row. bush/cheney, and now trump/pence.

[Alice11111]

9. Well, the trend is to participate in voter suppression, i.e.

SCOTUS gutted Voter Rights Act. The south is calling for oppressive requirements to vote.

[Cha]

6. trump whining about it should be enough for a nation wide rejection..

Link to tweet

[RKP5637]

7. "distinguished" What a load of CRAP!!! n/t

[Cha]

8. Exactly.

[Alice11111]

10. DT using the word "distinguished " seems very odd, not

to even mention that the last thing his Voter Fraud Panel is would be distinguished .

[OldRedneck]

11. Another problem: Naturalized citizens

Another problem is with naturalized citizens.

One of the people "advising" the Trump Voter Suppression Commission is a dirtbag attorney, J. Christian Adams. Adams was in the Bush DOJ Civil Rights Division and was one of the first let go by the Obama administration.

Adams has formed some kind of organization aimed at ensuring the security of elections, or some such bullshit.

His first target is the registrar of voters in Arlington County, VA. Through FOIA, he obtained copies of original voter registration applications. On some of these applications, the applicant had checked "No" for the question "Are you a US citizen." In that case, the registrar is required to contact the applicant and determine if they checked NO by mistake, or, are they not a citizen. In some cases, it's a simple mistake, the applicant shows proof of citizenship and is registered to vote. In other cases, the applicant is not a citizen and is not registered. In other cases, the applicant is naturalized later and is able to vote. However, the original paper application forms must be kept on file -- where they are subject to FOIA release.

Adams found evidence of people who checked "NO" were able to vote -- so -- he assumed non-citizens were voting in Arlington County. He did not bother to investigate further. Had he done so, he would have found that no non-citizens are voting in Arlington County -- those who checked NO but who were voting were either mistake, or, had become naturalized after filling out the form.

He published his bullshit findings on a rightwing Virgnia blog, The Bull Elephant, where it resulted in a HUGE stir among the knuckle-draggers who follow TBE.

This is what Kolbach will do -- he'll run the database from each state against a Dept of State list of aliens living in the US and conclude that a zillion or so non-citizens are voting.

I'm on the electoral board in a rural VA county. We are set upon at least monthly by a local asshole who reads Adams' newsletter and who comes into our registrar's office raving about illegal voters. The registrar has been instructed to call me. I go deal with him and end up sending him home with his tail between his legs. God, but these people are dumb. Assholes and belligerent, too.

[Hekate]

13. Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

[Turbineguy]

12. Trump would have appointed

John Dillinger to the Federal Reserve Bank.

[sandensea]

14. Greg Palast has done some groundbreaking research on Crosscheck.

Turns out that if your name is John Smith - which b/c millions of Americans have, would be useful for someone determined to vote twice - it's rarely if ever checked.

If, however, your name is José Gómez, María Fernández, Marcus Washington, Felicia Jones, or Grace Chang, then it's DEFINITELY flagged for review. A cyber dragnet is then cast that, surprise surprise, finds millions of "possible matches."

Race, Kobach swears to the fours winds, has 'nothing' to do with it.

[KT2000]

15. why the frick

is any state handing information over to this administration. They are under investigation for collusion with an enemy state - to screw with our elections. SOS's need to tell them that nothing goes their way until the investigations have concluded.

[Gothmog]

16. The GOP is the party of voter suppression and relies on voter suppression to win races