Pennsylvania judge blocks Voter ID law

[BunnysBastatrds 2,604]

Iveprobably had my license expire 3 times since opening my checking account.

 

 

And by letting your drivers license expire, you are admitting to breaking the law. You're no better than the fawktards that you stand up for in this argument. Holy sh!t you can't make this crap up.

 

Do you live in the same dwelling (address) as your illegal license? If not, you are breaking the law. Laws are made for a reason. And you apparently don't care or abide by the laws that you need to to be legal. Why would you care if a legal law was made dealing with Voter ID law when you can't even comply with the said law requiring you to have a legal license?

 

It's apparent from your posts that you could care the fawk less about breaking laws. That makes it apparent that you could care less about anyone who breaks voter iD laws.

 

Please post another comment on this to show how fawking stoopid you are. TIA

[gocolts 300]

10 cases of documented fraud versus thousands of disenfranchised voters? Yeah, I'd say one outweighs the other.

I am a little surprised you think voter fraud is practically non-existent.

 

What do you think is going on in those counties that have more folks registered to vote than the actual number of residents that reside there.

 

I see it as protecting the integrity of my vote and every other citizen's vote by requiring ID. My vote should not get canceled out due to some type of voter fraud.

 

THe discriminatory idea seems like a major reach. Are the airlines being discriminatory by forcing you to provide photo ID??? What about when you want to cash a check???

 

Hell, I MUST provide an ID just to go to the hospital. I have to go at least 4 times a year and have to provide it every time. Not sure if you consider treatment in a hospital a right, but the one I go to requires ID to be admitted. Are they being discriminatory???

 

[Frank M 181]

I am a little surprised you think voter fraud is practically non-existent.

 

What do you think is going on in those counties that have more folks registered to vote than the actual number of residents that reside there.

 

I see it as protecting the integrity of my vote and every other citizen's vote by requiring ID. My vote should not get canceled out due to some type of voter fraud.

 

THe discriminatory idea seems like a major reach. Are the airlines being discriminatory by forcing you to provide photo ID??? What about when you want to cash a check???

 

Hell, I MUST provide an ID just to go to the hospital. I have to go at least 4 times a year and have to provide it every time. Not sure if you consider treatment in a hospital a right, but the one I go to requires ID to be admitted. Are they being discriminatory???

 

 

Various studies say that it is. Ten cases of identity fraud in millions of votes is the definition of practically nonexistent.

 

None of these things you or RP describe are a right. Voting is. And the type of fraud you describe is not identity fraud that will be solved by showing an ID at the polling place.

 

It's discriminatory because it disproportionately affects the poor and minorities.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

It's discriminatory because it disproportionately affects the poor and minorities.

 

Those people tend to vote Democratic, so the RPs and drobeskis of the world do not care about their democratic rights, and would in fact like to see then undermined.

[BunnysBastatrds 2,604]

It's discriminatory because it disproportionately affects the poor and minorities.

 

 

Why should we be concerned about the minorities beng stoopid? The only reasion you care about them is the fact that they are stoopid and they vote blue. If you disagreee, you, aren't being honest. Too funny.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

Why should we be concerned about the minorities beng stoopid? The only reasion you care about them is the fact that they are stoopid and they vote blue. If you disagreee, you, aren't being honest. Too funny.

 

[Frank M 181]

Why should we be concerned about the minorities beng stoopid? The only reasion you care about them is the fact that they are stoopid and they vote blue. If you disagreee, you, aren't being honest. Too funny.

 

I'm concerned about Americans losing a fundamental democratic right.

 

Nice patriotic attitude you got there. Are you even from America?

 

And by the way, the only reason any of these laws are here in the first place is that they vote blue. If you disagree, you are a dumbass.

[naomi 360]

Not sure where all these people are that are running around with no ID.

 

At the moment,

 

I couldn't get a CA id card without an ssn. Speaking of rights and limitations to expressing them that should be arbitrary... SSN's effectually trump birth certificates (despite legitimate authority to) in the most basic bureaucratic processes. There was an 18 year old in Nevada who couldn't vote because he didn't have an ssn, and everyone in a position of authority directly related to recognizing his eligibility rejected his appeals. So he took his case to court and won. There was a guy in PA who drove without a license, because he couldn't obtain one without an ssn, who wound up in court defending his driving in light of the bureaucratic catch-22. The court never enforced the fines against him.

 

If you're registered to vote, show up to and state your name and other detail(s) about yourself the registration system would have on file, if it's necessary (maybe you share a name with another registrant), and have it recorded that you voted, that should be good enough.

 

If someone pretended to be you and voted in your place, and you show up and are told you can't because your vote has already been recorded, then you go about proving you are who you say you are and the other vote is withdrawn. It does suck that the proving period would probably extend beyond the poll closing, and your ultimate vote would count the same way provisional ballot votes do.

 

Disclaimer... I've never voted so I don't know how those procedural details work.

 

Truly, all you should ever need is proof that you were born in the country, or naturalized. Asking for more that that, including for pursuing other basic things that fall under the pursuit of happiness, ought to be considered violation of civil liberties.

 

eta: FAQ here cracks me up. "Is voting like a test?"

[phillybear 366]

I can't define obscenity, but I'll know it when I see.

 

You idiots are all a bunch of idiots. Voting has always been on an honor system. Evidence is not recorded of who actually voted. Therefore you can not effectively prove voter fraud without evidence. Likewise, you cannot prove it doesn't exist either. So everybody is arguing hypotheticals.

 

However, why would liberals be so against Photo IDs when they support the mandatory purchase of health insurance? I can't reconcile that logic on any level whatsoever.

[MDC 7,889]

And by letting your drivers license expire, you are admitting to breaking the law. You're no better than the fawktards that you stand up for in this argument. Holy sh!t you can't make this crap up.

 

Do you live in the same dwelling (address) as your illegal license? If not, you are breaking the law. Laws are made for a reason. And you apparently don't care or abide by the laws that you need to to be legal. Why would you care if a legal law was made dealing with Voter ID law when you can't even comply with the said law requiring you to have a legal license?

 

It's apparent from your posts that you could care the fawk less about breaking laws. That makes it apparent that you could care less about anyone who breaks voter iD laws.

 

Please post another comment on this to show how fawking stoopid you are. TIA

 

Sorry, I meant I've renewed it 3x. You sound real angry, calm yourself down there sporto.

[Frank M 181]

The anti-American attitude up in this thread is shocking. Thank God and apple pie that true Americans like myself, Worms, MDC, and anybody else who falls on the right side of this argument are here to keep you communists who would deny Americans their right to political expression at bay.

 

to me and my brethren

 

to the rest of you selfish bastards!

[drobeski 3,061]

I support fraud as long as it helps Obama win.

Fixed

[phillybear 366]

to me and my brethren

 

By brethren, do you mean men that enjoy giving mouth hugs to the hogs of other men?

[Frank M 181]

I support disenfranchisement as long as it helps the GOP win because I'm a communist.

 

Truly fixed.

[Frank M 181]

By brethren, do you mean men that enjoy giving mouth hugs to the hogs of other men?

 

No, I mean true Americans that stand for true American values.

 

Sucks that you're not one of us.

 

For you, that is. We are doing fine without you.

[Recliner Pilot 61]

Any fraudulant vote cancels out a legitimate vote and takes away the right to vote from an American, but Frank M is against protecting the Constitutional right to vote for Americans.

 

 

Why do you hate America?

[Frank M 181]

Any fraudulant vote cancels out a legitimate vote and takes away the right to vote from an American, but Frank M is against protecting the Constitutional right to vote for Americans.

 

 

Why do you hate America?

 

I'm for allowing all Americans to vote. You're not. You would limit the vote to Americans that you choose.

 

That makes me a way better American than you and your communist, Constitution hating friends.

[phillybear 366]

No, I mean true Americans that stand for true American values.

 

Sucks that you're not one of us.

 

For you, that is. We are doing fine without you.

 

Questioning your integrity and fraudulent belief system = I suck. :rolleyes:

 

You are worthless and weak. Now drop and give me twenty.

[Recliner Pilot 61]

Voter Fraud in Wisconsin: over 4,500 more votes than voters in 2004

 

 

Remember the presidential election in Wisconsin? No, not last week’s primary, I mean the election of 2004, the one in which John Kerry defeated President Bush about about 11,000 votes out of 3 million cast in that state. During and after Election Day, reports of voter fraud in Wisconsin were numerous. For the most part, the nation as a whole ignored it, as Wisconsin’s electoral votes had not been important.

Well, the Milwaukee Police Department just released its report on the voter fraud allegations in the city, and dropped this bombshell: “The reports of more ballots cast than voters recorded were found to be true.“

 

How may more, you ask? More than 4,500. Here’s the report again (emphasis added):

 

. . . the Election Commission reported that between 4600 and 5300 more ballots were cast than voters who can be accounted for . . .

 

That in and of itself is nearly half the margin of victory for Kerry in the state.

 

Who was the perpetrators in the fraud, you ask? The report only mentions “a major political party,” but it does drop one big hint here on the problems with Deputy Registrars (election officials) in the state (emphasis added):

 

 

. . . 18 persons were sworn in as Deputy registrars in 2004 that were convicted felons and under Department of Correction Supervision. Of the 15 felons that listed a sponsoring organization, eight named ACORN as their sponsoring agency.

[Recliner Pilot 61]

I'm for allowing all Americans to vote. You're not. You would limit the vote to Americans that you choose.

 

That makes me a way better American than you and your communist, Constitution hating friends.

I'm for allowing all eligible Americans to vote. I am also for all eligible votes being counted. You are OK with fraudulant votes cancelling out legit votes.

 

That makes you un-American.

[Frank M 181]

I'm for allowing all eligible Americans to vote. I am also for all eligible votes being counted. You are OK with fraudulant votes cancelling out legit votes.

 

That makes you un-American.

 

I'm not okay with fraudulent votes being counted. Where did I say that?

 

I'm for not denying people the right to vote out of fear. As a real American, which is a category that you apparently don't fall into, I don't let fear of non-existent bogeymen like voter identity fraud sway my rock-solid belief that all Americans should have the right to vote.

 

What's next? Internment camps for people we're afraid of?

[Phurfur 70]

The comments of the Indoctrinated Lefty Lemmings are really pathetic but very enlightening.

 

All anyone is arguing about now is how fast this country is going to crash and burn.

 

A nation divided against itself cannot stand.

[Frank M 181]

Voter Fraud in Wisconsin: over 4,500 more votes than voters in 2004

 

 

Remember the presidential election in Wisconsin? No, not last week’s primary, I mean the election of 2004, the one in which John Kerry defeated President Bush about about 11,000 votes out of 3 million cast in that state. During and after Election Day, reports of voter fraud in Wisconsin were numerous. For the most part, the nation as a whole ignored it, as Wisconsin’s electoral votes had not been important.

Well, the Milwaukee Police Department just released its report on the voter fraud allegations in the city, and dropped this bombshell: “The reports of more ballots cast than voters recorded were found to be true.“

 

How may more, you ask? More than 4,500. Here’s the report again (emphasis added):

 

. . . the Election Commission reported that between 4600 and 5300 more ballots were cast than voters who can be accounted for . . .

 

That in and of itself is nearly half the margin of victory for Kerry in the state.

 

Who was the perpetrators in the fraud, you ask? The report only mentions “a major political party,” but it does drop one big hint here on the problems with Deputy Registrars (election officials) in the state (emphasis added):

 

 

. . . 18 persons were sworn in as Deputy registrars in 2004 that were convicted felons and under Department of Correction Supervision. Of the 15 felons that listed a sponsoring organization, eight named ACORN as their sponsoring agency.

 

I'd really like for you to explain how showing a photo ID at the polling place would have stopped this.

 

And I'm surprised it took you that long to reference ACORN. Doesn't have anything to do with the topic, but good for you, I guess.

 

[kutulu 1,705]

No rule changes during the season....just like fantasy football.

[Phurfur 70]

I'm not okay with fraudulent votes being counted. Where did I say that?

 

I'm for not denying people the right to vote out of fear. As a real American, which is a category that you apparently don't fall into, I don't let fear of non-existent bogeymen like voter identity fraud sway my rock-solid belief that all Americans should have the right to vote.

 

What's next? Internment camps for people we're afraid of?

 

Why is it impossible for the poor to get a free picture ID card?

 

If anyone in the world is allowed to walk up and vote your vote becaomes meaningless. Let's see.....Open Borders....Open Voting...this will not end well.

[Frank M 181]

The comments of the Indoctrinated Lefty Lemmings are really pathetic but very enlightening.

 

All anyone is arguing about now is how fast this country is going to crash and burn.

 

A nation divided against itself cannot stand.

 

WTF are you talking about? I go to work. I pay my taxes. I'm active in the community. I vote because it's a cherished right of ALL Americans that I don't want to see taken away from anybody over the age of 18 who is an American.

 

I weep for the future if this is how my fellow Americans feel. You guys just don't get it. You've reaped the benefits of living in this great country but want to deny others those same benefits.

 

Thank God and the Fourth of July that true Americans like myself are still out there.

[Frank M 181]

Why is it impossible for the poor to get a free picture ID card?

 

I never said it was. I don't know what the rules are for that in each state.

 

Besides, who cares? Are you only an American if you carry a photo ID? What's next? Asking for your papers as you travel from state to state?

 

You're treading pretty close to communism there, pal. Flush your head out and join the rest of us real Americans on our quest to make sure that America stands for ALL Americans.

[Phurfur 70]

WTF are you talking about? I go to work. I pay my taxes. I'm active in the community. I vote because it's a cherished right of ALL Americans that I don't want to see taken away from anybody over the age of 18 who is an American.

 

I weep for the future if this is how my fellow Americans feel. You guys just don't get it. You've reaped the benefits of living in this great country but want to deny others those same benefits.

 

Thank God and the Fourth of July that true Americans like myself are still out there.

 

When you've been Indoctrinated you don't know it.

 

How cherished is that right to vote when everyone in the world is eligible to vote because all they have to do is show up. Your system ensures that you do not have to be an American to vote. Can't you even see that?

[JTB 52]

Link to anyone being disenfranchised by these laws?

 

Not hypotheticals......let's see you put up at least one example.

 

I tried to get an answer to this question as well. I'm still waiting too!

[Frank M 181]

When you've been Indoctrinated you don't know it.

 

How cherished is that right to vote when everyone in the world is eligible to vote because all they have to do is show up. Your system ensures that you do not have to be an American to vote. Can't you even see that?

 

Have you voted before? You don't know the steps it takes to vote?

 

We don't need to worry about you being indoctrinated. You obviously don't have enough knowledge about the system to be swayed one way or another.

 

You're the type of American I feel worst for. You have just enough knowledge to think you know how things work, yet the true rewards of being an American elude you because you refuse to take part in the process.

[Phurfur 70]

I never said it was. I don't know what the rules are for that in each state.

 

Besides, who cares? Are you only an American if you carry a photo ID? What's next? Asking for your papers as you travel from state to state?

 

You're treading pretty close to communism there, pal. Flush your head out and join the rest of us real Americans on our quest to make sure that America stands for ALL Americans.

 

Check your definition of Communism pal.

[Frank M 181]

I tried to get an answer to this question as well. I'm still waiting too!

 

I put up a link a couple of pages ago. You probably dismissed it because it doesn't jive with your anti-American viewpoint.

 

I feel sorry for you and your ilk.

 

[Frank M 181]

Check you definition of Communism pal.

 

Define yourself in any way that helps you sleep at night, I don't care. All I know is that the right to vote isn't a right in communist countries and you support that.

 

Real Americans don't support communist practices.

[Phurfur 70]

Define yourself in any way that helps you sleep at night, I don't care. All I know is that the right to vote isn't a right in communist countries and you support that.

 

Real Americans don't support communist practices.

 

Wow, are you really this stupid?

 

BTW: You still have not told me why you believe anyone in the world has a right to vote in American elections. Tell me what a "real" American thinks.

[pimptastic69 0]

Define yourself in any way that helps you sleep at night, I don't care. All I know is that the right to vote isn't a right in communist countries and you support that.

 

Real Americans don't support communist practices.

 

Federal law requires all males to identify themselves and register with Selective Service by their 18th birthday or face 5 years in prison and a $250k fine.

 

If you can ID yourself then, why cant you ID yourself when you vote?

[Phurfur 70]

"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly. But the traitor moves among those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not traitor, he speaks in the accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their garments, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared." - Cicero, 42 B.C.

[Mike Honcho 5,435]

Voter Fraud in Wisconsin: over 4,500 more votes than voters in 2004

 

 

Remember the presidential election in Wisconsin? No, not last week’s primary, I mean the election of 2004, the one in which John Kerry defeated President Bush about about 11,000 votes out of 3 million cast in that state. During and after Election Day, reports of voter fraud in Wisconsin were numerous. For the most part, the nation as a whole ignored it, as Wisconsin’s electoral votes had not been important.

Well, the Milwaukee Police Department just released its report on the voter fraud allegations in the city, and dropped this bombshell: “The reports of more ballots cast than voters recorded were found to be true.“

 

How may more, you ask? More than 4,500. Here’s the report again (emphasis added):

 

. . . the Election Commission reported that between 4600 and 5300 more ballots were cast than voters who can be accounted for . . .

 

That in and of itself is nearly half the margin of victory for Kerry in the state.

 

Who was the perpetrators in the fraud, you ask? The report only mentions “a major political party,” but it does drop one big hint here on the problems with Deputy Registrars (election officials) in the state (emphasis added):

 

 

. . . 18 persons were sworn in as Deputy registrars in 2004 that were convicted felons and under Department of Correction Supervision. Of the 15 felons that listed a sponsoring organization, eight named ACORN as their sponsoring agency

 

Why no link?

[IGotWorms 4,063]

Why no link?

 

Because it's bullsh!t, and RP knows it.

[Mike Honcho 5,435]

Because it's bullsh!t, and RP knows it.

 

PRobably, cause a quick google led me to this:

 

Additional allegations of irregularities unconnected to individual voter fraud:

 

• In Milwaukee, there were allegedly 8,300 more ballots cast than individuals processed as voting; the gap was later narrowed to 4,609. The discrepancy was later attributed to administrative error in reconciling poll book logs with ballots, and at least one typographical error in reporting results.

Oops, RP spreading more lies...

[Recliner Pilot 61]

 

Dead Men Can Vote

 

Dead Men Can Vote.

 

Voting fraud is alive and well in Philadelphia.

 

By Scott Farmelant

 

 

Don't ask Sherry Swirsky about election fraud. The 18-year observer of Philadelphia elections and co-chair of Mayor Rendell's Election Reform Task Force says the media has overblown the problem.

 

Specifically, Swirsky singles out the Inquirer's coverage of the '93 scandal in the Second Senatorial District, in which backers of Democrat Bill Stinson paid $1 bonuses to volunteers who rounded up absentee ballots. The Inky's intensive focus on this story, says Swirsky, "distorted people's views of the system and the process."

 

"I absolutely believe fraud should be rooted out and exposed," says Swirsky. "[but] the obsessive concern with fraud is what depresses voter turnout and registration in Philadelphia. It contributes to this ultimately destructive view that 'My vote doesn't matter, the whole system is corrupt.' The Inquirer has done a grave disservice to democracy to this city. They have exaggerated the pervasiveness of fraud in elections."

 

Does the system accommodate abuse? If so, how much? Admittedly, there's no chance of a fix in the Rendell/ Rocks race, in which Rendell's margin of victory is expected to be huge. And experts say the city's election system is built, above all, to prevent major irregularities.

 

But election fraud on a smaller level has proven to be a reality. Like the Stinson campaign. Or City Councilman Lee Beloff's fraud in 1985. And the claims of "irregularities" in ex-U.S. Rep. Lucien Blackwell's 1994 nominating papers. And these are just the incidents the public knows about.

 

Most experts downplay the effects of fraud on Philadelphia's local elections. Yet given a history that shows politics fueled by power lust, cheating will occur again. Worse, some say, one reform proposed by the Election Reform Task Force will open the doors for more abuse.

 

The current system makes it "increasingly difficult" for wrongdoers to pull a fraud.

 

That's the opinion of Fred Voight, executive director of the Committee of 70, a non-profit election watchdog group. And it's a view shared by Democratic party boss Bob Brady and others familiar with the process.

 

The Stinson affair is a prime example. The dispute came down to roughly 600 absentee ballots (250 tainted). In a city with 800,000 voters, in a year that featured over 40 contests, the stench of the Second Senate race still reached the nose of election officials (thanks to the bitter complaints of Bruce Marks). In the end, authorities claimed that 20 people took part in the scheme, and justice prevailed.

 

Indeed, even the most powerful pol in Philly has pooh-poohed the idea of systemic voter fraud.

 

After the Stinson scandal emerged, Mayor (and one-time District Attorney) Ed Rendell said, "I don't think it's anything that's immoral or grievous, but it clearly violates the election code."

 

Questions of immorality aside, election fraud may depend upon the race. Take an election like Rendell-Rocks. Polling numbers say fraud would not make a difference. Moreover, many see Rendell bettering the 1991 outcome where the mayor destroyed Republican Joe Egan in 1991 by more than a 2-1 ratio.

 

But some contests suggest fraud could affect a mayor's election.

 

In the 1991 Republican primary for mayor, Frank Rizzo topped Ron Castille — the Big Man's final and most dramatic win — by 1,400 votes. That's a margin of less than one voter per polling place.

 

In the '87 race between incumbent Wilson Goode and Frank Rizzo, a whopping 67.5 percent of the electorate turned out (some 650,000 people out of nearly 1 million residents voters). Goode bested Rizzo by 17,000 votes, a margin of roughly 10 voters per polling place.

 

At the same time, experts have placed Philly's fraudulent voter registrations at 80,000.

 

Ultimately, in a city of 1.1 million eligible voters with 610,000 Democrats and 190,000 Republicans registered, election officials must struggle to keep tabs on everybody. Certain events make it harder.

 

There are last-minute registrations taxing the system. In 1992, 193,000 people signed up to vote in the presidential election, with 40,000 enlisting on the final day. Of the 300,000 who signed up to vote for the 1983 Goode/ Rizzo primary, 60,000 procrastinators entered at the last minute.

 

Election Day itself is a monster. The city opens 1,680 polling districts covering 66 wards and relies on more than 15,000 people to make it all work. Election Day workers, mostly volunteers, pull 15-hour days. All of this eases the way for dirty politicos to dabble in dirty tricks.

 

"I don't know if you can ever eliminate irregularities in any system, whether it's voting or accounting," admits Swirsky. "The key is to limit opportunities. You can't extinguish people who have felony in their hearts."

 

Rigging elections comes down to registration. Which in Philly, like any urban area, means enrolling out-of-towners, the dead or the exploitable — the homeless and ex-cons.

 

How is it done? City Hall insiders — nameless in order to save jobs — cite a litany of registration methods available to the would-be election rigger.

 

Do dead men die? Not always. Corpses, say the sources, are perfect tools for election abuse.

 

The scam works like this. A registered voter dies near the registration deadline (Oct. 10 this year) but remains eligible. A hack sends somebody to pose as the dearly departed. If the fraudulent voter slips by poll watchers, the "ghost" ballot glides through.

 

Is this fraud prevalent? Nobody can say. Conventional wisdom suggests not. Then again, Fani Papanikolau's story raises questions.

 

Papanikolau, a 37-year-old Democratic committeewoman from Feltonville, cast an absentee vote in the 1993 primary. That is, Papanikolau voted in the 42nd Ward on behalf of a woman who was absent — permanently. She had departed the earth six months before. Papanikolau later owned up to 22 counts of election fraud when busted.

 

Beyond "ghosts," many non-Philly residents reportedly vote. This long-standing method boils down to strong city ties and vested interests.

 

Say a former city resident with family members in politics has moved to the 'burbs. The resident maintains a Philly address (usually a one-time residence or a business), then shows up at the polls. Easy to pull and very hard to detect (though not impossible — election officials caught a Wildwood, NJ resident voting during the '93 election).'

 

Then there are empty lot registrations. If somebody registers right before deadline at the address of a vacant lot, say sources, there's not enough time for investigators to catch up.

 

One can also enlist voters at places such as homeless shelters, halfway houses, pretty much any address. Voight and others claim many people register to obtain welfare benefits. Indeed, a man went to prison last year after bilking $9,000 worth of emergency food stamps via 50 false voter registrations.

 

But sources insist a shady operative can also buy or use these votes. The Inquirer has written about unsubstantiated reports where campaigns allegedly paid bounties to volunteers who registered homeless people.

 

Finally, there is double-voting — when somebody votes in two divisions during one election. The city's registration computer is supposed to weed out people who are registered in different divisions but in 1994, the Inquirer found more than 200 people who signed up to vote in two places.

 

These problems have been limited, judging from past inquiries and studies. Yet nobody can accurately say how much voter fraud exists in Philly. (News accounts place the highest estimate of fraudulently registered voters at 10 percent of all voters, roughly 80,000 in 1993.)

 

Despite this evidence, it is difficult to challenge fraud. The only pre-election method involves direct confrontation at the polls. An observer who suspects cheating must single out alleged offenders. The suspect can still vote, however, if a voter from within the division can vouch for the suspect's identity.

 

Ultimately, the only safeguard on Election Day is the polling judge and observers. Some don't see this as much of a barrier.

 

"People [working the polls] don't ask for IDs," says Jimmy Tayoun, a former First District City Councilman and noted political felon.

 

Indeed, as the Inky revealed last year, many inspectors and judges are out-of-state residents, which is a clear violation of Pennsylvania election laws.

 

Further, one woman convicted of election fraud in the Second Senatorial vote scandal of 1993 worked at the 19th Division polls during 1994.

 

"Residence is a very difficult legal issue, and challenges are even tougher," concedes Voight. "So New Jersey residents with strong party ties can [cheat]. Am I concerned about non-residents registering to vote? Of course. But to what extent is it happening? Myth does not necessarily have anything to do with fact."

 

There are few means for stopping non-residents, "ghosts" or double-voters from pulling a lever once they are improperly registered. Look at the city's outdated method of ferreting out false registrations and one sees why.

 

Election officials mail postcards to registered voters. If a card comes back undelivered, investigators raise an eyebrow and the name is stricken from the rolls. Simple, right?

 

Not exactly. In the past, the City Commissioner's office has admitted that many cards never find their way back due to problems with the U.S. Postal Service. (The City Commissioners did not return several calls.)

 

Sources also say that even if the mail doesn't lose the post card, City Commissioners probably won't catch up with the perpetrator before Election Day because of the short three-week time line.

 

Of course, after a lever is pulled, there's no way to retrieve a vote.

 

Records indicate the City Commissioners catch many suspect registrations. In 1991, the commissioners struck 17,500 voters from the rolls following residence checks and other investigations. In 1993, the commissioners inspected 135,000 registrations and eliminated 8,000 voters from the primary and another 6,300 before the general election.

 

And state officials knocked 75,000 voters off the eligible list last November, including 40,000 who live in poorer sections of North Philly.

 

Yet the job remains difficult. And Congress hasn't helped. The so-called federal "Motor Voter" law eases the path for legal registration. The law is designed to allow for greater participation in the election process. Currently, voters continue to stay away from the polls.

 

Under Motor Voter, everybody who applies for or renews a driver's license can vote. Ergo, increased citizen participation.

 

But, it seems that Motor Voter may clear the way for increased illegal registration. That's because once somebody is signed up, they're on the rolls to stay.

 

Motor Voter mandates the end of the "nonvoting purge." Before, Philly election officials dumped registered voters who didn't vote in a particular election. Now, the number of fraudulently registered voters could swell via eased access to registration.

 

And unless the city improves its detection capabilities, those names will stay enrolled.

 

The new law doesn't sit well with some, especially those who've been burned for breaking election law.

 

Like Matthew Cianculli. He spent 11 months in federal prison in 1979 for allowing nine people to register at his home address. Today, Cianculli would have earned a slap on the wrist.

 

"I thought then and I think now that as long as a person registers and votes only once, what does it matter where a person hangs their hat?" says Cianculli when discussing his prison term. "To me, [the laws] are absurd."

 

After all, Cianculli might ask, what happened to the family of the seven-year-old girl who was registered to vote in the Second Senate district back in '93? Did they go to jail? Or what about Ralph Acosta's people who registered voters on empty lots? Even Acosta's brother Juan cast a vote in 1993 for his brother's opponent despite being dead. Why, none of the 20 people implicated in the Stinson scandal went to jail.

 

And now, states allow the homeless to register and several more issue absentee ballots without restriction. Many hope the moves will bring more people out on Election Day. To veteran Philly street politicians and their operatives, the changes leave questions.

 

"Everything [Cianculli] supposedly did wrong — allowing nine guys to use his name as a mail drop — is now legal," says Tayoun. "Everything that used to be illegal is becoming legal."

 

Ask Bill Stinson about the scandal which tainted his name forever and his eyes grow dark, his lips tighten and his manner shortens. "It was bullshit," he barks. "It was absolute bullshit."

 

Stinson isn't saying much more about the incident. He's moved on, now readying an Irish pub on Spring Garden Street. But Stinson's attitude suggests he did not have a reason to pull a fix.

 

Stinson did, of course, have a reason. But the '93 special election meant a whole lot more than a mere seat in Harrisburg for Bill Stinson. At the time, partisan control of the state Senate hung in the balance. '

 

"Nobody gave a ###### about Bruce Marks or Bill Stinson," says one veteran election observer. "This was about control of the Senate, this was about a power struggle in Harrisburg."

 

In the end, Stinson captured a 463-vote win. Then a federal judge booted Stinson from office and he lost his reputation, respect plus any future in politics. And Democrats lost control of the Senate when Marks took Stinson's place.

 

Everyone knows the Stinson campaign was not the first to dabble in election fraud as a means of gaining power. Philly has a long history of fixing elections as a means of controlling patronage, juicy municipal contracts, and other perks of elected office. The city has lived through the "vote early and often days," watched as crooked pols dumped ballot boxes into the river and endured a police force that escorted "repeaters" to their umpteenth ballot of the day.

 

This all occurred before the turn of the century and the 1917 murder in the "Bloody Fifth," better known as Society Hill.

 

In a battle fueled by Republican Boss Edwin Vare, Detective George Eppley died under a hail of assassins' bullets while protecting a councilman's candidate. Before it ended, the Fifth riot saw blackjack beatings, pistol whippings and the arrest of Mayor Thomas B. Smith for strong-arming and terrorizing the people.

 

Why did blood flow come election time? Vare and his brother William were garbage collectors. They needed control of City Hall to control waste disposal contracts. They also ran a construction business and needed a large slice of the city's capital budget. Hence, the Vares' vicious approach to elections.

 

Modern-day scandals pale by comparison. Yet even the seemingly insignificant method of counting votes can raise questions.

 

Tom Mattia, who oversees the city's election hardware at a warehouse on Wissahickon Ave., reports that it is impossible to tamper with voting machines.

 

"You can't cheat on the machines," says Mattia. "There's no way."

 

Yet Mattia, Voight, Swirsky and others readily admit that adding totals from the machines may cause problems.

 

Each polling station is staffed by a judge, two elected inspectors, an appointed clerk and a machine inspector from the County Board of Elections. When it comes time to count numbers, the judge and inspectors read totals off counters hidden inside the machines.

 

The work begins at 6:30a.m. well into the night. Sometimes, when the numbers are read after 8 p.m., judges and workers make mistakes.

 

Officials can also cheat, concedes Voight. Which is one big reason why the Rendell Task Force demands a new $19 million voting system with electronic counting features.

 

These machines, says the task force, would create a paper trail for challenges, quicken and clarify ballot counting, and "digitalize" voter registration.

 

"It's years and $19 million away, but it will be fast, accurate and voter friendly," says Voight.

 

In his Walnut Street office, Voight is often on the phone, talking votes. No great surprise. As the boss behind the city's top election safeguard, the bald, bespectacled man spends a lot of his time answering calls from candidates, voters and election workers.

 

At this minute, Voight's helping somebody who wants to register after a move. Where do they go to change their address? How is it done? Voight turns away for a moment, then ends the conversation with a warning.

 

"If you think it's confusing now, it's going to get more confusing," says Voight, a sardonic smile creasing his face.

 

Voight is discussing polling places, but he could be talking about Motor Voter. He could be talking about the city's practice of counting results. Or he could be talking about the reform package crafted by Rendell's task force.

 

The report, issued in mid-September, touched on several matters. One theme, however, emerged from the 73-page report with several hundred pages of appendices. If a Philly resident wants to vote, said the task force, let 'em — under almost any circumstance.

 

The report's rationale was clear. The public is jaded by public corruption, especially voter fraud. Now is the time to encourage participation, no matter what it takes.

 

This idea is viewed as noble, both here and across the land. As things stand, less than 40 percent of the state's electorate participate in the voting process.

 

At the same time, some worry that the committee's proposal to open the voting door wider arrives in a sticky package. This is because 24-member panel seeks "universal absentee ballots." Which, after the Stinson scandal, is a touchy matter.

 

The panel said anybody who wants an absentee form should get one "for any reason whatsoever." The current law limits the use of absentees to the disabled and those who can't make it to the polls on Election Day. Eligible residents must apply in person and vote by mail.

 

Thanks to the low-jinks of Stinson's machine, the phrase "for any reason whatsoever" sparks reasonable concern. After all, the Second Senate voting scandal revealed how easy it was for campaign workers to tamper with absentee ballots. And most did it for a $1 bounty.

 

So what was the committee thinking when they suggested free-flowing absentee ballots?

 

The answer, as it turns out, was simple. The task force felt that open eligibility would lessen the odds for trouble. Yet, as Swirsky and Voight are the first to admit, universal absentee balloting can only work if the city creates safeguards. Which at this point in time do not exist.

 

The proposal opens the door for "naysayers to point out that any such reforms enhance the potential for fraud," concedes Swirsky.

 

Indeed, players like Tayoun, Brady and Ward Two leader Buddy Cianfrani scoff at universal absentees.

 

"If you've got 10 blank forms and you've got $10, you'd just fill them out," says Brady.

 

"Who's to stop somebody from 100 people showing up and saying 'Here we are, no we don't have ID, we're homeless'?" asks Tayoun. "You can flood a lot of phony names on phony addresses and there's no way they're going to check."

 

Universal absentees "would increase the odds for people to do things that weren't right," adds Cianfrani. "Right off the top of my head, it doesn't make sense."

 

Further, the idea of universal absentees spurs one long-time political observer to blurt "if that happens, I'll go out, get 300 ballots and vote 'em myself."

 

This from a guy who hasn't worked a campaign in three decades.

 

Quotes like these infuriate Swirsky. The proposal, she stresses, demands built-in safeguards. Absentee ballots would only be released to a voter, she says, or to a designated agent who signed a form, thus leaving a paper trail. Further, the use of designated agents for aiding the handicapped would be limited.

 

"I don't see, under what we are proposing, how anyone could get their hands on 300 ballots unless they break into the Board of Elections," fumes Swirsky. "You'd have to be a master forger to do that."

 

Swirsky notes that universal balloting is legal in Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska and Oregon. None of the states have encountered problems.

 

Finally, Swirsky notes that the state legislature must rewrite election law if the proposal is to ever become law. Under those restrictions, few believe absentee balloting will come to Philadelphia anytime soon, especially without safeguards.

 

For all the reform talk, however, one fact remains clear. Punishment for absentee ballot fraud is weak. Nobody, notes Swirsky, went to prison for wrongdoing in the Second Senate scandal (Stinson was acquitted of fraud charges). Democrat committeeman Charles Pollan was the last Philadelphia operative who went to jail for election tampering, getting three years in 1987. Indeed, the Task Force report admits that anti-absentee fraud measures "remain ineffectual."

 

The lack of penalties is odd, given the anti-fraud sentiment expressed by party heads, newspaper editorial boards and the public.

 

"The dirtballs in the Second Senate [scandal] should have gone to jail," says Voight.

 

Cheaters "should be nailed to the cross if they're caught," agrees Ron Donatucci, register of wills and leader of the 26th Ward. "There should be no mercy."

 

Alas, the only penalties of late are probation and fines. In the meantime, from empty lots to Motor Voter, many see a future where election abuse, fraud and irregularities exist.

 

"I don't think they're ever gonna stop [fraud]," laments Donatucci. "I don't know how they're ever going to stop it."

 

Fred Voight agrees: At the bottom line, those who can cheat will.

 

"Just remember one thing — any [election] system that man can invent, others are going to try to ###### it."

 

 

Link

 

http://archives.citypaper.net/articles/101295/article009.shtml