Republicans Say "NO" to More Voter Fraud
Virginians have a lot to be proud of. We live, in my humble opinion, in the greatest state in the union. Take November's elections, for example. Though the outcome did not go our way in 2008, Virginia can be proud that we experienced record turnout at the polls with nearly 75% of eligible voters taking part. Further, of all 50 states, Virginia ranked 4th in the increase in voter turnout between the 2004 and 2008.
All of this begs the question as to why Governor Tim Kaine -- with all of the problems surrounding our current budget situation (Virginia is currently $3 billion in the red) and still with no resolution to our transportation challenges in sight -- is focusing his time and energy on pushing for an early voting law that would promote the casting of absentee ballots without requiring any reason up to 45 days prior to an election.
Kaine claims such a new law would enhance voter turnout in a "fraud free" environment, but as the governor, who sped-up the restoration of voting rights for Democrat-friendly felons at a record pace, and who allied himself with the voter-fraud manufacturing organization ACORN, he hardly has credibility in standing on the side of defending Virginia against new attempts at voter fraud.
Republicans have nothing against the City of Chicago, but it doesn't mean we want the confusion and fraud that define their elections to work their way to Virginia. This is why Republicans in the General Assembly have taken a stand to oppose this dangerous and unnecessary proposal in order to defend the integrity of Virginia elections and defend the rights of the millions of voters who cast an honest vote.
First, it should be pointed out that the Governor is ignoring overwhelming data that shows that deferential rules allowing "no cause" absentee voting actually lessen interest in elections and artificially suppresses voter turnout. In a study done by Curtis Gans of the American University Center for the Study of the American Electorate, data taken over the years proves that "convenience voting" (no-excuse absentee voting) that Kaine supports does not help turnout in the least and likely hurts it. So much for the argument of making voting easier to expand turnout.
The real danger, of course, is the potential for voter fraud. As the Center states in a news release, measures like this pushed by Kaine:
"... effectively eliminate the secret ballot -- making it easier for votes to be bought, ballots filled out to be discarded, and collective peer pressure to be applied. All of these issues are reason which the secret ballot was instituted in the first place at the turn of the last century."Voter fraud has increased since the last major voter registration law took effect. 1993's "Motor Voter" law, which has helped facilitate situations witnessed in Indianapolis, where as recently as 2007 more people were registered to vote than were actually eligible. One can only imagine the opportunity for the Democrats to mobilize voters to get to the polls over a 45 day period prior to the election when the laws make it incredibly easy to keep non-eligible voters on the voter registration books. And six weeks is a lot of time to work a college campus to drag every student that may or may not even be a Virginia resident to register and vote.
But as Republicans, we don't have to look too far to see another benefit the Democrats get from easy voting laws that don't even require fraud, and that comes compliments of their allies in the main stream press. Just as we see stories every year that manipulate public perception in elections with poll after poll telling us the "likely" outcome, if Kaine gets his way news outlets would gleefully carry stories about grassroots community organizers working their magic to outpace Republicans in getting their voters to cast early ballots.
The message in these stories will be crystal clear; "hey Republicans, you're clearly losing this election already, so why bother even voting?" In a close election, this media-created voter suppression would most certainly make a difference, and Tim Kaine cannot be oblivious to this fact.
Of course there are always ways to improve how elections are run and to encourage voters to participate in the process. Maybe one way we could start is by making sure that the men and women who are risking their lives overseas don't have their votes tossed by Democrat politicians who suffer from disenfranchisement through no fault of their own, as happened here in Virginia just this past election.
Attorney General Bob McDonnell offered a package of common-sense ways to improve elections by protecting the integrity of the ballot, and reduce the chaos and frustration that frequently overwhelms the volunteer election officials who staff the polling places. These measures are something no sincere supporter of fairer elections could oppose. Democrats, as you may guess, seem not-too-interested in even these modest ideas.
The Kaine proposal, then, has been shown to not only be ineffective in achieving its stated goals but also risky in opening the door to either voter fraud or media manipulation to skew the results. Our political Governor strikes again with yet another proposal that does wonders for his Party, but very little for the people of Virginia.
Jeffrey M. Frederick, Chairman
Republican Party of Virginia
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