Voter fraud epidemic

Last April, the Carmel Pine Cone, a weekly newspaper in the affluent Northern
California community whose most famous mayor was Clint Eastwood, published an
expose on California voter fraud.

As part of the front-page report, headlined “Voter Fraud: Simple as 1, 2, 3,”
the paper registered a fictitious voter, “Sandra L. Klaus.”

Under California law, the story explained, registering to vote requires only
that individuals give a name and an address and declare that they are eligible
to vote. They are then be entered on the rolls and sent a form — at
whatever mailing address they specify, even if it’s a post office box in
another state or another country — asking if they would like to vote absentee.
If they say yes, a ballot is then sent to that address.

The entire process can be conducted by mail without the voter ever being asked
to provide evidence of their true identity. Elections officials make no attempt
to verify the eligibility — or even the existence — of people submitting
voter registration forms.

Nothing much happened as a result of the Pine Cone investigation. A similar
series of reports by the Western Journalism Center beginning in 1994 went
nowhere either — even though fake names and non-existent addresses were
published. There were no prosecutions, and a probe by Secretary of State Bill
Jones’ office ended quietly.

Carmel has had many close elections and allegations of voter fraud in Monterey
County have been rampant. In early October, 16,000 fraudulent voter
registration cards were discovered in Los Angeles County. According to the Los
Angeles Times, the cards — in many cases bearing the names of people who
didn’t exist — were submitted as part of a state-wide voter registration drive
conducted by the California Democratic Party.

As a result, “60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft became interested in the
subject of California voter fraud. His report aired last Sunday on CBS.

As a result of the imminent national publicity, an embarrassed Jones last week
asked Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo to prosecute Carmel Pine
Cone publishers Kirstie Wilde and Paul Miller for voter fraud. Fortunately,
cooler heads prevailed in that office. No charges are expected to be filed.

It’s not just California, however. Voter fraud is epidemic throughout the
country. From Miami to L.A., elections have been won and lost because of
illegal voter registration and phony ballot counts. No wonder fewer and fewer
people are bothering to vote. What’s the point? Elections are being rigged. The
fix is in. The sanctity of the American electoral system is not under attack,
it is under siege.

Officials like Bill Jones in California are an enigma. If there is one power
the secretary of state has in Sacramento, it is the authority to clean up
election fraud. Since Bill Jones is a Republican and most of the voter fraud
perpetrated in California is on behalf of Democrats, you would think tough
action would be a no-brainer. Uh-uh. Jones is content to collect his paycheck,
certify that elections in the state are valid and direct a bureaucratic army of
paper-pushers.

Once again, here’s evidence that we don’t have a two-party system in America.
We have a one-party system with factions that protect each other and preserve a
status quo of official lawlessness.

Dare to expose the corruption and you run the danger of being victimized by
that official lawlessness.

America had an election this week. Do we really know what happened? Do we
really care? Most people are so caught up in the sham ideological battle
between Republicans and Democrats that they are missing a crisis neither
political faction is willing or able to solve.

Confidence is so shattered across this country that, on Monday night, when
ABCNEWS.com errantly published detailed election results 24 hours early, many
intelligent Americans believed all those votes had actually been predetermined
in a vast government-media conspiracy.

The solution is not more laws. It’s a matter of enforcing those already on the
books.

It reminds me of the great campaign-financing issue — closely related to this
votescam. When lawbreakers, beginning with the president of the United States,
are found out, they become crusaders for more laws. What good are more laws
when we don’t pay any attention to those already on the books, or, worse yet,
use them only to selectively prosecute people for political reasons?

Lying, cheating and thievery have become the accepted pathways to power. May
God save us.