2010 Election Chicanery – What’s Next?

BARNEY FRANK’S PROPOSAL OF UNIVERSAL VOTER REGISTRATION APPEARS TO BE WAY TO THROW 2010 ELECTIONS

By Libbie Belle

(Jan. 18, 2010) — In 2008, the Democrats showed their true colors and resorted to whatever measures necessary, no matter how unscrupulous, to increase their majorities in the House and Senate and elect a Chief Executive who is perhaps the most radical leftist ever to occupy the Presidency.

How did they do it? Rampant voter fraud was perhaps the biggest culprit. Pro-Democrat Party organizations such as Project Vote! and ACORN ran voter registration drives to register anybody and everybody including Paul Newman and Mickey Mouse. In Nevada, some electors (i.e., voters) were reported to have been registered as many as 13 times. Obama volunteers were reported to have been bussed into states such as Ohio where its election law allows same day registration and voting. In Philadelphia, members of the New Black Panther Movement were charged with voter intimidation by the Bush administration only to have the charges dropped by Attorney General Holder. Most recently, it was reported that the voting machines used in the NY-23 Congressional special election were infected with a virus and required reprogramming to remedy the problem. The machines, however, were not recertified, so the level of accuracy was unknown and perhaps questionable. It was rumored that the machine software possibly switched votes. Despite these known discrepancies, the election results were still certified by the State of New York Elections Commission.

These are just a few examples of how the integrity of one of our most sacred rights, the right to free and fair elections, has been compromised.  Thanks to organizations such as Fox News, Big Government.com and countless conservative websites and blogs such as The Post & Email and the Tea Parties, the Democrat Party’s tactics have been exposed and will not be as effective in 2010, especially since the likes of ACORN and Project Vote! have been cut off at the knees.

The audacity of the Democrat Party to ram unpopular legislation through Congress against the wishes of the majority of Americans has ignited a revolt of epic proportions. Many citizens now have a sliver of optimism, especially if gains can be achieved during the 2010 midterm elections, as it would serve as an indication that not all is lost. The Democrats, however, will not go down without a fight, and they now have a new plan:  Universal Voter Registration.

On January 6th, freelance writer and businessman James Simpson penned an excellent article entitled “What the Dems Know That We Don’t – Universal Voter Registration.” Simpson reports Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund recently spoke at a forum held at David Horowitz’s Center for Freedom.

An excerpt from Fund’s speech:

In January, Chuck Schumer and Barney Frank will propose universal voter registration. What is universal voter registration? It means all the state laws on elections will be overridden by a federal mandate. The feds will tell the states: “take everyone on every list of welfare that you have, take everyone on every list of unemployed you have, take everyone on every list of property owners, take everyone on every list of driver’s license holders and register them to vote regardless of whether they want to be…”

This stealth legislation, if passed, will be every bit as destructive as health care reform and cap and trade. It effectively undermines the states’ authority to establish its own voter registration laws and forces the states to adopt the national universal voter registration law that also makes voter registration compulsory rather than voluntary. Anyone who is in a state government database, including felons and illegal aliens, would be automatically registered to vote. We can rest assured that the universal voter registration law will play fast and loose; the verification of residency and citizenship will become nearly nonexistent. Persons who are in multiple databases could potentially be registered multiple times, especially if the elector is associated with different addresses.  Electors (i.e., voters) would no longer have to notify the county or state election board if they move, as changes to personal data in state databases would initiate an update to the elector’s registration.

Just how constitutional is this power consolidation?

How constitutional is it to force voter registration on the citizenry? Roughly 70% of voting-age adults are registered to vote, while the other 30% who are not is likely due to personal choice rather than a lack of opportunity. Once these newly- registered electors (i.e., voters) are on the voter rolls, they will be inundated with party propaganda and solicitations for donations which is perhaps why they do not register to vote in the first place. No one should be forced to register to vote just as no one should be forced to purchase health insurance. It is just another encroachment on our personal freedom to choose for ourselves.

No one disagrees that voter registration reform is needed in states which have laws with a propensity to attract voter fraud due to lax registration, verification and vote certification. However, there are states that have exemplary election laws which other states could model. A national coalition for voter registration reform could be created where state election officials can voluntarily participate, share best practices and strive for standardization.

Oregon’s election process, for example, relies exclusively on vote by mail. Registered electors  are sent an election ballot and Voter’s Pamphlet 2-3 weeks before Election Day so they have time to study the candidates and initiatives before voting. Ballots are placed in a secret envelope that must be signed. Ballots are returned via USPS or can be dropped off at a secure ballot box location or the local election precinct. Once the ballot is received by election officials and before it is counted, the authenticity of the ballot is validated by comparing the signature on the ballot envelope to the scanned signature from the voter registration form. Oregon also has many other checks and balances to maintain the integrity of the election.

Passage of a universal voter registration is the Democrat Party’s dream ideal. It will add millions to the voter rolls who, based on demographics, almost reliably vote Democrat. Combined with the district gerrymandering that is sure to follow the 2010 Census, Democrats believe it is the magic bullet that will keep them in power of the legislative and executive branches for the foreseeable future. For the citizenry, it is a recipe for disaster. Attempts to recall it, not unlike healthcare reform, will become an exercise in futility.

The federal government has no business meddling in state election laws. It is disingenuous at best to portray this as a benefit for “We the People” and as a means to end voter fraud.