Republican Election Fraud

The biggest election fraud is Republican lies about elections. Joyce Vance details and debunks the latest in this morning’s post. One example: The viral claim of “ballot harvesting” that turns out to be a 25-year postal employee delivering mailed-in ballots to the election office. Which is literally 100% legal and his job.

Then there are the voter registration purges, Virginia, Texas, and Alabama among them. State officials purge from voter registration rolls anyone who has ever checked “non-citizen” or left that box blank when applying for a driver’s license or on any other official form. Except that this eliminates people who have become citizens, as well as those who erroneously fill out forms. And many who are removed through plain old human error during the purges.

Like, say, Mary Howard-Elley, a U.S. citizen and Trump loyalist who was among those removed from the voter rolls by Texas. She was the 10^th Texas citizen identified by a Pro Publica investigation as being removed in error. Despite producing certified copies of her Louisiana birth certificate, and having what she calls “whitest name you could have,” she has had difficulty getting her voter registration reinstated. Pro Publica reports:

“She didn’t realize her registration was canceled until reporters called her this month. Darla Brooks, the Montgomery County voter registration manager, told both Howard-Elley and the news organizations that she had not been reinstated in March because her birth certificate arrived after the 30-day window she was given to prove her citizenship.

“On Oct. 14, Brooks said Howard-Elley had now also missed the registration deadline for this year’s election and would not be able to vote. 

“The election official was wrong.”

Multiply her difficulty for someone with a Latino-sounding name. Or for someone who doesn’t have the time and money to track down certified copies of her birth certificate. Or for someone wo has moved and doesn’t get the purge notice in time to even try to re-register. 

Some Trumpies go farther than attacking paper registration. Across the country, Trump’s  minions have harassed and threatened election officials. According to the Brennan Center for Justice:

 “Overall, the surveyed election officials’ concerns about physical safety and harassment remain high. More than half of local election officials reported being concerned about the safety of their colleagues or staff — a significantly higher number than in 2023, but about equal to 2022. Similarly, more than one in four worries about being assaulted at home or work. And concern about harassment of family or loved ones reached levels seen in 2022, the last federal election year.

“The abuse suffered by officials is fueling an exodus from the field. More than one-third of local election officials know at least one person who resigned at least in part due to safety concerns …”

Then there are the crazy individual cases: 

This week, a Trump supporter was arrested after brandishing a machete at two older women outside an early voting site in Florida. He was one of a group of eight Trump supporters, carrying Trump flags, who showed up to harass voters. 

And there’s Tina Peters, the Trump loyalist and former county clerk in Colorado who was sentenced to prison after being convicted of tampering with voting machines in relation to the 2020 election. 

In Minnesota, a Trump supporter admitted forging her deceased mother’s signature on an absentee ballot. She told arresting officials that her mother was a Trump supporter.  

What stands out about the individual cases of ballot fraud, like the Minnesota case, is that they are few and far between. And that they are discovered buy alert local government officials. 

Yes—local government. In the United States, the federal government does not conduct elections. Elections are administered state by state and county by county. The judges at polling places on election day are our neighbors, getting paid a pittance for a painfully long and grueling day, serving because they believe in democracy. 

Lies about election fraud and election officials, spread by Trump and Musk and Russian bots and deluded conspiracy theorists, pose the real threat to democracy.