Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Final Count: 5,556 Non-Citizens Registered to Vote in Virginia

—

by

James A. Bacon
in

The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) and Virginia Voters Alliance have uncovered documentary evidence that at least 5,556 non-citizens have been illegally registered to vote in Virginia since 2011, and that 1,852 of them cast 7,474 ballots before election officials canceled their registrations.

Those numbers are considerably higher than figures provided in a study last year based upon inquiries into eight jurisdictions. This updated study, “Alien Invasion II,” reflects registration and voting patterns for all cities and counties.

These numbers don’t reflect all voting by non-citizens, just those who were identified by city and county registrars. Under the Motor Voter law, it is illegal but easy for non-citizens to register to vote, and registrars make little effort to weed them out. The 5,556 non-citizens stricken from the rolls were self-reported.

PILF claims to have overcome massive obstructionism to acquire the data for all Virginia localities. Its inquiries have found zero interest by local commonwealth attorneys to prosecute individuals who voted illegally, and Governor Terry McAuliffe has vetoed two bills designed to address the problem of voting non-citizens. It is mind-bending that Virginia news outlets have show so little interest in this problem. It’s almost as if there was… nah, it couldn’t be… rampant media bias.

Share this article

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

Comments

9 responses to “Final Count: 5,556 Non-Citizens Registered to Vote in Virginia”

  1. Steve Haner Avatar
    Steve Haner

    Maybe two or three per precinct registered, and one or fewer per precinct actually voting. Considering they committed a crime to get on the rolls, I’m a bit surprised so many of them then lost interest! Given the Motor Voter process making this so easy, I’m surprised its not higher.

    Claims that our elections are pristine have always been laughable, but just as laughable are claims that fraud (at least registration fraud) determines any outcomes. (I’m still fine with people being asked to show identification, as long as there is a list of options.)

    I’m also not surprised that the government apparatchiks are reluctant to assist the efforts of people seeking to demonstrate their laziness or to raise issues of confidence. Remember both parties are represented on every electoral board so the disinterest is probably bipartisan.

  2. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    from their “report”: ” Since our last investigation, the
    number of registrants removed from voter rolls for citizenship
    problems grew to over 5,500. Of these illegal registrants, 1,852
    cast nearly 7,500 ballots in elections dating back to 1988.

    isn’t that like 250 votes a year over the 30 years – for the 133 jurisdictions of which each has several precincts some – dozens?

    so this like 2 votes per jurisdiction?

    compare that to the other unqualified voters that SBE has a process

    http://media.nbcwashington.com/images/620*349/012517+virginia+voter+list+cross+check+sources.jpg

    for finding and removing (in a single year) thousands of unqualified:

    ” 73,798 registered voters who were potentially registered in one of the other states after their last date of activity in Virginia.” (2015-2016)… ” 37,803 voters were identified as potentially having registered in one of the other states after their last date of activity in Virginia.”, ” 6,135 voters were cancelled after a felony conviction was reported “… and several other categories …. mental fitness, death ,etc AND Non Citizen AND they identify the discrepancies on a PER PRECINCT basis.. AND PUBLISH the results.

    ” From July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016, 404 voters were cancelled after declaring themselves to be a non-citizen”

    http://www.elections.virginia.gov/Files/maintenance-reports/2016SBEListMaintenancereport.pdf

    I highly suspect this document is WHERE these guys got their “data”.

    this is one of those groups that does not disclose who funds them and whose members often frequent FOX News, Limbaugh, Newsmax…etc…

    1. James A. Bacon Avatar
      James A. Bacon

      On the one hand, you dismiss the numbers cited in the report as insignificant. On the other, you disparage the group’s funding. Make up your mind, Larry, are the numbers insignificant, or is the report biased?

      Your continued disparaging of studies whose conclusions you don’t like on the grounds that their funding comes from suspect sources is bad enough. But this time you don’t even know where the money comes from. This time, you dismiss the results on the grounds that people like Fox, Limbaugh and Newsmax give credence to the people behind the study. That’s just pathetic. I could just as well go, oh, so-and-so was quoted by MSNBC, therefore, I don’t believe a word they say. Wow, what a powerful argument!

      Basically, Larry, you’re putting your fingers in your ear, and saying, “I can’t hear you! La, la, la, la, la!”

      A reasoned response might be, “Well, 5,500 non-citizens getting registered is unfortunate, and maybe we need to tighten up a bit, but that’s really not the end of the world. After all, only one third voted. The system needs some tweaking, but let’s not get overly exercised about this.” But, no, you didn’t go down that path. You need to stand back, take a deep breath, and listen to yourself.

  3. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Jim – these folks are not a legitimate public interest group – in my view.

    they do not disclose who funds them and are obviously an organization with a political agenda.

    It’s not the study I don’t like.. I just discount ANY “study” which is questionable as to the objectivity of the group doing it and this clearly is.

    I LIKE studies that are not political not from a group with a political agenda that get presented on all the networks.. and C-SPan.. etc.. in other words – it’s recognized as non-partisan.. and this clearly is not – all you have to do is look at the other things they do and the networks they appear on.

    Did these guys say how they actually got the data? They claim they had to “force” someone to get it.. but I got the impression that it was turned over voluntarily.. if not.. what did they do to get it?

    I provided you with an OBJECTIVE source of data that contained ALL the categories of unqualified voters voluntarily published by SBE for all to see including the so-called “aliens”.

    It’s not that I disagree with studies I don’t like the results.. it’s that I need to trust the people doing the study.. and have confidence that they are truly objective and not pursuing a political agenda. You might try that yourself sometimes.. these are biased guys.. and you seem to be to when you so easily grab their stuff and promote it as if it were legitimate.

    Clearly there are issues in maintaining up-to-date and valid voter lists.. if you actually read the SBE “report” – which has no political agenda – you’ll see that there are a dozen different ways that unqualified people can get on the roles… and they have a process they follow to ferret them out.

    It’s not perfect but they DO have a process.. and they are working to strengthen it… but these fools who wrote this study portray a very different situation – which is not the reality..

    you say the system needs “tweaking”… Guy – that’s not the talk they were talking… at all:

    http://www.patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/alien-voting-illegal-virginia.jpg

  4. TooManyTaxes Avatar
    TooManyTaxes

    Every illegal voter dilutes the vote of every legal voter. Every legal voter has a right to have her/his vote protected against dilution. Period. The extent of dilution is immaterial. It’s wrong and it’s a crime. Violators should be arrested and punished. This is a crime against society and its members.

    A second, but equally wrong, impact is the potential for such dilution to effect the result of an election. We often see very close elections, especially at the local level. Could some close elections be decided by illegal voters? Damn right.

    The government must protect against this situation and protect the right of legal voters against dilution of their votes by requiring proof of citizenship and residence for registration; presentation of a photo ID (or lawful substitutes such as those approved by the courts for Virginia) for voting; and the periodic purging of non-voters from registration lists. The latter should be done with oversight from the public and both political parties.

  5. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    The right wing echo chamber chimes again!

    Let’s see. In 2016, there were 5,529.742 registered voters in Virginia. Since 2011, this group has dug up 5,556 who somehow were not entitled to be registered because they were not U.S> citizens for whatever reason.

    My gosh! Let’s do the math. What percentage is that of the total?

    And who is this group anyway? They seem to get quoted by Fox and Breitbart and the Daily Caller. And they certainly do run tasteless art.

    1. TooManyTaxes Avatar
      TooManyTaxes

      Is it OK with you Peter for people who cannot be registered lawfully in Virginia to be able to vote in Virginia? The percentage is immaterial. Non-citizens, persons under 18 and non-residents cannot vote lawfully in Virginia (or in any other state for that matter). If they do, it’s a crime and they should be punished.

      The issue of whether illegal voters affect an election results is a different, but real, issue. In a close election, they could. Another reason to enforce the law.

    2. Acbar Avatar
      Acbar

      For once we agree, PG; let’s do the math and keep this in perspective. Letting 5,500 non-citizens get registered is unfortunate, and maybe we need to tighten up a bit, but after all, only one third voted. The system needs some tweaking, but let’s not get overly exercised about this.

  6. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    TMT,
    Did I say that? I’m just saying that even if this group is right, the numbers are tiny

Leave a Reply

Read More