Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Ignoring Voter Fraud in Fairfax County

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by

James A. Bacon
in

voting_in_fairfax
Voting in Fairfax County. (Photo credit: Fairfax Times)

The Democratic Party has engaged in a lot of loose talk about “voter suppression,” especially in regard to voter I.D. requirements. But you hear precious little about the opposite problem — local officials turning a blind eye to people voting illegally.

According to Watchdog.org, the Fairfax County electoral board has turned over more than 200 cases of potential voter fraud to Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Raymond Morrogh for investigation. The names appeared on voter rolls even though individuals had excused themselves from jury duty on the grounds that they were not citizens. Of those, 117 had a history of voting in Virginia.

Morrough, a Democrat, has declined to prosecute — or even to respond to the electoral board. Said Brian Schoeneman, secretary of the Electoral Board and a Republican: “People say there’s no voter fraud because there are no convictions. One of the most frustrating things is to have evidence that, on its face, justifies further investigation … and then to see zero action.”

Selective justice like this is part of a national pattern, Catherine Engelbrecht, president of Texas-based True the Vote, told Watchdog.org. As it happens, she knows something about selective justice. Her organization was one of the conservative groups singled out for special attention by the Internal Revenue Service.

Does anyone feel as if the fundamental structures of democratic governance are corroding? (Hat tip: Tim Wise.)

— JAB

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21 responses to “Ignoring Voter Fraud in Fairfax County”

  1. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    organizations that do not disclose their funding sources are not the greatest ones for honest investigation journalism in my view.

    These folks are connected to the Sam Adams Alliance who Michelle Malkin and Tea Party types seem to like… and Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity – none of which will disclose who funds them.

    that’s a red flag to me.

    but in “blue” Fairfax – could you tell me what impact 278 alleged illegal voters have on elections? what percent of voters are they?

    Don’t get me wrong – there are CLEARLY some percent of folks who vote who are doing so illegally – I do not contest that at all but virtually all investigations into it show it to be way less than 1% so what is it really about?

    I’d be in favor of stricter enforcement as part of a comprehensive law to allow people to vote on weekends and/or absentee ballots … and I would guarantee you that if you stopped suppressing the vote and at the same time got stricter enforcement – you’d come out a loser on the votes.

    so the whole idea of suppressing votes “in exchange” for allowing illegal voting is just another example of the hypocrisy of the right who don’t want to earn their votes from blacks and Hispanics and others – they just want to restrict them from voting by suppressing them – which includes threats to investigate them for illegal voting.

    this is little more than a modern day version of what was done to blacks (and now to include Hispanics) during the past when they were threatened with poll taxes and literacy tests.

    The right is paranoid that every person who is not an old white guy – is going to vote Democratic and so they do things like blather about 300 votes in an area with 280,000 voters. That’s .001%. That’s “investigation” journalism?

    so let’s trade. You agree to allow weekend and absentee voting and I”ll agree to stricter enforcement.

    1. slowlane Avatar
      slowlane

      Larry G, you don’t know how to write decimal numbers. .001% means 1/100,000. If you want to represent 300 voters out of 280,000, then the correct decimal is .1% or 1/1,000.

      1. larryg Avatar
        larryg

        300 divided by 300,000 is 001 – right?
        300 divided by 280,000 is .00107.

        yes.. I forgot to move the decimal point 2 places to represent percent.

        but tell me how many people are discouraged from voting by our current restrictive voting policies.

        this is much ado about nothing unless you are seriously concerned not only about “asserted” illegal voting but making it easier to vote for legal voters.

        it’s basically about a party that does not want to seek votes from constituencies other than their base …

        I support tightened voter procedures but I also support more voting in which case the fundamental problem with the GOP is the same.

  2. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    here’s an example of the “investigative journalist” who wrote the watchdog article – Kendric Ward:

    “Right Wing News”:

    ” The End Of The Rule Of Law: Deportations Of Illegal Immigrants Slow To A Trickle Under Obama”

    http://www.rightwingnews.com/illegal-immigration-2/deportations-of-illegal-immigrants-plunge-40-under-obama/

    here’s another example:

    ” For all the crowd-swooning ecstasy of Obama-rama, for all the partisan primaries on the Treasure Coast, for all the young people registering to vote, the two-party system is losing its grip.

    Republicans have surrendered the most ground here. While still holding sizable advantages in Martin and Indian River counties, their majority margins have all but disappeared. In St. Lucie County, where Democrats dominate, GOP registrations actually fell 8.3 percent.”

    just google ” Kenric Ward: More voters declare their independence”

    these are hardly objective articles… they are your basic articles written for the right wing echo chamber.

    Mr. Kendric may have been at one time an objective investigative journalist but a cursory Google will show what kinds of stuff he is writing these days – and a lot of it is pretty partisan.

    1. DonR Avatar
      DonR

      Why on Earth would I do an internet search on the author of this article? Do you contend that the Board of Elections never asked for an inquiry? Brian Schoeneman (a Republican) earned high praise from the ultra-left Blue Virginia blog for his work in vote counting during the extremely narrow race for Attorney General.

      http://www.bluevirginia.us/diary/10582/in-defense-of-fairfax-county-electoral-board-member-brian-schoeneman

      If Schoeneman says something is amiss then something is amiss.

      1. larryg Avatar
        larryg

        read this: http://watchdog.org/162159/vote-fraud-non-citizens/

        then GOOGLE the author.

        I don’t know about you but:

        1. – I want to know who funds authors and publications that write on things that have partisan dimensions

        2. -if someone presents them self as an “investigative journalist” – I expect them to be non-partisan and objective – in all of their articles or disclose the fact that they are affiliated with one party or the other or that they do write articles for partisan publications.

        the author allied himself with a GOP viewpoint on illegal voting – and the same guy writes for partisan publications…. but represents himself as an “investigative journalist”.

  3. DonR Avatar
    DonR

    In 2005 Bob McDonnell defeated Creigh Deeds for state Attorney General. He won by a margin of 323 votes out of 1.9M votes cast.

    You tell me how big a difference those 323 votes would have made to the modern history of Virginia.

    All legitimate allegations of voter fraud deserve investigation.

    The liberal Democrats are also engaged in questionable tactics with hazy funding sources:

    http://www.cologop.org/liberal-special-interest-groups-influencing-colorado-republican-primary/

    1. larryg Avatar
      larryg

      I think the votes can and DO make a difference – but I have no doubt what-so-ever that the Dems would slaughter the GOP if we had a truly open voting process – even with stricter enforcement (which I also support).

      when people vote – by the way – you check their voter ID card, as well as a drivers license or a gun permit or other documentation but in most places, if they lack the voter ID card – they get more scrutiny and I’ve seen them turned away – down our way – they can’t even vote in the wrong precinct and they can stand in line for a while, find out that precincts have changed – and be too late to get to the right one.

      in terms of funding sources – many political organizations do not disclose – and that’s expected but an organization that represents itself as a non-partisan investigative journalism paper – who wont disclose it’s funding sources – it’s bogus.

      people who claim to be objective and unbiased should provide proof of their funding – period.

      this guy writes articles for right-wing publications… google it.

    2. larryg Avatar
      larryg

      were those 323 votes all in one county like Fairfax?

      if they were spread across the state why would you assume they were all Democrats instead of split?

  4. DonR Avatar
    DonR

    This question of potential voter fraud seems like a good question for Fairfax County Supervisor and Congressional hopeful John Foust.

    Does Foust believe that this potential fraud should be investigated – yes or no?

    1. larryg Avatar
      larryg

      re: “fraud” – when you’re talking about .001% in ONE COUNTY – why wouldn’t you be the first to squeal if they were going to spend millions tracking it down?

      I do not excuse it but I still think the number of voters who are discouraged by rules that make it hard to vote – far, far outnumber the 300 or so that are “fraud”.

      That’s why I say – let’s do both. Let’s go after the fraud but also allow easier voting especially for the elderly, the shut-at-home and folks who work and can’t get to the polls very easy.

      If you are REALLY interested in a legitimate election process – you should want MORE legal voting – not less voting by focusing only on illegal voters.

      we can compromise. At least we used to be able to.

      no more.

      the GOP is going to lose – longer term – for a wide variety of reasons but the most important one is that they want to represent their own beliefs and values and not voters.

      that’s not a political party seeking to govern – that’s a sect.

      this country was founded on the principle of one-man, one-vote and the GOP is going backwards… to a minority who wants to rule according to their principles and screw those who would vote.

      1. DonR Avatar
        DonR

        They should be investigated. If there are over a hundred cases in Fairfax County then there could be thousands across the state.

        My bet is that these people claimed to be non-residents to get out of jury duty but I don’t know. If that’s the case then they were entitled to vote.

        1. larryg Avatar
          larryg

          don’t you think that Fairfax has a large proportion of voters compared to the rest of the state?

          If there are 200-300 per i 280,000 – how many do you think there would be in a county of 20,000 voters? 20 or less?

          most of this could be cleared up by more effort at the registrar level. It’s not real fraud.

          Real fraud means you know you’re not supposed to vote – and do – and much of this is people who believe they can vote but should not – would be my bet.

          the question is – how much in the way of resources – money and additional staff are you willing to pay for?

          I’d do this. Let’s do a pilot program for 10% of Virginia counties. Let’s do a mix of urban and rural – and do what it takes to track down the “illegals” and then produce a report that shows the costs and the results – then decide if we want to institutionalize it – along with a study to determine who’s not voting and why and if the reason is due to restrictive voting policies.

          how about it?

        2. larryg Avatar
          larryg

          re: ” My bet is that these people claimed to be non-residents to get out of jury duty but I don’t know. If that’s the case then they were entitled to vote.”

          actually I agree.

          I take it seriously but when you have folks – who simultaneously – are in favor of restricting voting – and looking at .001% potentially illegal votes and hammering the local district attorney – who I’m quite sure has his/her hands full already with a variety of issues – there is a certain amount a triage involved but none of this will mollify those who are whacked out about “illegals” who would vote Democratic….

          that’s just how idiotic things have gotten… along these lines.

          I seriously do not know what the GOP is going to do if they lose the Senate and the 2016 POTUS election. They’re already totally off the deep end and getting worse.

          they’re in denial about – virtually everything from climate, to same-sex marriage, to immigration, including the changing voting demographics of the country.

          but what I REALLY OBJECT to is these folks masquerading as “investigative journalist” working for “non-partisan” organizations who refuse to disclose the folks who fund them and purport to write fair and objective investigative articles when, in fact, they are right-wing echo chamber blather and folks like Bacon pick it up and broadcast it like it was legitimate.

  5. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    re: ” More than 200 names were turned over to Commonwealth Attorney Raymond Morrogh for investigation. The names appeared on voter rolls, even though the individuals had excused themselves from jury duty because they were not citizens.

    But the cases have fallen through bureaucratic cracks in Virginia’s most populous county — and most of the identified aliens remain on the voting rolls.”

    that’s what this is really about.

    .001% of voters in Fairfax are supposed to be “illegal aliens” but here’s the reality they reported themselves:

    ” According to board records, 278 registered voters did not affirm citizenship, as required, between 2010 and the end of 2011.

    Of these, 117 had a history of voting within Virginia.

    The Electoral Board referred its findings to Morrogh on four occasions: June 25, 2010; Feb. 28, 2011; May 3, 2011; and Aug. 18, 2011.

    Names of an additional 36 non-affirming voters were relayed to the commonwealth attorney March 2, 2012″

    almost 300,000 votes are cast and about 100 are suspected of being “fraud” .. and presumed to be “illegals”.

    can you tell me how many “illegals” are voting in Tazwell, Va or Richmond, Va?

    this is totally bogus… there will always be a certain percentage of people who get food stamps or social security or drivers licenses, or you name it that are not legally allowed to – and the question is – can you make that number go to zero.

    yes you can – if you want to spend the money.

    Again – I’d support stricter enforcement – if we also make it easier to vote.

    otherwise – this is really just more right-wing idiocy against immigration – which if you read the article -you will see – what is behind this article.

  6. TooManyTaxes Avatar
    TooManyTaxes

    Illegal voting is crime. It should be investigated and prosecuted when there is evidence that someone voted in violation of state law. Prosecuting these crimes send a signal to others not to vote illegally. It also assures those who follow the law that there votes are protected. Murrogh has a legal duty to uphold the US and state constitutions and state law. If he has good evidence, he needs to prosecute.

    I would expect that not every name handed to him has good facts sufficient to obtain a conviction. But it is likely impossible to believe none of the referrals lack good evidence. Morrogh appears to be one more Democrat who believes he gets to pick and chose among the laws in order to foster Democratic election prospects. He’s not unlike our fourth-rate attorney general.

    People need to produce evidence of citizenship and residency to vote, as well as show a photo ID. Photo IDs should be available to citizens and residents at low or even no charge to the indigent.

    But don’t kid yourself, there are a number of Ds trying to get ineligible voters to vote for Ds. Last fall, when we were moving my son into his dorm and ODU, there were a number of young Ds trying to register student voters. A couple of students replied they lived and voted in another state. Don’t worry about that, just register here too was the response. Too bad I was busy moving boxes. I should have stopped and pulled out my cell phone to record the attempt to register voters fraudulently.

    Let’s just try to follow the rules.

    1. larryg Avatar
      larryg

      cheating on your taxes and speeding are crimes also. How much money do you want to spend and how many audits or tickets do you personally want?

      as I said before – we already make it hard to vote for people and I bet far, far more people who would vote are kept from voting that those who vote illegally.

      What the GOP has to do – is want to represent the interests of blacks and Hispanics rather than worry about illegal voting especially in places like Fairfax where the GOP makes no real effort to get a majority to vote for them to start with.

      but I have a more basic question –

      how can an “illegal” get a voter ID card to start with?

      And let me ask – If you get excused from jury duty by lying that you are not a citizen – should the police investigate to make sure you are not?

      These are things the elected government of Fairfax could do – and be held accountable for at elections, right?

    2. larryg Avatar
      larryg

      How much would any of this be an issue at all if the GOP got 60% of the black and Hispanic vote?

      would there still be that fire in the belly to track down the “illegals”?

  7. LifeOnTheFallLine Avatar
    LifeOnTheFallLine

    I’m sure glad to hear no one in Fairfax County has ever lied to get out of jury duty.

    1. larryg Avatar
      larryg

      I think it is laughable. The GOP has had and continues to have an enormous opportunity to promote the values of their party to Hispanics and Blacks who largely are conservative and family oriented and want jobs and yet the GOP is convinced that that their own values are apparently inconsistent – not only with blacks and Hispanics, but women, and virtually every other diverse constituency beyond angry white guys and reactionary right wing types.

      and so – their “strategy” is not to change as a party to better conform to the changing demographics and actually seek to represent the diverse groups – but instead to engage in paranoia about “illegal” voting and seek various different ways to discourage voting – by highlighting the .001% of illegal voting – while at the same time doing everything they can to further stifle legal voting.

      The amazing thing to me is that much of the country and much of Virginia continues to be largely GOP in many non-urban geography.

      I’m not excusing illegal voting – we should tighten up voting procedures but at the same time there is no excuse at all for the various recent actions taken – to actually make it harder for legal voters to vote.

      1. slowlane Avatar
        slowlane

        Larry G, you don’t know how to write decimal numbers. .001% actually means 1/100,000. If you want to represent 300 out of 280,000 voters, then the correct decimal number is 0.1% (1/1,000).

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