Published – Idaho State Journal, 08/05/12
Why would the administration and the Department of Justice
not cooperate in cleaning up the voter registration problems across the
country? Why would they intentionally make it more difficult to tabulate votes
from our military personnel? Why would they block efforts to ensure fair,
legitimate, and accurate elections and instead, facilitate voter fraud? There
can only be one logical answer, because they lose flexibility in election
results, and theirs is “The Chicago Way.”
According to Politico, “The United States’ voter registration system is in chaos
— about 24 million registrations are no longer valid and nearly 2 million dead
people are still on voter rolls. Along with the one of every eight voter
registrations that is not valid or has significant inaccuracies, there are 2.75
million people currently registered to vote in more than one state, the Pew Center on the States study found.
And the millions of problematic registrations aren’t the only issue —
researchers estimate at least 51 million eligible U.S. citizens aren’t
registered to vote. That’s nearly one in four. Additionally, about 12 million
records have incorrect addresses, meaning it’s unlikely any mailings can reach
these voters, the research in the report shows. There also are more than 1.8
million deceased people who still have active registration on voter rolls.”
Yet the administration is blocking efforts by Florida, New
Mexico, Texas, Pennsylvania and several other states, to clean up their voter
registration lists. Apparently removing the deceased from the voter roles
proscribes the type of flexibility the Chicago boys require to assure election
results. Five counties in Illinois have more registered voters than eligible
voters. These facts demythologize the truisms about the “dead” voting in Illinois,
especially Chicago, elections.
In Florida specifically, voting laws were passed last year
to restrict early voting. Demographic data showed anomalous voting trends
occurring and Florida officials felt the system was susceptible to fraud. The
new laws also required third party groups like ACORN (Association of Community
Organizations for Reform Now), to turn in their registration lists within 48
hours for verification. Remember, ACORN is a group that Barack Obama worked for
as a “leadership training supervisor” and as a community organizer for “Project
Vote!” a national program of ACORN for voter registration expansion, with a
long and storied history of voter registration fraud. For some reason,
Florida’s immediate verification system caused third-party registrations to
stop altogether.
The administration, through its Department of Justice (it
would be impossible to make this up and have it be more ironic than it is!) is
also opposing voter ID laws. They’ve filed in several states to block
implementation of laws that require some sort of personal identification at the
time of voting, even though thirty states currently require it. Some sort of
identification is required for most government services, and by all private
sector firms that accept checks for payment. The assertion that some sort of
identification at the polls can be deemed “voter suppression” can only be valid
if the “voters” being suppressed are somehow illegal to vote, registered in
multiple venues, or deceased. Far from “voter suppression,” as Attorney General
Eric Holder asserts, voter ID laws are being implemented in order to protect
election integrity. Most states with new voter ID laws even offer free photo
IDs to citizens who need them.
The President’s Executive Order two months ago implementing
key elements of the “Dream Act” by virtually gutting deportation of select
illegal immigrants, was not just a political move in an election year, but
plays directly to the goal of ensuring electoral outcomes. Amnesty advocate’s
euphemism of choice, “comprehensive immigration reform,” will create millions
of new Democrat voters. As Obama adviser and SEIU executive vice president
Eliseo Medina said recently regarding amnesty: “Can you imagine 8 million new
voters who care about our issues and will be voting? We will be creating a
governing coalition for the long term, not just for an election cycle.”
Part of Ohio’s voter registration law that received an
overhaul recently allows for members of the military from that state three
extra days to vote early. The rationale is that too many of the military votes
are not counted because they are not received in time to be tabulated. Yet the
Obama for America Campaign and the Democratic National Committee have filed
suit to block implementation of that law, which may again result in
non-tabulation of military votes in that key swing state. With indications that
70% of the active military supports Obama’s opponent in the November election,
it’s clear what the DOJ motive is in blocking Ohio’s new law.
Every illegal and fraudulent vote diminishes the integrity
of an election. Every American, regardless of party affiliation should have the
assurance that our elections are clean, fair, and legal. The President, his
administration, and his party should be working to eradicate election fraud,
not perpetuating it.
AP award winning
columnist Richard Larsen is President of Larsen Financial, a brokerage and
financial planning firm in Pocatello, and is a graduate of Idaho State
University with a BA in Political Science and History and former member of the
Idaho State Journal Editorial Board. He
can be reached at rlarsenen@cableone.net.