The real 'voter fraud' Republicans would rather not talk about

Voter and election fraud do exist -- unfortunately for the GOP, the documented cases have been among their own.

Sep 29, 2012

3. Petition fraud

Disgraced Republican congressman — and short-lived presidential candidate — Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan abruptly resigned from the House amid a scandal over four aides who falsified names on petitions to place McCotter’s name on the ballot for re-election in 2010. The aides now face a slew of misdemeanor and felony charges. One of the aides has already pleaded no contest.

4. Address / registration fraud

Right wing columnist and firebrand author Ann Coulter was accused of committing voter fraud by falsely using her parents’ Connecticut address to vote, despite having changed her official state of residence to Florida. The case was ultimately dismissed, but similar allegations Coulter deliberately voted in the wrong precinct in Florida were simply never pursued by state officials.

5. Robofraud

Last year, a senior aide to Maryland’s Republican then-governor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., along with a consultant hired by Ehrlich, were indicted on charges of “conspiracy to violate election laws” and “influencing votes through fraud,” for a scheme in which more than 110,000 automated “robocalls” were placed to mostly African-American, Democratic voters in Maryland, telling them to “relax” and not to bother showing up to vote on election day in 2010, because the state’s Democratic governor, Martin O’Malley, had already been elected. The campaign manager, Paul Schurick, was convicted and sentenced to just one month home detention and community service.

6. Absentee ballot fraud

Currently two lawsuits in Miami-Dade County are seeking to invalidate last month’s mayor’s and property appraiser’s elections, due to allegations of falsified absentee ballots by so-called “bolateros,” or “ballot collectors,” who among other things, allegedly collected ballots supposedly filled out by senior citizens with Alzheimer’s. Miami has in the past seen mayoral elections thrown out over absentee ballot fraud. But absentees, which are a strong suit of the Florida GOP at election time, were not included in comprehensive election overhaul legislation that, among other things, slashed the early vote period (used more by Democrats) from 14 days to 8. Meanwhile, the absentee ballot fraud phenomenon is not limited to the sunshine state.

In other words, voter and election fraud exists, just not in the way Republicans say it does.

Follow Joy Reid on Twitter at @gthereidreport