Voter fraud is a real problem. So-called civil rights activists often expound on the dangers of voter suppression. However, former Alabama Congressman Artur Davis has stated that most of the voter suppression that he witnessed in his district resulted from voter fraud. Voter fraud nullifies votes, disenfranchising legitimate voters.
Secretary of State Ken Detzner petitioned the Department of Homeland Security for access to the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program in order to remove non-citizen voters from the voter rolls. For 11 months, the Obama Administration’s Department of Homeland Security consistently blocked Secretary of State Detzner’s attempt to access information that would enable his department to verify voter eligibility. In June, Eric Holder and the Department of Justice sued the State of Florida over this attempt to safeguard the integrity of our vote. On June 27, a Judge Robert Hinkle refused to block the State of Florida from removing ineligible voters from the voting rolls. Last week, DHS finally granted states access to SAVE to verify their voting rolls.
The prolonged drama surrounding attempts to protect the integrity of Florida’s voter roll attracted the usual suspects exacerbating the situation. Media Matters claimed that the Scott administration sought to purge 180,000 voters from the roll (in reality the administration sought to investigate a much smaller sub-set of voters) and that every one of Florida’s 67 supervisors of election in the state refused to comply. Both claims were rated false by PolitiFact Florida.
No citizen should be denied the right to vote, and no citizen should have his or her vote voided by an ineligible voter. State and federal governments should cooperate to ensure that elections are legitimate. Fortunately, elections supervisors now have access to information that will help protect the ballots of legitimate voters thanks to the Florida Department of State. Lets work to make sure that come November we elect a president whose administration will fight voter fraud.
