‘Disenfranchisement Hysteria’ Is Rampant, Says Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler

My PJ Tatler blog post from November 6, 2012:

‘Disenfranchisement Hysteria’ Is Rampant,
Says Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler

By Matthew Vadum

The Left’s obsession with voter ID laws amounts to “disenfranchisement hysteria,” according to Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler (R).

Photo ID requirements for voting, whether instituted in America or anywhere in the world, are “correlated with increased voter turnout, substantial increased voter turnout, and a whole lot of good things and I think that shows that some of this disenfranchisement hysteria is, frankly, frankly silly,” Gessler said during a  panel discussion on electoral integrity at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., on July 26 of this year.

Voter ID advocates like the good-government group True the Vote have long maintained that asking voters to prove they are citizens is essential to combat voter fraud. Left-wingers, on the other hand, say such requirements are unfair to people who are too lazy to obtain acceptable forms of government-issued identification.

Gessler praised True the Vote, a good-government group that is on the front lines of the battle for clean, honest elections. True the Vote is one of those groups that liberals hate and that voter-fraud deniers like left-wing journalist Brentin Mock routinely smear. Without any credible evidence whatsoever, Mock has accused True the Vote, which merely watches polling places to keep officials honest, of trying “to strip voters of election rights.”

Gessler seems justified worrying about fraud at the voting booth. On this Election Day there is news of widespread voter fraud, malfunctioning voting machines, and military uniform-wearing New Black Panther Party members reemerging at Philadelphia polling places. Last year, Gessler released a study showing that nearly 5,000 illegal aliens voted in the U.S. Senate election in Colorado two years ago.

“We’ve got bloated and inaccurate voter rolls. We have a very loose honor system when it comes to voting in this country, both in the registration and voting as well; often times, for example, no forms of ID, or no photo ID required,” he said. “Over time we’ve seen the increased use of mail ballots which, while it has many good points, also increases a very common avenue for voter fraud.”

Those who oppose voter ID laws embrace “a culture of see no evil, hear no evil,” and their “argument is ironically propagated by some of the same people who see massive corruption when it comes to a campaign finance system.”

Such people, Gessler said, “see massive corruption in the ballot initiative process, but when it comes to voting in the polling booth, our hearts become pure, without malice,” according to voter ID opponents.

“I think we all want to believe that everyone is of good faith and willing to do the right thing, but I think Americans intuitively understand that in any human endeavor, and elections are hard, complicated human endeavors, in any human endeavor, there is a small proportion of people who will when tempted do the wrong thing, who when tempted, will break the law. And political power, as gained through elections, is a temptation and that tempts people to do bad things.”

Matthew Vadum is an award-winning investigative reporter and the author of "Subversion Inc.: How Obama’s ACORN Red Shirts Are Still Terrorizing and Ripping Off American Taxpayers" (WND Books, 2011) and "Government Unions: How They Rob the Taxpayer, Terrorize Workers, and Threaten our Democracy" (David Horowitz Freedom Center, 2012). His next major work will have a shorter title.

Paranoia from The Nation magazine

The Left is going all-out to push the tired old meme that asking a voter for photo ID somehow discriminates against minorities, the poor, and other aggrieved groups.

Longtime fellow-traveler and ACORN apologist Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of the Nation magazine, is trying to raise money by promoting this ridiculous idea.

Not unexpected but still tedious. Make that very tedious.

Here’s a copy of a fundraising letter I received today from her:

Voter ID Laws: Racist or Reasonable?

Both the Left and Right have expressed concern over potential abuse in America’s current voting process. But as the rhetoric flies, what are the facts? And is the Department of Justice heeding all concerns?

By Brandon Darby

(This piece is an abbreviated version of Brandon Darby’s original printed piece that was featured in Townhall Magazine’s March 2012 issue)

There’s been much said lately about election integrity and voter identification laws. Both sides of the American political spectrum have raised concerns over polls and potential abuses in the American voting process. In fact, due to the serious voter registration irregularities identified by groups like True the Vote in Texas, along with the numerous voter fraud convictions across the nation involving workers from politically motivated groups like the failed organization ACORN, many states are pursuing photo identification as a means of addressing such assaults on election integrity. Texas, South Carolina and Florida have all taken steps to mandate photo identification as a requirement for voting. In general, Americans holding left-of-center perspectives tend to claim organized racist efforts exist to suppress low-income Americans or minorities from voting. DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz went so far in condemning several recent initiatives to protect against voter fraud as to suggest Republicans want to put voters back to the days of Jim Crow.

Americans with right-of-center perspectives tend to claim voter fraud and an organized effort to register dead or nonexistent people is in full swing by the Left. The Right has also suggested in some cases that efforts to allow Democrats to vote twice or more are in play, as was discovered near Houston, Texas, surrounding the 2010 midterm elections. Both sides have legitimate facts and occurrences to validate their points of view. There was a time in our nation when black Americans weren’t allowed to vote. Even after their right to vote was recognized by the hard and often dangerous—sometimes fatal—work of black activists and allies, laws were implemented by the old Democrats of the South to ensure black Americans still couldn’t vote. Tests which were nearly impossible to pass were administered to many black Americans, ultimately preventing them from exercising their rights. This horror is an historical reality and will forever justify some suspicion any time a requirement is mandated regarding voting.

But a justifiable suspicion which merits further looking into requires just that—further looking into. The initial suspicion doesn’t mean the worst-case scenario is actually occurring. It simply means looking into the matter is justified.

It was Democrats who were predominantly responsible for the Jim Crow laws against black Americans voting. Democrats have historically exhibited a tendency to go to any lengths to ensure the results of elections turn out in their favor, as was the case during Jim Crow when they didn’t want black Americans to participate in choosing non-racist leaders.

Republicans often point out the recent example of the community organizing organization known as ACORN. As outlined in Matthew Vadum’s “Subversion Inc.,” there have been 55 convictions for voter fraud and voter registration fraud from ACORN’s efforts, which leaned heavily in favor of the Democratic Party.