Today’s entry: Hi Brian, How many dead people, illegal aliens, and unqualified felons do you think have voted by mail in this election? People who have voted by mail state there is no corruption because they can track their votes and verify it was counted. But that's not the question I'm asking them. They refuse to think about this situation. Just posing a hypothetical question to you.
Bottom Line: Voter fraud has been and will continue to be a hot button topic regardless of what type of an election cycle we’re in. The reason is simple. With high stakes, some dishonest people in the mix, and room for an opportunity, fraud will always be a threat. Sadly voter fraud, like many other important issues that never should have been politized, has been. Because of this, there’s a narrative on the left that voter fraud is essentially non-existent and on the right that it’s pervasive. The answer unsurprisingly is in-between. I will start out by stating the threat is real and we’ve at times had a front-row seat to impropriety in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. I made it a personal mission to ensure both Susan Bucher and Brenda Snipes were sent packing after their numerous unlawful actions as election supervisors in 2018. If you weren’t around for my series depicting their unlawful behaviors here’s a link to the stories for Booker & Snipes.
Now, there’s a difference between their outright illegal voter tabulations/loss of control of ballots and outright fraudulently created ballots. The only action committed by either election’s supervisor which was outright fraud was when Brenda Snipes literally placed ballots disqualified by the Broward canvassing board into a batch of valid votes to be tabulated. While their unlawful behaviors resulted in their removals of office by Governors Scott and DeSantis, it’s worth noting neither was prosecuted for voter fraud.
Here’s the legal definition of voter fraud, aka Electoral fraud: illegal interference with the process of an election. It can come in many forms. These are them: Double Voting, Dead Voters, Felon Voters, Voter Suppression, Registration Fraud, Voter Impersonation, Vote-buying, Fraud by election officials, and Ballot Harvesting. Of course, in accounting for how much voter fraud has occurred, we can only operate within the realm of what’s been proven. Nationally there have been 14 people successfully prosecuted for voter fraud this year. You’ll probably be happy to hear none have occurred in Florida. Of these proven instances of voter fraud in 2020, here’s the method attempted to carry out the unlawful votes. Eight were ballot petition fraud, three fraudulent use of absentee/vote by mail ballots, one false registration, one illegal ballot translation “assistance” of votes, and one ineligible voting.
You might have been venting and asking a somewhat rhetorical question, but I have answers to the extent they’re available. Of course, the question will always be how much more is there than what’s detected? That’s a good question. But here’s the slightly better news, of the six states with prosecuted voter fraud this year, three are traditionally blue states and three are traditionally red states. Officials on both sides of the political spectrum were interested in prosecuting the fraud they were presented with this year, including 12 of the prosecuted cases coming in states with a Democrat governor.
What we are able to tell about the preferred methods this cycle, based on what’s been successfully prosecuted, is that attempting to “buy” votes has been the most pervasive form detected. This, followed by illegally voted ballots by mail. In Florida, we haven’t had a successfully prosecuted case of voter fraud since the 2018 cycle. Hopefully, it remains that way due to fewer people attempting to illegally vote. To your point, it’s wrong for anyone to suggest voter fraud isn’t a problem. The facts I just shared with you empirically prove it is. Additionally, the fact that Broward and Palm Beach election’s supervisors were removed from office due to unlawful behaviors is further evidence of misfeasance last election cycle here at home. Rest assured I’ll be minding the store on this topic again for the entire cycle.
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