Vanity: My opus on combating vote fraud

I have been involved in campaigns and volunteering at the polls since 1994. In every election where I have been involved there was evidence of vote fraud. Based on personal experience I estimate that in important national elections up to 10% of all votes cast are fraudulent. Did you notice how polls that favor Republicans to win on Election Day are almost always off by a significant amount when the votes are counted? Have you noticed how Philadelphia turns in more ballots than the number of adults in the city?

Who are the perpetrators? Every time that I have observed fraud it was carried out by Democrats. Why do they do it? Zeal and greed are reason enough. Democrats, especially activists, often tell me, “Everyone is crooked. Both parties commit fraud.” This is their justification. Besides, they are usually paid for results.

After evidence of massive fraud in a California congressional election the investigator from the California Attorney General’s office told me, “For $500,000 in cash you can be guaranteed to win the Primary, the General Election, and a seat in Congress. The candidate willing to commit the most felonies always wins.” At a Texas precinct a guy wearing a union jacket walked up to a Republican Poll Watcher and said, “OK, I voted. Where’s my $40? I have seen vans full of people going from one precinct to another voting repeatedly and being paid every time they got back on the van.

Vote fraud in some precincts approaches Third World levels of corruption. I am convinced that vote fraud is the single greatest threat to our Republic since it can thwart the will of the electorate.

In this short pamphlet I will outline vote fraud methods I have seen and suggest ways to combat each method.

In California the professional vote fraud scam perps drive down a typical, middle class, residential street copying down addresses where the mailbox is accessible from the street. For example, the Wilson family lives at 300 Elm Street. The perp then creates fictional voters, sometimes one, sometimes an entire family of phantoms named Jones. He then registers the phantoms named Jones to vote (no ID required) at 300 Elm Street. On the day that Sample Ballots are delivered a small army of homeless and illegals hired by the perp go down Elm Street collecting the Sample Ballots addressed to the phantoms on their list. Mind you, they don’t steal the Wilson’s ballots; they let the Wilsons vote. The perp then uses the Sample Ballots to vote the phantoms as absentees. For example, in the 1998 Congressional election, California had a statewide turnout of 63%. In an off year? Unheard of! In my survey during the 1996 elections across 7 precincts in Orange County (200 voters personally surveyed) I discovered that 50% of the registered voters did not exist. By the way, I gave interviews to reporters from the LA Times and Orange County Register offering my evidence of vote fraud. They were not interested; and not one word about the fraud got into print.

With dead people and felons you can get lists of registered voters to challenge, and you should. However, with phantoms you must establish that no such person exists at that address. My approach was direct. I simply rang the doorbell and spoke to the Wilsons. Since they don’t know the Joneses and have lived at the home (typically) for over 10 years it’s a good bet that the Joneses are phantoms. With the internet and our current resources you can zoom in on potential phantoms using resources such as Reverse Lookup directories that give you the phone numbers of whoever lives at 300 Elm Street. It’s a bit tedious to work your way through the official Voter Roll, but remember that changing a swing voter from Democrat to Republican can cost more than $50 in advertising, phone calls, etc. per vote while eliminating a phantom drives a stake through the heart of someone who always votes Democrat and cannot be swayed since he’s bought and paid for. There are other resources out there such as marketing lists, the U.S. Census, etc. I am not sure exactly how to use these resources, but a bit of experimenting will tell you what works best. Ask a friendly Private Investigator how he would uncover phantoms to get more ideas.

Once you have identified phantom voters, what do you do about it? Well, you can approach the Registrar of Voters, however, if the Registrar is a Democrat who is well aware of the scam, then expect to be stonewalled. You can call a press conference or create publicity (you know how much cockroaches hate the light). You could make sure that every phantom voter has a subscription to the LA Times, NY Times, and Rolling Stone. Maybe when the bills come back undeliverable these publications will get interested in the problem of phantom voters.

A bold approach would be to identify a street with lots of phantoms registered to vote and follow the mail truck on the day when Sample Ballots are delivered. Once you see the winos stealing ballots, you simple follow them back to the perp’s headquarters. With luck this may be the local Democratic campaign HQ, a union hall, or wealthy Democrat’s residence. Be sure to videotape the ballot theft and delivery. By the way, when you follow perps it’s a good idea to have video cameras with telephoto lenses, lots of tape, spare batteries, cell phone with emergency numbers, and a tool that punches large holes at 100 meters. Remember that vote fraud perps are sophisticated criminals who may not take kindly to surveillance and exposure. Go in teams so that you can follow perps switching out the following vehicle to prevent them from knowing that they are followed. Get in the spirit and have some fun being a good citizen.

Once you have identified specific perps you can contact appropriate law enforcement agencies. For example, creating phantom voters involves mail fraud, identity fraud, violating state voting laws, defrauding all voters in a precinct or district, etc. That last one is my favorite. When I think of a class action suit against a union with deep pockets on behalf of 150,000 voters in a Congressional district, I get goose bumps. Wow, we could bankrupt the vote fraud scam artists and provide a payout to every voter at the same time! We might even become popular.

One of the most effective scams that I have seen is where the Election Judge and Election Clerks are all Democrats and they are paid based on how many ballots they deliver. They simply wait until the end of the day, close the doors, and cast a ballot for every registered voter who did not show up. This is far cheaper than buying box lunches, renting vans, and pushing people to vote. In a precinct in Port Arthur, Texas in the 1998 election I watched a precinct that had a 110% turnout in the 1996 election. How many voters showed up? Zero! However, when the votes were counted that precinct once again had over 100% turnout.

BE THERE! For example, in Texas every candidate can send Poll Watchers to precincts in the district where that candidate is running. Be prepared for a confrontation with the crooked Election Judge if you show up as a Poll Watcher since you are threatening his paycheck! However, in Texas the Secretary of State has become much more supportive of Poll Watchers and has cracked down on crooked election officials. In fact, the Election Judge can be arrested on the spot by an investigator from the Secretary of State’s office if the irregularities are extensive.

An even better way to be there is to volunteer as a Republican Alternate Election Judge. In that case, you receive training in election law and arrive as an official. It’s very difficult for the crooks to throw you out. However, once again, be prepared for a confrontation. This is an ideal assignment for some of you macho guys to take on. My experience has shown that you can seriously disrupt vote fraud if you are an Alternate Election Judge. Just know the law and follow it to the letter. Be nice but firm about following the rulebook. You need to know the appropriate state and federal officials to call and have their numbers with you on Election Day.

Better yet, go undercover and register as a Democrat. This is a difficult assignment which takes years to really pay off, but has rich rewards. Just steep yourself in Democrat-think and get in there and volunteer. Eventually you will find yourself in a position to blow the whistle on vote fraud or other illegal activities. Be sure to keep records and gather evidence until the time comes to bust the perps. Be especially mindful to get the goods on the Big Fish. Oh yeah, don’t tell anyone you are doing this. Perfect cover and security is assured when ONLY YOU KNOW.

In the 2000 election an attorney that I know flew to Florida to watch the recount. After a while he noticed something like snow on the carpet under the chair of one of the ladies counting paper ballots. Upon closer examination he discovered that she had sharpened a fingernail to make a punch and had punched out HUNDREDS of chads for Gore. This is the source of the “confusing, overvoted, butterfly ballots” canard that showed up in the press. Luckily, the attorney grabbed James Baker and promptly stopped the recount. Other famous cases involve crooked workers putting the same ballot through the counting machine repeatedly ( I have that on video), punching holes in ballots before handing them out to voters (Yup, saw pre-punched ballots handed out in Houston in the 2000 election), Democrat judges taking Ballot Boxes home to punch holes, etc. If the ballots are paper you must find a way to observe them until they are properly counted.

Once again, BE THERE. Crying about vote fraud the day after the election is useless. Get out there and volunteer as a Poll Watcher, Election Judge, or in some capacity where you can make a difference. With today’s technology you could use hidden video cameras to capture proof, of ballot tampering, however, recording devices are ILLEGAL in Texas precincts. Check your state laws and penalties before going this route. In some cases, the video camera could be in a remote location recording and observing through a window into the place where ballot tampering is taking place. For example, you might be able to record precinct workers opening the Ballot Box and tampering with ballots.

There may be a way to use invisible ink to prove ballot tampering. For example, you could vote your ballot, mark it with invisible ink, and shoot a photo while still in the booth of the ballot showing how you voted. Later using the invisible ink for identification you could retrieve your ballot and see if it had been tampered with. It would be a good idea for state or federal officials to run a sting with marked ballots and RFID chips to see where ballots were when someone tampered with them. RFID chips or GPS can also be used to record where ballot boxes are taken.

In the 1998 election one of our Poll Watchers at an Early Voting location noticed that the Democrat clerks were steering all elderly and confused voters to one machine at the end of the line. Upon checking the voting machine he discovered that a perforated plastic strip had been inserted into the machine. If you voted Democrat the hole could be punched. However, if you tried to vote Republican the stylus could not punch all the way through the plastic strip and you ended up with PREGNANT CHADS.

BE THERE, be observant, be cynical, be suspicious. If there’s a way to scam the vote, they will try it.

In the 2000 election I stood behind the Democrat Election Judge as he told a newly-minted citizen which hole to punch for a straight Democratic ticket and stayed to watch the voter meekly comply. Since I speak Spanish, I told the Judge that what he just did was illegal. He looked like he might faint.

In addition to BEING THERE, you must speak the language. Determine what languages are spoken at your chosen precinct and recruit Poll Watchers or other helpers who speak those languages.

The time to combat vote fraud is NOW. Get the Official Voter Roll and start looking for felons, dead people, phantoms, 20 people living at one address, etc. Using sampling techniques start auditing door-to-door. Interview people registered to vote. For example, after Bob Dornan lost his seat to Loretta Sanchez, his volunteers got over 500 people to sign affidavits stating that they voted illegally (they were non-citizens who had been pressured to vote by Hermandad Nacional Mexicano, a FEDERAL CONTRACTOR operating on taxpayer funds!!!). I learned a lot from personally interviewing people registered to vote. Just ask questions; you will be amazed when they unburden themselves and tell the truth.

Get involved as a Poll Watcher, Election Judge, Precinct Clerk, or infiltrate the other party. I know from personal experience that you CAN make a difference that will win elections.

Volunteer — after reading your post, it sounded all so familiar that I had to look up your location on your home page. Aha! Just as I thought. WISCONSIN. I am an election judge in Wisconsin and what you say is entirely true. We cannot ask if the registrant is a citizen. We cannot ask to SEE their ID if they are using their DL or their SS# number to register. The registrant is supposed to SAY their number and we write it down — taking their word for it. Nobody knows if it is a real number until it fails to come up when the County clerk tries to enter it into the permanent list. Of course, by then the new voter’s vote has already been cast and counted.

It doesn’t matter if a voter is kicked off the poll list between elections because everybody can re-register at the polls at the next election.

In 2008, I got reamed out by a voter and reported to my city clerk because I made a sign that said the new registerents had to provide their DL number is they had one, and the last 4 numbers of the SS # if they didn’t have a DL number or a State ID #. I had double checked the content of my signs IN ADVANCE of the ELECTION 4 times to make sure that they were legal, but I was told to remove the signs while the Democrats smirked.

I complained to the State Board that I was required to sign off on each new registration and that, in my view, that made me responsible for false information. THeir response? I’m not responsible.

In my view, the Wisconsin voter laws are a sham and have so many loopholes in them (put there by Dems) that they are worthless. Many, many people lbrag that it’s “OK” for students to vote at home and at school; for vacation home owners to vote at botheir their winter residences and their summer residences.

We have a law that was supposed to have closed those loopholes by 2008, but it is not even near to implementation. I’m close to quitting, but I’ll go one more round in 2010.

Oh, yes — felony convictions. At least now the county clerk provides us with a list of convicted felons from our municipality to cross check — but they wouldn’t show up in another county.

Good job! Here is a piece I posted right after the Florida debacle in 2000 that was dedicated to the ballot problem.

Ballot Transparency to Eliminate Fraudulent Counts

Voters have read and seen all sorts of assurances that the new touch-screen balloting systems are fool proof, tamper proof, and nothing to worry about. Many, including those who are familiar with the technology, are not at all reassured.

The concerns are on two levels. First, from the perspective of those not familiar with the technology, it is a device whose inner workings and inherent security they cannot possibly understand. If they can't understand it, how can they be assured that it is honest? Second, those who DO understand signal processing, software, and communications technology know that is far too easy to defraud the system in a way that would be irreversible and undetected. Either way, touch-screens are a loser.

Now, as users of ATMs, cell phones, the Internet, and other electronic media, it might at first seem a little strange that so many people have such concerns. Upon further consideration however, the key distinctions between voting and a service handling mere money become obvious:

· Customers have a choice of banking vendors. Citizens don’t have a choice of governments.

· There is a major difference between mere financial assets at risk, and a risk to individual liberty.

Governments are monopolies. One can go down the street to another bank and take the offending bank to court. An evil government can land you in prison (or worse) because they ARE the court. The stakes associated with voter fraud are far higher than with an ATM. So is the temptation to defraud the system.

Necessary and Sufficient

So, given that we are still smarting over hanging chads, what are the alternatives? Let’s begin to answer that question by looking at the requirements.

· The system has to be simple and familiar to the voter.

· There must be NO SOFTWARE involved, because it is too easy to change.

· The system must be capable of completely manual operation.

· The count must be capable of being validated by all parties involved and each count must be separate and distinct.

· There must be no possibility to count a ballot twice or "lose" counts along the way.

Electronic sensors and interlocks are permissible as long as they can be duplicated manually.

Here is my proposal for a system that meets these requirements:

At the Polling Place

1. Ballot boxes must be preprinted, serialized and tracked by a physical chain-of-custody document.

2. The box must be destroyed to be opened.

3. The box must be locked under a ballot receiving machine.

4. The ballot receiving machine at the polling place should read the box number and record it on the ballot in a fill-in-the-box pattern on the back side. Note that one could do the same manually under observation.

5. The voter completes the standard optical ballot and delivers it to the receiving machine. Note that the optical pattern is a perfect bridge between human and machine: It is readable by people for manual counting but does not require an optical character reading machine that needs cameras or software.

6. The machine prints the box number on the back of every ballot it accepts with a fill-in-the-box pattern. This too can be both read and performed manually. Then a dry film coating (basically an adhesive or heat activated tape) is applied to the ballot on the way into the sealed ballot box.

7. The coating is transparent but reveals a "watermark" when exposed to UV light. The ballot is now tamperproof.

8. The receiving machine totals the number of ballots in every box. The total is read manually and a receipt is delivered to each political party and candidate detailing the box numbers, precincts, and tally of ballots in every uniquely identified box. Thus parties know the EXACT number of ballots cast in every precinct and in every box. Every box is signed. All parties can thus run check sums at the processing centers and verify the chain-of-custody.

9. Representatives of all Parties check the box tallies before the boxes leave the polling place.

10. If they agree on its accuracy, they record the ballot tally on the box using a fill-in-the-box pattern, initial it, and put a similar dry film over the number.

At the Ballot Counting Center

1. The total of the ballots on the box is read by the counting machine. It would be very similar to the existing optical reader and might only require very minor modifications.

2. The counting machine reads the box code for precinct and ballot count or accepts that data input from a keypad read off the box by at least two witnesses with keys. The machine will not count the ballots without the UV visible watermark on the ballot over the votes AND matching precinct codes on the box and the ballot.

3. The machine halts and will not display the vote totals if the number of ballots recorded on the box and the number it counts do not match.

4. The ballots leave the counting machine get a NEW ballot box. Counted ballots are stamped again with output box number, recoated, and then deposited into the new sealed ballot box.

5. The new coating was applied in case of a recount, thus each ballot maintains a recount history.

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