Confirm the eligibility of all voters -- before they vote

St. Paul Pioneer Press ^ | 05/26/2012 | Andy Cilek

[rhema]

Let us bury, once and for all, the unsupported assertions that Minnesota's election system is the best in the nation and there is no evidence of ineligible voting.

Consider that on Election Day in 2008, more than 500,000 people walked into polling places, filled out pieces of paper called Voter Registration Applications, and then voted. The state treated these individuals differently from those of you who registered prior to the election. Specifically, your registration information was compared to the Department of Public Safety records indicating you are a citizen and are not a felon with unrestored voting rights. Additionally, your information was checked against court records to confirm that you are not under a guardianship order that has revoked your right to vote. Other checks were also done including confirming your residence in the precinct by sending a post card via the U.S. Post Office to see if it could be delivered to you.

In contrast to the process your registration was subjected to, none of those confirmation checks were done on the registrations of the half million Election Day registrants. Yet the votes of those registrants were counted.

That fact raises questions like, "How many of those 500,000 voters could not (after the election) be determined to be eligible?" and "How many of those voters have been found to be ineligible?" Sadly, the Secretary of State's office refuses to analyze its data and give the public the answers to those questions.

Fortunately, though, private citizen groups have worked to overcome the lack of cooperation from the Secretary of State in order to assess the magnitude of Minnesota's open door for ineligible voting.

The tip of the ineligible voting iceberg includes a recent finding by the Minnesota Voters Alliance that more than 48,000 of those half million election day registrants in 2008 have not been confirmed as eligible, even as late as three years later. Minnesota Majority has identified by name more than 1,000 ineligible felons who voted in the 2008 general election. And the Minnesota Freedom Council has uncovered ineligible persons under guardianship in Crow Wing County whom the State permitted to register and vote in 2008.

A particularly egregious and illuminating case comes from Harris in 2006. At one polling place, approximately 10 individuals registered on Election Day all using the identical address, that of a laundromat in the same block as the polling place. When election judges challenged the eligibility of those people, the Chisago County Auditor told the judges that there was nothing that could be done to prevent or otherwise segregate the suspicious ballots.

That's the law in Minnesota. A person, whether citizen or non-citizen, can walk into a polling place, fill out a form with valid or invalid information including their name, have a registered voter vouch that they live at the stated address, vote, and disappear into the distance. Tracking them down later is nearly impossible, especially if a false name is used.

But there is good news by way of the Minnesota Constitution, which says clearly in Article VII, Section 1, that ineligible "persons shall not be entitled or permitted to vote at any election in this state." That plain text means that the state has a constitutional duty to confirm the eligibility of every voter prior to "permitting" him or her to vote.

And there is more good news. On Feb. 28, the Minnesota Voters Alliance filed a federal lawsuit asking the court to enforce the Minnesota Constitution by directing the state to confirm the eligibility of Election Day registrants just as it does for early registrants, that is, before counting their ballots.

And the best news is that Minnesota can have both election integrity and Election Day registration. Identification information such as name, driver's license number, and address provided by voters who register on Election Day can be immediately confirmed using Internet connections to the state's databases. And for those relatively few situations in which the voter is unable to provide all of the information needed to register at the polling place, provisional ballots can be filled out and counted later after the confirmation is complete.

Public confidence in the integrity of our elections will be restored when no person is allowed to vote before his or her eligibility is confirmed.

Andy Cilek is president of the Minnesota Voters Alliance, which describes itself as a multi-partisan, nonprofit 501(c)4 tax exempt organization not affiliated with any political party or organization.

[rhema]

The tip of the ineligible voting iceberg includes a recent finding by the Minnesota Voters Alliance that more than 48,000 of those half million election day registrants in 2008 have not been confirmed as eligible, even as late as three years later. Minnesota Majority has identified by name more than 1,000 ineligible felons who voted in the 2008 general election. And the Minnesota Freedom Council has uncovered ineligible persons under guardianship in Crow Wing County whom the State permitted to register and vote in 2008.

A particularly egregious and illuminating case comes from Harris in 2006. At one polling place, approximately 10 individuals registered on Election Day all using the identical address, that of a laundromat in the same block as the polling place. When election judges challenged the eligibility of those people, the Chisago County Auditor told the judges that there was nothing that could be done to prevent or otherwise segregate the suspicious ballots.

[Diogenesis]

This Nation has rolled over for the dead,
the illegals, the ineligible, and the invaders.

This must be how Nations die.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks rhema.

...on Election Day in 2008, more than 500,000 people walked into polling places, filled out pieces of paper called Voter Registration Applications, and then voted. The state treated these individuals differently from those of you who registered prior to the election. Specifically, your registration information was compared to the Department of Public Safety records indicating you are a citizen and are not a felon with unrestored voting rights. Additionally, your information was checked against court records to confirm that you are not under a guardianship order that has revoked your right to vote. Other checks were also done including confirming your residence in the precinct by sending a post card via the U.S. Post Office to see if it could be delivered to you. In contrast to the process your registration was subjected to, none of those confirmation checks were done on the registrations of the half million Election Day registrants. Yet the votes of those registrants were counted.

[rhema]

Minnesota Voters Alliance

[CPT Clay]

From the land of Al Franken.

[Lady Lucky]

Here in PA, lawyers are drooling in anticipation. Word is that a photo ID will be required to vote in November. If you don’t have one it’ll cost you around $13. People who can’t afford it (or claim they can’t) will be lining up to disrupt the polling places, to file suit, to claim the election invalid.

[rhema]

From the land of Al Franken.

. . . occupying his office courtesy of the felon vote.

[rbg81]

Gee, only 48,000 unverified voters. This is how Franken got elected.

[InvisibleChurch]

Confirm the eligibilty of all those running for office - before they are voted upon.

[The_Media_never_lie]

The number of fifth columnists now must exceed the number of patriots in our country.

[gunnyg]

“Confirm the eligibility of all voters — before they vote”
*********************

Good idea, and we should do so immediately after the eligibility of each candidate is confirmed, and reconfirmed!
Dick G
aka: Gunny G
Semper Watching!
*****

[bcsco]

This is a ping list promoting Immigration Enforcement and Congressional Reform.
If you wish to be added or removed from this ping list, please contact me.

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[exit82]

According to his, voter turnout was over 2.9 million for the 2008 Election:

http://elections.gmu.edu/Turnout_2008G.html

500,000 people walk-in and register—that is 17%!

Of that 500,000, about 10% were ineligible, almost 1.7% of the total.

Ever notice how many elections in the past decade or so have been CLOSE?

[pieceofthepuzzle]

Trying to make this about race and disenfranchisement is absurd and blatantly dishonest. Try going into any inner city business anywhere in the country, minority or non-minority, and cashing a check or passing a credit card without showing ID. The truth is that the disenfranchisement is what is happening to those who vote legally and have their vote diluted by fraudulent votes.

If they are going to let anyone vote, without eligibility verification, maybe we should all go vote in Minnesota in the next election and dilute the votes of the liberals there.

[The Great RJ]

Suppose you are a citizen of Minnesota and an eligible voter but now on November 6, 2012 you have been deceased for six months but not yet purged from the voter lists or state data bases. What is to stop someone from combing the obituaries and showing up at the polls to vote in your name? You are a registered Minnesota voter and now it's one hour before the polls close and word is leaked you haven't yet voted...what is to stop someone from claiming to be you and voting? Verifying the identity of EVERY voter at the polls with a photo ID is the ONLY way to stop voter fraud.

However, Minnesota also has poor record of keeping the integrity of ballots cast. Remember the razor thin US Senate election in Minnesota between Al Franken and Norm Coleman where the election was decided by less than 300 votes? Despite neck and neck counts from nearly every precinct, boxes of ballots were suddenly found that had been "lost" in car trunks or polling place cabinets that just "happened" to have every ballot be one for Franken. In 2010 the governor's race between liberal Mark Dayton and conservative Republican Tom Emmer was decided by only 9,000 votes. My bet is that there were nearly 9,000 dead people and other ineligible voters that cast ballots in that race too.

[MNnice]

On hand to ensure the fraud in Minnesota is Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, part of George Soros’ Secretary of State Project, put into office using the same fraudulent means, to make sure the Left controls the vote count.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/a-soros-story-recounts-coincidences-and-connections/

[Texas Fossil]

Yep, shades of “Landslide” Lyndon Johnson. Remember him? He stole his first US Senate seat from Coke Stevenson with the help of George Pharr in Duval county TX. In Box 13 in that county they voted the graveyard in alphabetic order.

Lyndon was never held accountable. George Pharr was finally convicted on IRS charges. Nothing more.

[DaveA37]

Why do you suppose the voters in Wisconsin WANT voter ID BEFORE ELECTIONS? We tried it, only to have the damn liberal judges of Madistan veto it and block passing it saying it prevents soooooooooooo many others from voting. BS!!!!! There has been more than adequate time for any/all whom wish to get their voter ID in plenty of time for the upcoming elections. The number one reason they don’t want voter ID is so they can cheat against relecting Gov. Walker. They will do anything to cheat to ge their way.

[Tunehead54]

"Ever notice how many elections in the past decade or so have been CLOSE?"

---

Its the democrats one area of expertise. Its a lot of work to manufacture ballots and so they just "make" enough to do the job - "luckily" its relatively easy to find uncounted boxes of ballots as necessary for the close races. ;-(