Democrats like to note that in-person voting fraud is rare, and they are right. This argument is usually made to point out that voter identification laws are unnecessary, but they are wrong.
Ballot security is important and voter ID laws have been found constitutional when partnered with free voter identification cards for those who can possibly afford a piece of identification needed for almost every aspect of life.
But if we are truly interested in free and fair elections, we might want to start looking at some of the other ways that elections are manipulated.
We all know about what is happening in North Carolina where a shady operator may have been responsible for paying a woman to “harvest” ballots for the candidate. Some voters have acknowledged they handed over incomplete ballots to the woman who may have either filled out the ballots or discarded Democratic ballots.
The decision to seat the winner could come down to a new election or the U.S. House of Representatives where members serve as the “judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members.”
In North Carolina, this practice is illegal altogether, but this same practice is completely legal in California.
Oddly enough, California saw a massive uptick in actions just like this. Neal Kelley, the registrar for voters in southern California’s Orange County, told Fox News, “Anecdotally there was a lot of evidence that ballot harvesting was going on,”
He added there were “250,000” votes by mail drop-off ballots, saying, “People were carrying in stacks of 100 and 200 of them. We had had multiple people calling to ask if these people were allowed to do this.”
The media seems less interested in this story, even though late-arriving ballots changed many of the results from the night of the midterm elections from Republican to Democrat. There is not one report of the call going the other way. Not one.
In Alabama, there are multiple instances of ballot fraud using absentee ballots, yet the practice continues.
Is it rare? Sure.
Does it impact elections? Yes.
You want to have elections that Americans across the board will trust, then you need to create a more reasonable and responsible system.
As a nation, we should have nationwide in-person early voting with a legal ID and do away with balloting via mail.
@TheDaleJackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 am weekdays on WVNN
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.