A Federal Election Commission (FEC) commissioner disputed President Donald Trumps charge that voting by mail leads to fraud.
Labeling the notion that voting by mail causes fraud a “conspiracy theory,” Obama-appointed commissioner Ellen Weintraub wrote in a series of social media posts that vote-by-mail has expanded across the country with little negative effect.
She cited a slew of news articles and opinions from journalists. She also pointed to a 2012 report from the Voting Rights Project that found 491 cases of absentee ballot fraud between 2000 and 2012 and a paper (pdf) from Lorraine Minnite, a professor of political science at Rutgers University-Camden, that argued most instances of whats described as voter fraud are actually “simple mistakes by election officials or voters.”
A third reference was made to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York Universitys School of Law, which said in an analysis it was “debunking the voter fraud myth.”
Weintraub, a Democrat, is one of dozens of FEC commissioners.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a watchdog group, told The Epoch Times that “experts agree that absentee and mail in voting is the vehicle for voting that is most susceptible to fraud.”
Fitton pointed to several sources including The Pew Center on the States-commissioned research in 2012 (pdf) that found approximately 24 million, or one of every eight, voter registrations in the country were no longer valid or were significantly inaccurate. That included more than 1.8 million dead people listed as voters.
He also noted that the 2005 report (pdf) presented by James Baker and Jimmy Carter, co-chairs of the commission on Federal Election Reform, said voting by mail could see people come under pressure to vote for certain candidates. The method also “increases the risk of fraud,” it stated.
The Carter Center, established by the former president, acknowledged the findings this year but released a statement from Carter in which he called on expansion of voting by mail. Voting by mail can be done well if certain safeguards were in place, the center said.
Judicial Watch last year found millions of registrations above the number of citizens old enough to vote living in certain areas. The organization previously reached a settlement with California and Los Angeles County to remove up to 1.5 million inactive registered voters.
“It stands to reason when youre not voting at a polling place, and you have ballots that are being voted on lord knows where and transmitted through the mail, it increases the opportunity for voter fraud and intimidation,” Fitton said.
Fitton accused Democrat officials of wanting to be able to “steal elections,” a similar charge to statements made by Trump.
He cited opposition to identification requirements at polls as another example. The Carter-Baker report recommended a uniform voter identification system.
Trump this week said mail-in ballots will be “substantially fraudulent,” warning of mailboxes being robbed and ballot forgery.
All registered voters are sent ballots in a few states. California officials are doing that this year for the presidential election. Trump criticized Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying the ballots would be “folloRead More From Source
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The Epoch Times
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