How to Commit Voter Fraud in Ohio
Disclaimer: Nothing in this article should be considered an encouragement to commit voter fraud. The intention of this satirical how-to guide is to expose the flaws in Ohio’s election laws and to call for reform of a system that makes it incredibly easy to vote fraudulently in this important swing state. Voter fraud is a felony in Ohio.
As a precinct election official, I have seen exceptionally professional behavior by my fellow poll workers and county board of election officials. However, they are at the mercy of loose state election laws. Though Ohio has a Republican governor and legislature, they backed down on their efforts to pass a voter ID law and refused to reform the state’s no-fault absentee voting rules, making the commission of voter fraud a relatively simple matter.
“Providing voters with free, fair, open, and honest elections ensures voter trust in the process of choosing our political leadership and the direction of our community’s future. Voters who have confidence in the elections process are more likely to continue to vote.” (Ohio Precinct Election Official Manual)
As a tribute to my state’s open invitation to voter fraud, I present:
The Idiot’s Guide to Committing Voter Fraud in Ohio
While all of these methods are illegal, some are more complicated than others. I’ve arranged them into three levels, depending on their complexity and outside resource requirements.
Novice Level:
- Vote for a friend or family member you know won’t show up at the polls on election day.
If you decide that one vote just isn’t enough to show your love for your favorite candidate on Election Day, why not “help” a sick (or lazy) friend or family member you know won’t be voting? This could be your roommate, your brother who hates politics and never bothers to vote, or your grandfather, who is bedridden with Alzheimer’s disease. Fortunately, Ohio makes it easy and you won’t even need anything as complicated as a fake ID.
Here are some acceptable forms of ID permitted in Ohio:
* A cable or cell phone bill (electronically transmitted or paper copy)
* A bank statement
* A government check (even an out-of-state government check will do) or a paycheck
* Other government document. This can be a school report card, college transcript from a state university (in or out of Ohio), or divorce papers.
As long as you can come up with a document that matches the current name and address on file at the board of elections, you can vote for someone else in Ohio.
I wonder if you show up with a Obama t-shirt, you will get scrutinized more or less ? (a O t-shirt doesn’t mean you are actually a democrat)
I think that method might backfire. Electioneering within a certain number of feet of a polling place is illegal. A t-shirt with a candidate’s picture on it SHOULD count as electioneering. But you never know, with the unions being in charge of the polling places.
That’s a restriction that doesn’t apply here in Toledo. Routinely violated by one party — only one to show up where I vote. And I’ll give you a hint, it’s in Marcy Kaptur’s district.
Your remedy is to apply to be a poll observer. You can then ask the presiding judge to enforce the rule prohibiting electioneering if it’s a big problem. If that doesn’t do the trick, you can call the county BOE.
Ohio’s Secretary of State, John Husted, was just on the radio being asked about this. He said that Ohio’s election process has the dubious distinction of being more heavily scrutinized by the Federal government and news media than any other state’s.
This situation has only developed since the Republican sweep of statewide offices in 2010; when Democrat Ted Strickland was governor, Dem Jennifer “Miss” Brunner was SecState, and both were vowing to move Heaven, Earth, and a big chunk of Hell to re-elect Obama, the Feds didn’t care. (The fact that they did so as far back as 2009 is one of the big reasons we Buckeyes pink-slipped those two idiots in ’10.)
Husted also stated that the Ohio state government’s hands were tied due to the refusal of the U.S. Department of Justice to either allow the state to remove known invalid voter IDs (dead people, etc.) from the rolls, or enforce the kind of voter ID laws that the legislature was considering.
In fact, Attorney General Holder threatened legal action against Ohio if the legislature passed such a law, going back to 2009, and continues to do so today. Husted has repeatedly contacted Holder, both by mail and by other means, to get “clarification”, which Holder refuses to supply. All he says is, “try it and we’ll destroy you in Federal court”.
Husted, and his boss, Governor Kasich, are saying “bring it”. The legislature, not so much.
BTW, when I vote here in southeast Ohio, I use my driver’s license, with my photo and street address on it, for ID.
cheers
eon
eon said: “Husted also stated that the Ohio state government’s hands were tied due to the refusal of the U.S. Department of Justice to either allow the state to remove known invalid voter IDs (dead people, etc.) from the rolls, or enforce the kind of voter ID laws that the legislature was considering.”
Husted said that he sandbagged the voter ID law because he was afraid of Comrade Holder???
No, the legislature did, in 2009. Before Kasich & Husted even got there. And at that time, they got no support from the firm of Strickland & Brunner, who basically told them, “if you piss off our President and his AG, you’re on your own”.
Since then, Husted has been trying to get the bill reintroduced. Kasich will sign it, and both he and Husted would just love to have this fight with Holder, in the courts, in the press, right out in front of God and everybody.
But so far, the legislature has refused to reintroduce it. They’re scared of Holder, scared of Obama, and scared of the press. And it is an election year.
After January, things may be different, no matter who wins the White House. Several leading GOP members of the sitting legislature got the surprise of their lives when they were beaten in the primaries by “dark horses”, several of them Tea Party candidates. And they’ve been making considerable noise about voting registration “irregularities” across the state. If they win in November (as seems likely, considering the districts they are running in), look for the bill to be re-introduced in the new session with a lot of fresh faces co-sponsoring it.
Meanwhile, the Dems haven’t been resting. Between ACORN and SEIU, they’ve gotten Issue 2 on the ballot for November. It’s a warmed-over version of a redistricting bill they’ve tried several times to get on the books, replacing the present system. It would establish a “State Redistricting Committee”, supposedly non-partisan, with the members appointed for life by the Governor. Needless to say, they’re counting on a Democratic governor doing the appointing. And oh yes, a Governor can remove a member “for cause”- subject to State Senate approval.
Meaning, a Dem Governor can remove any member appointed by a Republican. With the State Senate (which tends to be Democratic controlled, nine elections out of ten) approving his doing so. And preventing any nasty GOP type from undoing the mischief down the road.
They claim it will “end gerrymandering”. Right- in the sense that henceforth, only the Democratic Party will get to gerrymander districts.
The Democrats understand how important Ohio is in national elections. Which probably explains why they work extra hard to maintain control of Hamilton, Franklin, and Cuyahoga Counties (Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, respectively), and when they have control of the legislature, state house, and SecState’s offices all at once, tend to use them to attack anyone they even suspect of not being a “progressive” in roughly the way Huey Long used to go after anybody he regarded as a “fat cat”. (Jennifer Brunner’s record, and rhetoric, is an instructive study in this.)
I’ve lived in Ohio all my life, and come from a hardcore Democrat family. (My late mother was a friend of former Dem Governor Frank Lausche, among other things.) So I know a bit about how politics works in this state.
From seeing it at close enough hand to notice how much it looks like Chicago’s, at times. Especially in the “3C” cities. One of which, Columbus, is the state capital.
cheers
eon
“Since then, Husted has been trying to get the bill reintroduced. Kasich will sign it, and both he and Husted would just love to have this fight with Holder, in the courts, in the press, right out in front of God and everybody.”
Sorry eon, Husted doesn’t get a pass on this.
SOS Husted’s statement about photo ID (from the SOS website):
“I want to be perfectly clear, when I began working with the General Assembly to improve Ohio’s elections system it was never my intent to reject valid votes. I would rather have no bill than one with a rigid photo identification provision that does little to protect against fraud and excludes legally registered voters’ ballots from counting. It is in the hands of the General Assembly.”
Alas, when you need a Lion all you ever get is a politician.
They all suck.
They like not working for a living.
Interesting theories. If you had any documented cases of this happening, it would be great. You could send it off to that liberal rag, the NY Times! But they’d just probably hide it, don’t you think?
Voter fraud should not be tolerated. Eligible people should vote.
Voter fraud may turn out to be the most contentious issue in the coming election. It is noteworthy that HBO produced a series written by Aaron Sorkin, The Newsroom, that ended the Sunday before the DNC, and which had a fitting climax alleging that the Republican Party was going to push the issue of voter fraud, which would prevent the right to vote of an elderly black lady in the South. This series was obviously directed at independents and undecided voters of either party, for the hero (played by Jeff Daniels) was a moderate Republican who is intent on restoring America to its position of world moral leadership. See my blog http://clarespark.com/2012/06/26/aaron-sorkins-scottish-blood/. (He gave both his hero and heroine Scottish clan names.)
I thought voters stuck a finger in indelible ink to make it impossible to vote twice. Or have I missed something?
Unfortunately, strong restrictions on voting ID are now seen as a Republican power play to disenfranchise legitimate Democrat voters. As long as that’s the case, don’t expect much to change.
“…strong restrictions…”. Bullshit meter off scale.
And such Micro Targeted “concern”…
What are you talking about? This article is ABOUT Voter ID and restrictions therof, or the lack of them in this case and how that opens Ohio to voter fraud. The fact that Voting reform has become a political football IS making it harder to find a good middle ground that both protects the integrity of our voting system and does not systematically disenfranchise legitimate voters (yes, both side have a point here).
If a comment on the subject at hand trips your BS meter, then friend, you must be up to your ears in the smelly brown stuff.
Then define “strong restrictions”.
Nah, Mr Lucky justs gets hypertensive thinking about Democrats actually having the right to vote.
How nice, the bullshit showed up in person. Galore!
Hey Twit Lick, should Gazans vote here too? How about in your district?
Gee whiz, why not a Modern Liberal fundraising drive so as to provide all with acceptable ID’s in all states? Including others! Couldn’t cost that much, couple bottles of booze from the Jay-Z 0.1% party.
“Nah”.
I want ones that make it hard to commit voter fraud but also easy for any legitimate voter to get on the roll. That’s admittedly a tall order, but we don’t elect people to make EASY decisions.
I think a strong component would probably be an increase in behind the scenes functions. Hiring someone to remove anyone from the roll who has officially died would eliminate “voting the graveyard”. Cross-referencing voting databases would prevent people from voting in multiple electoral divisions. An even simpler system would be to do what is done at certain nightclubs, stamping a person’s hand with indelible ink after they vote – and turning away anyone who already has a stamp.
This would all make voting fraud much harder, without any systems anyone could consider “onerous”.
Ok. That’s a start.
But why the usual picture ID? It’s so widespread as a means of identification in almost any other identification process that it begs the question, why not?
With interested parties banding together, and hell, some foundation money, etc., providing transportation, whatever is needed, maybe a card issued just for voting, all this with the same requirements as any other ID process, well, why isn’t this done?
It’s not a left – right thing, that’s not needed. This can be done.
Fairness is not impossible. But fraud in any case should not be a political football. Get the parties out of it.
I completely agree. Unfortunately, that’s what it’s become.
Hopefully, once the current political cycle has run it’s course, we can get back to this and institute some real and sensible reform.
In 2008, our former illustrious Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, abetted voter fraud (including ACORN)and the 6th District Court of Appeals gave its blessing. In addition, out-of-state Dem voters took up a temporary residence for the sole purpose of fraudulently voting for their boy Obama; taking advantage of a huge loophole in Ohio law. Ohio requires that you live within its borders for 30 days prior to registration with the intent to stay after the election. They voted and left the state.
When I vote, I present my driver’s license (picture ID) with my address. Voter verification scares the hell out of Dems, which is why they rely so heavily on illegals, dead people, and fabricated names.
It (vote fraud) really is incredibly easy, and the Dems are doing it all over the U.S. They simply register ANYONE, then request absentee ballots for them. The address on the voter registration affidavit (a P.O. Box, apartment house or housing project)is one accessible to Democrat employees, who take the absentee ballots when mailed, fill them out,put them in return envelope and send them back. No one is going to check to see if the signature on the ballot return envelope matches the one on the voter registration affidavit. Federal “Voting Rights” law has prevented states from including on voter registration affidavits a requirement for a specific place and date of birth or naturalization. Therefore, it is now virtually impossible to identify as fraudulent a registration of an illegal alien or any other Democrat voter.
This may be how Hamilton County, Ohio, reports more votes than there are registered voters in the county.
Another way to commit voter fraud in Ohio (and elsewhere): College students opting to call their collegiate address their “home,” allowing them to vote at college and then also voting “absentee” at their real home address. County Boards of Election don’t have the capability of policing this kind of effort.
Also, what about all the nursing home residents who were mailed those absentee ballots but are really not competent? Who completes their ballots? Certainly not themselves.
I think this is a totally irresponsible article. I live in Ohio and know well about our problems so now you want to give the crooks detailed info?
There’s nothing here they don’t already know and do already.
Register non-resident college students who are attending school in Ohio.
Don’t forget the foreign students! If they’re not comfortable checking the “U.S. citizen” box on the registration form, leave it blank–a court in Iowa ruled registration forms where the “citizenship status” was left blank could not be interpreted to mean the voter was a “non-citizen” and had to be processed as if they had checked “U.S.”
Yeah, it’s a felony that can negatively affect your legal resident status, but that’s only if you get caught and prosecuted, which you won’t because that would be raaaaaacist!
Voter Fraud is alive and well in Santa Monica, California.
Here in Santa Monica, California, you are discouraged from showing ANY ID. At the last election, I handed the lady my drivers license, and she got upset. No! No! You don’t need ID here. Just tell us your name.
Anyone can walk up, give a name, and if it’s on their books, you sign by that name, and go vote for that name.
I can’t make up my mind about this issue. Lots of older black folks born in the rural south have no birth certificates, and requiring someone to present a state ID that requires a fee to obtain smacks of a poll tax. It would be best to leave the issue alone, and try to win elections with policies and candidates that have a broader appeal instead of taking a chance that legitimate voters might be suppressed.
Unfortunately one party is encouraging voter fraud and elimination of voter ID, That is not an election that is voter Faud plain and simple. Democrats dont care how they win as long as they win. After all their “gummint” check will stop if they dont win.
I believe that if voter fraud is used by one party more often then turnabout is fairplay the other party should create more voters out of thin air, This is the only way to get their attention for new voter laws
Novice Level:
Vote for a friend or family member you know won’t show up at the polls on election day.
It works! I am a legal resident of the State of Maryland, I have been an Election Judge (senior poll worker at a polling place) during the past presidential election. I was born in Ohio. grew-up in Ohio, graduated from high school and enlisted in the USAF all in the State of Ohio. I was a legal resident (using my parents’ address as mine) until I married. I then changed my legal residence to the same as his, even after his death while on active duty. This remained so until I retired from Active Duty. I then became a legal resident and voter in the State of Arizona. Then later I remarried, changed my name yet again. Moved, changed our state of residency, moved again and changed it again.
But somehow, someway, someone registered me, on the voter rolls back in Cuyahoga County, under my maiden name (a name I have not used since early April 1982), and at my parents’ address.
How do I know? A neighbor, seeing me in December 08, expressed sorrow that I had divorced but, she was glad I was living back with my mother. What????
She was a poll worker and noticed I was marked as voting ABSENTEE. WTF??????
I was then, and still am, happily married, still residing with my husband and four dogs in Maryland. I made calls, filed complaints and heard “nothing.”
On election day I was in Maryland, working the polls and voted IN PERSON.
So who committed election fraud in my name?
S,
You should definitely give AG Eric Holder a call. He’ll want to get right on that.
On a serious note, you should send a certified letter to the Cuy. County BOE, the SOS and AG DeWine. You should also write letters to the editor of the major papers in Ohio telling your story. Maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll print your letter and people will actually see that we’ve got a problem here. Nothing like an eyewitness account to wake people up.
in the 2010 in ohio, i got out my id and tried to hand it to the poll worker and was told. ” we don’t need that” i asked her if she knew who i was and she replied ” i have no idea” and this is in what most would say is a conservative area of the state
That’s why we need to have poll observers in every precinct. I know the Ohio Liberty Coalition and some of the Tea Party groups are helping people get signed up and trained to do this.
Nobody gets through my precinct without an ID, not even my husband and kids. The law says I must check ID, no exceptions. In fact, my younger son was a newly-registered voter this last primary and his name came up spelled incorrectly and therefore didn’t match the name on the poll list. Even though I knew it was him and the address matched, I had to call the BOE to get permission for him to vote a regular ballot.
Another big way to cheat that you left out is to have illegal aliens register and vote as if they were citizens. In many states, a SS# is not required. All that is required is a utility bill. Any non-citizen that has cable TV or water or gas or electricity bills in their name can register to vote and can go to the polling station with their utility bill in hand and vote.
You need to check out the voting law in Minnesota. Not only can you vote with just a utility bill, you may also register and vote on the same day AND with just that one utility bill (and no picture ID) you can also “vouch” for up to 15 of your friends so they can also vote!! I have seen it first hand when I worked the polls there in 2008.
You can find lots of utility bills in garbage cans…I would say that in Ohio the Dems do a lot of voting for people that didn’t actually vote.