When the
National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) became law in 1993, Sen.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) warned at the time that the
“motor voter” provision of the law could create opportunities for
electoral mischeif. That’s what you call a prescient forecast.
The scandals that have beset the left-wing community organizing
group known as ACORN, and its Project Vote affiliate, demonstrate
how forward looking Sen. McConnell was at the time. But this is
largely because President Obama’s Department of Justice refuses to
enforce the NRVA’s Section 8, which requires state officials to
purge the names of ineligible and dead voters. This has had serious
consequences in recent election cycles and could impact the 2012
elections.
Take Colorado.
After obtaining documents
from the Colorado Secretary of State’s office through an open
records request, Judicial Watch found that state officials were
pressured into accepting policy changes that set up to increase
voter registration public assistance recipients. As a result, the
number of the agencies responsible for public assistance jumped
from rose from 3,340 in 2007 to almost 44,000 in 2010. But here’s
the kicker: In the 2009-2010 period, eight percent of the voter
registration forms that were rejected came from Colorado’s public
assistance agencies. That’s over
four times the national average of 1.9 percent.
An analysis of the voter registration rolls by ColoradoWatchdog.org
found that a strong potential for voter fraud exists. Out of the
3.4 million registered voters in Colorado, 1.2 million are
“inactive,” Earl Glynn, a special projects coordinator and
researcher at the Franklin Center for Government & Public
Integrity, concluded. The inactive names “could be borrowed by
corrupt official,” Glynn explained in his report.
Take Ohio.
Judicial Watch in partnership
with “True the Vote” has filed
a lawsuit against Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Jon
Husted that alleges he is not enforcing Section 8’s anti voter
fraud directives. U.S. Census data shows that the number of
individuals listed on voter registration rolls exceeds the number
of eligible voters in at least three Ohio counties.
Judicial Watch and True the Vote have filed
a similar lawsuit against Republican officials in Indiana,
which is considered a sure win for Gov. Mitt Romney. But the race
remains tight in both Colorado and Ohio polls show that Romney and
President Obama are relatively even. If Romney loses Ohio by a
close margin he may able to fix the blame on members of his own
party who declined to remove ineligible voters from the rolls.
In a formal response to Judicial Watch, Secretary Husted claimed
that Ohio’s efforts to update voter rolls “have been hampered… by
the restrictions and seemingly inconsistent provisions of the
NVRA.” Husted also informed Judicial Watch that he had written a
letter to Attorney General Eric Holder “to discuss possible
solutions,” but did not receive any response. This means Ohio’s
Republican Secretary of State is deferring to Obama’s AG instead of
upholding the clear and unambiguous wording of Section 8.
If Mitt Romney does not prevail tonight, there is a good case
that he may be able to fix the blame on some of his own
Republicans.
