NWV News - Holder, DOJ file lawsuit against Florida despite proof of illegal voters

HOLDER, DOJ FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST FLORIDA DESPITE PROOF OF ILLEGAL VOTERS

By NWV News Writer Jim Kouri
Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
June 18, 2012
© 2012 NewsWithViews.com

The Attorney General Eric Holder isn't going to allow his legal problems get in the way of Department of Justice officials announcing their intention to sue Florida over its so-called "purge" of the state's voter rolls. The DOJ lawsuit announcement occurred the same day that Florida's government announced it was suing a different federal agency over the same purge.

So far, Florida officials have identified over 180,000 registered voters who may not be U.S. citizens. Their list doesn't include the names of deceased Floridians still listed as registered voters nor does it include convicted felons.

When Attorney General Eric Holder and the U.S. Justice Department demanded that the State of Florida -- considered a vital electoral state -- stop checking voter records in its probe of illegal voter registrations, Democratic Party operatives swarmed broadcast media outlets and echoed the assertion that illegal voting is not a problem in the United States.

In a letter to top state officials, T. Christian Herren Jr. of the Justice Department's Voting Section, said "the effort appeared to violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which protects minorities." He claimed that episodes of voter fraud were isolated incidents.

However, a major research project completed earlier this year suggests that the United States is fast approaching the status of Third-World Nation when it comes to the integrity of local and national elections and voter fraud is far from being a few isolated incidents.

Many government officials — mostly liberals — claim that illegal aliens voting is not a major problem, while conservative activists claim that even if the number of illegal voters may be small, an election can be decided by only a few votes. In 2000, the presidential race between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush was decided by a mere few hundred votes in Florida.

"While some in the news media perpetuated the assertion that Bush and the GOP 'stole' the election, it could very well have been illegal aliens voting in Florida that made the outcome so close," said former NYPD cop, now security firm owner, Sam Frances. "Perhaps Gore lost by more votes than suspected," he added.

"Our democratic process requires an effective system for maintaining accurate voter registration information. Voter registration lists are used to assign precincts, send sample ballots, provide polling place information, identify and verify voters at polling places, and determine how resources, such as paper ballots and voting machines, are deployed on Election Day" stated Pew Center statisticians.

These systems are plagued with errors and inefficiencies that waste taxpayer dollars, undermine voter confidence, and fuel partisan disputes over the integrity of our elections, according to Pew researchers.

Voter registration in the United States largely reflects its 19th-century origins and has not kept pace with advancing technology and a mobile society. States’ systems must be brought into the 21st century to be more accurate, cost-effective, and efficient, according to Pew Center statement.

Research commissioned by the Pew Center on States highlights the extent of the challenge: Approximately 24 million—one of every eight—active voter registrations in the United States are no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate. At the same time, than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as active voters. In addition, approximately 2.75 million people have active registrations in more than one state.

Meanwhile, researchers estimate at least 51 million eligible U.S. citizens are unregistered, or more than 24 percent of the eligible population.

The Pew study also found that the paper-based processes of most registration systems present several opportunities for error.

In a typical system, election officials get information about a voter’s identity, eligibility, address, and contact information through a form completed at a public agency, such as a county election office or motor vehicles office, or through an unregulated third party voter registration group, such as a campaign or advocacy organization (ACORN, Project Vote).

These are sent to election offices, where the data often are manually entered and names are added to the voter list. A voter must supply any change to that information, such as a new address, name, or party affiliation, which is usually manually entered and processed by election officials.

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A study released by the conservative think-tank, the Heritage Foundation, provides evidence that illegal aliens and immigrants with green cards are committing rampant voter fraud in the United States.

Reports of ineligible persons registering to vote have raised concerns about states' processes for verifying voter registration lists. States usually base voter eligibility on the voter's age, US citizenship, mental competence, and felon status.

Although individual states run elections, Congress has authority to oversee the administration of the elections. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) had set a deadline for states to have a statewide voter registration list and list verification procedures, according to Heritage analysts.