Donald Trump and his enablers have been making claims of widespread voter fraud, alleging
millions of people are voting illegally in order to rig our elections.
Baloney.
Let’s look at the facts and debunk their myths once and for all.
Number one:
...cause in many places, like California, the same person votes many times.
You probably heard about that...
...people who are registered in more than one state and they cast double votes
So how often does double voting really occur?
An analysis of the 2012 presidential election found that out of 129 million votes cast,
0.02% -- that's two one hundredths of one percent -- were double votes -- which were
likely the result of measurement error.
This is a far cry from Donald Trump’s claims that millions of people were registered in
two different states in the 2016 presidential election.
Number two:
non-citizen voting may have given Democrats the pivotal 60th vote needed to pass Obamacare
...what wouldn’t Democrats do in order to win?
Why wouldn’t they encourage non-citizens to vote?
Of course, they’re already doing that explicitly in other states.
Another lie.
According to the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice, of 23.5 million votes cast in
districts with high populations of noncitizens only 30 -- I repeat 30 -- possible incidents
of improper non-citizen voting were referred for further investigation.
Number three
You don’t have to ask for ID…
In fact, you can just walk up and say anyone’s name.
False.
A 12-year study of election data found only 10 cases of voter impersonation out of 146
million registered voters.
So if voter fraud really isn’t a problem, why do Trump, Republicans in Congress, and
their allies at Fox News keep perpetuating this myth?
For one simple reason: To enact restrictive voting laws intended to keep voters from the polls.
Policies established in the name of election security, including voter ID laws, needless
registration deadlines, limited access to polling places, and purges of the voter rolls,
make it harder for Americans to vote.
It is the same tactic that has been used throughout our history to disenfranchise low-income Americans
and people of color.
Luckily, many of these laws have been struck down in the courts.
In 2016, a district judge in Wisconsin found “utterly no evidence” of widespread voter
fraud justifying its voter ID law.
In Texas, another judge found their voter ID law violated the Voting Rights Act, making
it harder for African-Americans and Latinos to vote.
But many of these laws are still on the books because in 2013 the Supreme Court gutted crucial
aspects of the Voting Rights Act.
Congress needs to update the Act to prevent states from suppressing votes.
Meanwhile, Trump and Republicans in Congress are turning a blind eye to the real threat
facing our democracy: election fraud and foreign interference.
In 2018, a Republican operative stole votes from Democrats in a North Carolina congressional
race with a quote, “coordinated, unlawful, and substantially resourced absentee ballot
scheme.”
After the ballots were counted, the Republican candidate appeared to have won by about 900
votes, however, the fraud was so glaring that the state board of elections refused to certify
the results and called for a special election.
The other real threat is foreign interference in our elections, as Russia did in 2016.
We now know for a fact that Trump is encouraging foreign leaders to interfere in our elections
— asking the President of Ukraine to investigate his political opponents in exchange for military
aid and publicly calling on Russia and China to also interfere.
And in the Senate, Mitch McConnell continues to block common-sense legislation to protect
our elections against future foreign interference, such as requiring all voting machines to have
backup paper ballots and imposing automatic sanctions for nations that interfere in elections.
To have safe and secure elections in 2020 and beyond, we need to pass this legislation.
So the next time you hear Trump and his enablers claim widespread voter fraud, know the truth.
Their lies are intended to make it harder for millions of Americans to vote, while they
ignore the real threats to our democracy.
What do you think? What are some of the other real threats voters are facing in 2020?
Tell us in the comments.
If you found this video informative, please also watch our video on The Secret GOP Plan to Keep Power.
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