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JONATHAN
HOFFMAN |
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Read more by Jonathan |
Fraud is the Bottom Line
by: Jonathan Hoffman
Make no mistake; Arizona
Democrats take their cue from the national bosses. For
example, it was no coincidence that Democrat Governor Janet
Napolitano and her New Mexico counterpart, Democrat Governor
Bill Richardson, simultaneously declared states of emergency
in the counties along their respective borders with Mexico.
Now, with the Oregon vanguard to hold up as an example,
activists in Arizona and elsewhere are pushing for mail-only
voting.
Councilman-for-Life Steve Leal
suggested that changing to the mail-only method typically
increases voter turnout by fifteen to twenty per cent.
I have my doubts, but let’s assume that it is true.
Why assume that an increase – due to convenience - is good?
I’ll bet we could get and even greater increase were we to
pay people twenty bucks to cast a vote – would that make the
democratic process better? Is it truly reassuring to know
that your informed vote goes into the same tally as the guy
who can’t decide if he should vote or break wind?
I read in an Arizona Daily Star
article by Rob O’Dell that Freshman Councilman Nina Trasoff
said that voting by mail would increase political
discussions between families and friends…do you suppose she
really believes that? I’m sure that the explanation of how
that works would be fascinating.
Another serious argument is that
balloting by mail is much cheaper than the present system of
voting at polling places on Election Day. It would probably
be cheaper still to hire John Zogby to do a telephone poll
of registered voters. Yes, I will stipulate that it does
cost more to insure the integrity of the ballot, and that
every vote be counted.
My friends, there was a time
when voting was considered a sacred duty – the most
important democratic process of our republic. A time when
people would have been embarrassed to say, “Look, I have to
take the kids to soccer and I have to catch the latest
‘Commander and Chief’ episode, can’t I just send in a post
card or something?” I like the idea of a secret ballot. I
like the idea of putting the hard copy into the locked box –
and knowing that everyone else is enjoys the same privacy
and security.
Look, let’s peel the onion and
get to the real reason for mail-only balloting, and that
reason is the F-word, I’m referring, of course, to “fraud”.
This mail-only balloting is the next round of motor-voter.
The motor-voter bill was promoted with the same promises –
none of which were realized. It has
resulted in voter registration rolls that have swelled with
multiple registrations across different jurisdictions, and
non-citizens. This is by design, folks. Motor-voter makes
fraud easier – though admittedly, not as easy as voting by
mail.
Proponents are quick to point
out that each mail ballot will have the signature checked –
preventing fraud, and the ballot itself is in an envelope
separate from the signature – ensuring privacy. These
statements would be good for a chortle, if they were not so
insulting to one’s intelligence.
In my opinion, people who tamper
with elections are half a wrung above child molesters.
People who aid and abet them are not much better.
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