'Voter Fraud' Hucksters Try To Tap Dance Around The Truth

Blog ››› ››› BRIAN POWELL













In the videos above, both Fund and von Spakovsky latch onto the example of former Rep. Arthur Davis, an Alabama Democrat who has changed his position on voter ID laws, claiming that people have approached him asking for help in committing ballot box fraud. While he's become the new hero of the voter fraud hype-sters as a result, Davis' claims are suspect because he refuses to be specific about the cases, individuals, or circumstances he claims to reference. According to Bama Fact Check, a fact-checking website produced by a partnership of the state's news organizations, the vagueness of the types of claims made by Davis is not new - the people who claim that voter fraud is a danger don't seem to be able to lay out the big fraud schemes they say exist. The website gave Davis' claim two of five stars, suggesting it is "completely unsupported by any external factual evidence but not actually contradicted by the facts."

Voter ID laws like the ones being pushed by the right aren't meant to solve the problem of voter fraud. They're meant to suppress Democratic votes. Most of the proposed laws would affect the poor, young people, and racial minorities -- all groups that tend to vote Democratic. The laws could disenfranchise millions of voters, and furthermore the laws will be expensive to execute. Government officials in Madison, WI estimate that restrictive new voter ID requirements pushed through by Republican Gov. Scott Walker will cost that city alone $350,000 over the next four elections.

Julia Krieger contributed additional reporting to this article.

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