Voter Fraud

Republicans' current crop of "voter security" laws are Democrats' "voter suppression" laws. For several years now, Republican-led legislatures have been loud in their concerns about what amounts to a solution in search of a problem: massive, organized voter fraud in order to steal elections. Real verified instances of organized, deliberate voter fraud can likely be counted in the scores at best, and Republicans have been ardent about using the specter of the now-disbanded ACORN group to raise a national warning.

Prosecutors are investigating allegations of voter fraud in Little Armenia, part of a Los Angeles City Council district where two candidates are waging a bitter battle for an open seat. According to a spokeswoman for L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, prosecutors are trying to determine whether backers of one candidate illegally filled out mail-in ballots for dozens of voters in the Armenian enclave in East Hollywood. The May 21 election will decide who succeeds Eric Garcetti, who is running for mayor.

Re "Failure's no option in fight for Florida," May 7 That there are "places that don't matter in the general election" of a free, democratic society is a disgrace. The two-party system, regardless of which party happens to dominate, fosters the pandering to and representation of the few while rendering whole segments of the population voiceless. Angeline Olliff Mission Hills ALSO: Letters: Smoking tax Letters: Subway horrors Letters: Marriage and North Carolina

A Virginia judge has dismissed eight felony counts against a Republican Party campaign worker who threw voter registration forms in a dumpster. Colin Small, 23, still faces misdemeanor charges related to the incident in October, according to his lawyer, John Holloran of Harrisonburg, Va. But the felonies were thrown out during a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Holloran said in an interview. “I think they charged it three days after the event and thought it was the tip of the iceberg and that there was this huge voter fraud conspiracy that was occurring,” Holloran said.

Re "Protect Arizona voting rights," Editorial, March 20 The people of Arizona approved a law requiring evidence of citizenship to vote. They are the ones suffering the worst effects of illegal immigration, not those of us in California. You note that the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that voter fraud in Arizona is not a "significant" problem. Must it be "significant" to do something about it? There should be no voter fraud at all. And who today in this country does not have a Social Security card or some form of photo identification?

A Virginia judge has dismissed eight felony counts against a Republican Party campaign worker who threw voter registration forms in a dumpster. Colin Small, 23, still faces misdemeanor charges related to the incident in October, according to his lawyer, John Holloran of Harrisonburg, Va. But the felonies were thrown out during a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Holloran said in an interview. “I think they charged it three days after the event and thought it was the tip of the iceberg and that there was this huge voter fraud conspiracy that was occurring,” Holloran said.

WASHINGTON - The son of a Virginia congressman resigned from his father's campaign Wednesday after an undercover video captured him discussing possible voter fraud. Patrick Moran, whose father is Democratic Rep. James P. Moran, was secretly recorded in a video posted by conservative activist James O'Keefe. In the video, Moran, who was working as his father's campaign field director, talks about using utility bills and other documents to evade Virginia's new voter ID laws.

Prosecutors are investigating allegations of voter fraud in Little Armenia, part of a Los Angeles City Council district where two candidates are waging a bitter battle for an open seat. According to a spokeswoman for L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey, prosecutors are trying to determine whether backers of one candidate illegally filled out mail-in ballots for dozens of voters in the Armenian enclave in East Hollywood. The May 21 election will decide who succeeds Eric Garcetti, who is running for mayor.

A grand jury unsealed a 24-count felony indictment on Wednesday against Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife, Flora Montes de Oca, saying they committed perjury and voter fraud when they listed their home as being in Panorama City. Ending a 15-month investigation by Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley's Public Integrity Division, the criminal grand jury accused Alarcon and his wife of falsely claiming that their home was at an address in Alarcon's 7th Council District, which takes in a portion of the northeast San Fernando Valley.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has refused to lift a 30-year consent decree that bars the Republican National Committee from targeting racial and ethnic minorities in its efforts to end fraudulent voting. The justices without comment turned down an appeal from RNC lawyers who said the decree has become “antiquated” and is “increasingly used as political weapon” by Democrats during national campaigns. For their part, lawyers for the Democratic National Committee had argued that recent campaigns show the “consent degree remains necessary today.” The court's action is a victory for the DNC, and it comes after an election year in which the two parties regularly exchanged charges over “voter fraud” and “voter intimidation.” But most of the recent battles have been fought on the state level, and it is not clear whether the long-standing consent decree has had much impact.

Several absentee ballots in Compton that should have been returned to City Hall after they were found to be undeliverable instead ended up in bins slated for recycling outside a post office. Officials said allegations of voter fraud appeared to be unfounded. A candidate in Compton's municipal election complained of potential fraud Tuesday after discovering bins containing what appeared to be hundreds of absentee ballots behind the post office on Santa Fe Avenue. City Manager Harold Duffey said he and other city officials, as well as members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, went to the post office after hearing the allegation and found a crowd there, including several candidates running in the city's April 16 primary election.

Re "Protect Arizona voting rights," Editorial, March 20 The people of Arizona approved a law requiring evidence of citizenship to vote. They are the ones suffering the worst effects of illegal immigration, not those of us in California. You note that the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that voter fraud in Arizona is not a "significant" problem. Must it be "significant" to do something about it? There should be no voter fraud at all. And who today in this country does not have a Social Security card or some form of photo identification?

It's a familiar story: Out of an exaggerated concern about potential election fraud, a state adopts procedures that have the effect of disenfranchising perfectly qualified voters. In this case, the state of Arizona is demanding that would-be voters provide proof of citizenship beyond what Congress has required. The Supreme Court, which heard arguments about Arizona's policy on Monday, should strike the requirement down. In 1993, Congress enacted the National Voter Registration Act, popularly known as the "motor voter" law because, among other provisions, it allows citizens to register to vote when they apply for a driver's license.

The American people want the Democratic and Republican parties to solve our nation's problems together, but bipartisan solutions become possible only if each side gives the other the benefit of the doubt. We should begin with two polarizing issues - voter fraud and migration. Biometric identification cards offer a solution for both. More than 30 states require identification cards to vote. Republicans believe such ID cards are important to prevent electoral fraud. Democrats believe voter impersonation is not a problem, and that the real reason for the IDs is to suppress the votes of poor and old people and minorities, who lack cards and tend to vote Democratic.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has refused to lift a 30-year consent decree that bars the Republican National Committee from targeting racial and ethnic minorities in its efforts to end fraudulent voting. The justices without comment turned down an appeal from RNC lawyers who said the decree has become “antiquated” and is “increasingly used as political weapon” by Democrats during national campaigns. For their part, lawyers for the Democratic National Committee had argued that recent campaigns show the “consent degree remains necessary today.” The court's action is a victory for the DNC, and it comes after an election year in which the two parties regularly exchanged charges over “voter fraud” and “voter intimidation.” But most of the recent battles have been fought on the state level, and it is not clear whether the long-standing consent decree has had much impact.

WASHINGTON - Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee debated the necessity of voter ID laws and early-voting restrictions Wednesday, with Democrats accusing Republicans of aiming to suppress the votes of African Americans and Latinos. The hearing followed incidents in which many voters, in Florida in particular, stood in line for hours to cast their ballots in November's presidential election, with some eventually giving up. Democrats on the panel of witnesses said some of the current voting policies around the country disproportionately affect African Americans, Latinos, seniors and the working poor.

The Los Angeles County district attorney has launched an investigation into "allegations of impropriety" in the upcoming election in Inglewood, a spokeswoman said Thursday. The inquiry by the office's Bureau of Investigation began within the last month, said district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons, who said she could not elaborate on the probe. But Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), in a letter to U.S. Atty. Gen.

I read, with interest, your article about the investigation of possible voter registration fraud by employees of the California Voter Registration Project and the Assembly Democrats Statewide Voter Registration Project (Oct. 14). One very important fact was not mentioned: It was the Democratic Caucus in the Assembly that asked for the investigation two months ago, after our own internal verification process identified the possible wrongdoing by employees of those private firms that had been contracted to implement voter registration.

As a candidate, Mitt Romney was his own worst enemy. He thought he could amass a majority saying things that would please the crowd in front of him and contradict himself with another crowd somewhere down the line without anyone taking notice. He thought he could offer vague platitudes about his programs and no one would push him for details. He thought he could tell wild fibs about his opponent and no one would check the facts. In the end, he merely fooled himself. As comedians Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart gleefully point out with regularity, Republican candidates, campaign gurus and the conservative pundits who tout their causes have developed a habit of making up comforting memes disconnected with facts.

Partisans on both sides in the presidential race have been spouting off about their high confidence just four days before the election, but simultaneously launching preemptive protests about how they might get cheated on election day. From the right come complaints that too many ballots will be cast - by people voting twice, casting ballots in the name of the dead or filling out absentee ballots stolen from other voters. From the left come concerns that voter identification laws and poor polling conditions will unfairly suppress legitimate balloting.