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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (129222)	2/26/2001 2:12:47 PM
From: Zoltan!	Respond to of 769667

Well, Humpty is concerned that Dem fraud would be made harder. Reagan won MN in 1984 and Dem fraud gave the state to Mondale. Maybe they should get Beckel's testimony. He was last seen trying to turn Electors by thuggery. Humpty is a disgrace.

To: DMaA who wrote (129222)	3/2/2001 7:41:19 AM
From: Zoltan!	Respond to of 769667

>>In Mn. democrats are resisting even the most benign, common sense election fraud reform You're right, Dems are doing everything they can to abet Dem voter fraud in states like NM and WI, because they know that Bush lost those states because of Dem voter fraud. March 2, 2001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blind to Voter Fraud In the aftermath of the photo-finish Presidential election, some 20 states are debating upgrades of their voting machines. Such improvements are welcome, but sloppy election systems don't just prevent people from voting, they also can register votes that shouldn't have been cast. The true test of election reformers is if they back changes that reduce both problems. So far the results in the states have been mixed. Voter fraud continues to be an underreported story. "It's a silent scandal, and the problem is getting worse with increases in absentee voting, which is the easiest way to commit fraud," says Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. A Miami Herald review of a third of Florida's counties found that more than 1,200 votes were cast illegally by felons. In addition, in Duval County alone, 499 votes were cast by unregistered voters. In two precincts the number of ballots cast was greater than the number of people who voted. Cora Thigpen, aged 90, admitted to voting twice and was proud of it. "If I had voted a half-dozen times, I would have voted every time for Al Gore," she said. One way to cut down on such fraud is to require people who appear at the polls to show a photo ID or voter registration card. In Florida, the law required that voters without a photo ID be allowed to vote. Photo ID is required when flying from an airport, buying cigarettes or even opening an account at a video rental store. But in almost half the states anyone can claim to be someone they are not with little fear of detection. For years, the Reno Justice Department actively discouraged states from adopting photo ID laws on the flimsy belief that they would be discriminatory. Now the obstacles being put up are blatantly political. Last month in New Mexico a photo ID bill was killed by a party-line House committee vote without even a debate. Democratic Rep. Max Coll called it an effort "to suppress the vote of poorly educated people who don't understand exactly what they need to bring as ID or anything like that." Democratic legislators are also blocking photo ID bills in Minnesota and Wisconsin. But states like Georgia and Louisiana have all passed photo ID laws in recent years with no evidence of discrimination. Last month, the Alabama House approved a voter ID bill by 78 to 17. A majority of Democrats voted in favor after the list of allowable IDs was expanded to include passports, birth certificates and fishing licenses. Elections can also be made more accurate by alerting voters to their responsibility to cast their ballots properly. In January, a local election in infamous Palm Beach County, Florida, saw almost no "undervotes" or "overvotes" because alert voters were careful to remove chads from their ballots. Adult literacy programs could also help first-time voters whose failure to comprehend a ballot may lead them to spoil it. The confusion during the last election made all Americans understand not only that every vote can make a difference, but also how important honest and fair elections are. As the debate about improving election procedures continues, it's important not to let partisan considerations block genuine reforms such as photo ID from being enacted. interactive.wsj.com