To: Brumar89 who wrote (427321 ) 10/17/2008 9:09:57 AM From: Brumar89 1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) | Respond to More on cheating with absentee ballots:Simply put, absentee voting makes it easier to commit election fraud, because the ballots are cast outside the supervision of election officials. "By loosening up the restrictions on absentee voting they have opened up more chances for fraud," Damon Stone, a former West Virginia election fraud investigator, told the New York Times. "In this area there's a pattern of nursing home administrators frequently forging ballots under residents' names," Sean Cavanagh, a former Democratic county supervisor from the area, told me. He says that many nursing home owners rely on regular "bounties" from candidates whom they allow to enter their facilities and harvest votes. notes John Fortier, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, in his new book, "Absentee and Early Voting."Shelia Pierce allowed a Patrick campaign operative to fill out her absentee ballot in exchange for a $100 job at the polls. She said the operative later threatened her to keep her from testifying. Elisa Delrio said a local official offered her a similar job and even brought her absentee ballot to her hospital bed, where she was recovering from surgery. But after she wound up voting for Mr. Pabey and handed her ballot to the official, it promptly disappeared. The Indiana Supreme Court concluded that it was impossible to know who had won the election and ordered a revote a year later. Mr. Pabey won with 65% of the vote and was sworn in as mayor. many states allow political parties to collect absentee-ballot applications, and several even let them collect the completed ballots. Most states even let campaign workers assist voters in filling out the ballots if they ask for help. opinionjournal.com
