Is Voter Fraud a Real Problem? >
Restricting Voter Rights Is the Threat to Democracy, not Fraud
Claims of fraud are a smokescreen that allows suppression of minority voting rights
June 13, 2012
About Howard Simon:
Howard L. Simon is the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
Across the country, politicians have been chipping away at the bedrock of democracy in the guise of stopping "voter fraud."
Voter fraud, with its connotation of stolen elections, certainly sounds scary. But for all the bluster about fraud used to gin up support for policies that impact the voting rights of Americans, proponents of these voter suppression tactics have failed to provide evidence of any significant voter fraud.
I have said that there are more shark attacks in Florida than cases of voter fraud. Politifact checked it out and found that I was right.
What is happening in more than two dozen states, with Florida being the prime example, is that the claim of widespread voter fraud has been used as an excuse to make it more difficult to register to vote, to cast your vote, and to have your vote counted. That—rather than the chimera of widespread voting fraud—is the real threat to democracy.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the Republican Party.]
These laws are not intended to apply evenly. The voting restrictions enacted in Florida disproportionately impact minority groups, recently naturalized citizens, students, and people who need to get time off from their jobs to vote.
How does reducing early voting days and prohibiting voting on Sunday prior to Election Day address voter fraud? It doesn't. The restriction is designed to make it more difficult for working people to vote and to prevent "Souls to the Polls" programs of African-American churches. (In 2008, in Florida, a majority of black voters cast their ballots before Election Day.)
Florida's county supervisors of elections are refusing to implement Gov. Rick Scott's latest voter suppression tactic—purging citizens from the voting rolls based on inaccurate motor vehicle information.
[See photos of Wisconsin Voters Heading to the Polls]
This is why Congress enacted, and why we continue to need, the Voting Rights Act—to use the power of the federal government to protect the constitutional rights of minorities from interference by state officials.
In the partisan warfare over voting fraud versus voter suppression, the right of American citizens to vote has become collateral damage. The ACLU of Florida, along with our allies like the Brennan Center, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and others, now turn to the courts to stop the assault on democracy.
- Join the debate on Facebook.
- Follow U.S. News Debate Club on Twitter.
- Check out U.S. News Weekly: an insider's guide to politics and policy.
- Other Arguments
-
#1365268
Yes — False ballots have tipped races across the country, so we must ensure the integrity of our election process
HANS A. VON SPAKOVSKY, Manager of the Heritage Foundation's Civil Justice Reform Initiative
-
#2326239
Yes — Voter fraud schemes can swing elections, and voter identification is a common-sense answer
STEVEN GREENHUT, Vice President of Journalism at the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity
-
#3341271
Yes — Barack Obama and Eric Holder should stop attacking states for protecting the integrity of America's elections
CLETA MITCHELL, President of the Republican National Lawyers Association
-
#4305306
No — Voter suppression is the real fraud in the U.S. election system
WENDY WEISER, Director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice
-
#5318323
No — States like Florida are unconstitutionally suppressing the rights of Americans in the name of "voter fraud"
VANESSA CARDENAS, Director of Progress 2050 at the Center for American Progress
