Voter fraud update - it's unfortunately alive and well & Florida's the latest to bust someone
Bottom Line: During the 2016 election cycle voter fraud was a hot topic of conversation. Despite the general narrative by the MSM that it's not really measurable - it absolutely is. Here's a recap of the research I shared during the 2016 cycle:
From 2000-2012 there were 2,608 investigated cases of voter fraud nationally
There were eight different types of voter fraud prosecuted
the most common forms of attempted fraud are by absentee ballots, convicted felons voting and double voting (generally in multiple states)
The rarest form of voter fraud is impersonation
Since 2000, 13 Florida convictions for voter fraud had occurred
So there provably is and has been voter fraud across the country and right here in Florida, although it appears to be much smaller in scope than many might imagine (though we only know what's been investigated and prosecuted - so who knows what percentage of the voter fraud that represents?). The disconnect in the actual voter fraud vs. perceptions of voter fraud is pretty vast and with reason. According to the Pew Research Center:
1.8 million deceased Americans are still "active" registered voters
2.75 million Americans are registered to vote in multiple states
And that sets up the update from the latest prosecution. A 57 year old assistant school superintendent for the Malverne School District (Long Island) voted in Nassau County on Election Day in 2016 and sent in an absentee ballot in Florida. He'd lived in Pensacola from 2005-2010 but was still on the voter rolls and took the opportunity to commit voter fraud. He was arrested on Thursday for the fraud and has since posted bond. This illustrates two points. First, in the ongoing debate about purging of voter rolls in Florida, it's a real must for the integrity of our elections. Second, clearly, we've got a lot of work to due to clean them up in our state given that someone who hasn't been eligible to vote in Florida since 2010 was still able to in 2016. During the 2016 cycle I highlighted how loose many states have been about cleaning up voter rolls with my example. In 2002 I built a house in North Carolina that I lived in for under three months, upon moving there I registered to vote and obtained a license. I never actually voted in North Carolina but to this day am still eligible according to the state of North Carolina. Again, nearly 3 million people are in this situation. How many actually commit fraud? Hard to tell but the potential is significant.