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posted by chromas on Thursday August 09 2018, @01:23AM   Printer-friendly
from the put-it-on-the-blockchain dept.

With worn-out clichés about the dead voting, Chicago used to be the poster child for voter fraud. But if any state is a poster child for terrible election practices, it is surely Georgia. Bold claims demand bold evidence, and unfortunately there's plenty; on Monday, McClatchy reported a string of irregularities from the state's primary election in May, including one precinct with a 243-percent turnout.

McClatchy's data comes from a federal lawsuit filed against the state. In addition to the problem in Habersham County's Mud Creek precinct, where it appeared that 276 registered voters managed to cast 670 ballots, the piece describes numerous other issues with both voter registration and electronic voting machines. (In fact it was later corrected to show 3,704 registered voters in the precinct.)

Multiple sworn statements from voters describe how they turned up at their polling stations only to be turned away or directed to other precincts. Even more statements allege incorrect ballots, frozen voting machines, and other issues.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/georgia-defends-voting-system-despite-243-percent-turnout-in-one-precinct/


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  • (Score: 0, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:25AM (38 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:25AM (#719189)

    Getting things right should not be hard: You must physically show up. You must show your driver's license.

    It's the same deal for buying beer. It's the same deal for entering a courthouse. It's the same deal for picking up a prescription. It's the same deal for getting on an airplane.

    Poor people? Seriously, if Mexico and India can manage this, the USA sure can.

    Fundamentally, the problem is clear. One party is making excuses. They have a motive. They know that voter fraud helps them win. Dead people, foreign nationals, people voting at their vacation house, people voting based on their college and also their parent's home, people voting on behalf of relatives and even ex-spouses...

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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Thexalon on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:56AM (12 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:56AM (#719206)

    1. Georgia has voter ID requirements.
    2. The party that has been in charge of Georgia's government about 15 years is not the party you claim is tolerating fraudulent voting.
    3. None of what you describe remotely resembles the problem described in either the summary or TFA. Instead, the problem is probably related to politicians not knowing the difference between actual computer expertise and some partisan hack's kid who totally knows all about computers.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:24AM (11 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:24AM (#719223)

      First of all, Georgia isn't all that republican. They just elected a senator who hates America and freedom.

      Second of all, Georgia hasn't had time yet to fully put the Shelby County v. Holder decision to use.

      Sadly, even the most conservative places aren't willing to do what it takes to really crack down on fraud. Absentee voting, a huge source of fraud, is too damn popular.

      Here, I'll even throw a bone to the leftists who think conservatives are uncultured by lack of travel: let's require a passport. Give several years of notice, ensuring plenty of time to get that taken care of.

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:56AM (5 children)

        by sjames (2882) on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:56AM (#719263) Journal

        First of all, Georgia isn't all that republican.

        In what bizarro alternate dimension is that statement true?

        • (Score: 2, Redundant) by HiThere on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:52PM (2 children)

          by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:52PM (#719507) Journal

          It *isn't* that Republican. They used to regularly elect Dixiecrats. This isn't loyalty to a party we're talking about here.

          --
          Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
          • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:38PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:38PM (#719599)

            What are you talking about? Three times in the last 55 years Georgia went Democrat on the presidential ticket, and two of those times were when Carter was running. Even during the great landslide election for Lyndon Johnson, Georgia went Republican. And keep in mind that those Dixiecrats are the Republican party after the mass exodus following the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

            • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 10 2018, @01:09AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 10 2018, @01:09AM (#719715)

              One senator switched parties. One representative switched parties.

              Fundamentally, the "party switch" concept is false. It's public relations nonsense. Democrats don't want to admit that they have an uninterrupted history that goes back to when they fought against civil rights.

              Tell a lie often enough, and people may believe it. :-(

              The real changes have been minor and weird: Democrats now feel entitled to black votes. Democrats offer addiction to welfare and affirmative action, not independence and respect. (It is racist to presume that blacks are incapable.) Democrats still react with outrage when black people don't act as democrats expect. Just a few days ago, a bunch of democrats formed a threatening mob when they found Candice Owens having breakfast with a white person. A few months back, they were telling Kayne West that he really shouldn't speak up about politics, claiming he was out of place. When wealthy democrats hire housekeepers, they choose illegal aliens over blacks who are American citizens.

              In other words, the typical democrat doesn't actually respect blacks. The situation is more like... some sort of pet or zoo animal with a defect, or maybe a severely retarded child. There is no respect. Democrats, to the extent that they do any good for blacks at all, are just competing with each other to display virtue.

        • (Score: 2) by schad on Tuesday August 14 2018, @06:55PM (1 child)

          by schad (2398) on Tuesday August 14 2018, @06:55PM (#721483)

          I live in Georgia, and it's true. GA went 51% for Trump, 46% for Clinton. Metro Atlanta is pretty strongly Democratic. It seems probable that GA will flip to the Ds in the next 20 years or so.

          Now, with that said, the Republicans in GA are super Republican. This tends to make the state seem more Republican than it actually is, because the craziest possible person tends to get elected by the 51% that will vote for anyone with an (R) after his name.

          • (Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday August 14 2018, @11:37PM

            by sjames (2882) on Tuesday August 14 2018, @11:37PM (#721606) Journal

            However, in the presidential race, Ga. has gone red for the last 6 presidents. The only reason Ga. voted for Carter is that he's a native son.

            The Atlanta area is fairly blue but the rest of the state is red, and as you said, the Republicans are VERY Republican.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:24PM (4 children)

        by Thexalon (636) on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:24PM (#719585)

        Second of all, Georgia hasn't had time yet to fully put the Shelby County v. Holder decision to use.

        Shelby v Holder was decided in 2013. 5 years should be plenty of time for a state government (controlled entirely by Republicans during that period) to respond in any way they so choose.

        Sadly, even the most conservative places aren't willing to do what it takes to really crack down on fraud.

        You just said that the reason there was so much fraud was that the Democrats were tolerating it in order to win elections. Now all of a sudden it's the Republicans, who have put in place the policy you said would eliminate fraud, who are tolerating the fraud. It's impressive mental gymnastics, which tells me that you aren't being honest about your real position here.

        If I had to hazard a guess what your real position is, it probably has something to do with the fact that Shelby legalized state-level voting laws that previous Departments of Justice had declared to be racist in either intent or application. Which suggests that you'd like voting laws that are racist in either intent or application. Which means that when you talk about "fraudulent" votes, what you probably mean is that black people are voting.

        --
        The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:49PM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:49PM (#719608)

          The RNC is legally not able to engage or assist in voter fraud prevention:
          https://www.judicialview.com/Court-Cases/Civil-Procedure/Democratic-National-Committee-v-Republican-National-Committee/10/201975 [judicialview.com]

          • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:03PM (1 child)

            by Thexalon (636) on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:03PM (#719618)

            Did you read the case in question? Because if you did, you'd know that what the RNC was doing would have been fine had the RNC been targeted all voters, and the problem was that they were targeting black and Hispanic voters intentionally and exclusively. Had they done the exact same thing statewide or nationwide that they were doing in those cases, there wouldn't have been a problem.

            --
            The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:10PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:10PM (#719619)

              You "translated" my other post for me totally incorrectly and now in this one you confuse the reason for this legal issue with the consequences of it... are you drunk?

          • (Score: 2) by sjames on Friday August 10 2018, @12:43AM

            by sjames (2882) on Friday August 10 2018, @12:43AM (#719706) Journal

            That's fairly disingenuous. The actual Republicans who have been in office certainly are. And such a fine job they did!

  • (Score: 3, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:01AM (7 children)

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:01AM (#719209) Homepage Journal

    You know, if you go out and you want to buy groceries, you need a picture on a card. You need ID.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @12:40PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @12:40PM (#719337)

      ORLY?

      So tell me, what grocery store requires you to show an ID to purchase groceries? I have yet to encounter one.

      (Score: 4, Informative)

      LOL. Keep sucking that Trump cock. Seems to be the only thing you MAGA morons are good at.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:25PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:25PM (#719479)

        "So tell me, what grocery store requires you to show an ID to purchase groceries? I have yet to encounter one."

        If I'm not mistaken, places like Sam's club and Costco require you to show a membership card.

        "LOL. Keep sucking that Trump cock. Seems to be the only thing you MAGA morons are good at."

        On that much we agree.

      • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:29PM

        by Thexalon (636) on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:29PM (#719591)

        I'm guessing the answer to that question is "Every grocery store Donald Trump has ever shopped at. Which is to say none, because he has never in his entire life done his own grocery shopping." Either that or he always bought booze.

        --
        The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:40PM (3 children)

      by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:40PM (#719390)

      The fuck? No you don't.

      --
      "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:53PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:53PM (#719396)

        If you can buy beer or cigarettes without ID, that store is violating the law. You should report them.

        In many states, this also applies to numerous over-the-counter drugs. An example is sudafed (spelling?) or pseudophedrin, a cold medicine that can be converted into meth.

        If your state has a lottery, you probably need ID for that as well.

        • (Score: 3, Touché) by tangomargarine on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:18PM

          by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:18PM (#719410)

          You know, if you go out and you want to buy groceries

          If you can buy beer or cigarettes without ID

          gro·cer·y
          noun
          plural noun: groceries
          a grocer's store or business.
          items of food sold in a grocery store.

          Beer and cigarettes are not groceries.

          numerous over-the-counter drugs.

          lottery

          See above.

          --
          "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
        • (Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:10PM

          by sjames (2882) on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:10PM (#719469) Journal

          Sorry, try again. In many states, if you appear to be older than 30 or 35 to a reasonable person, you don't need to be carded.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:06AM

    by sjames (2882) on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:06AM (#719213) Journal

    So you figure that's how the GOP won so much in 2017?

    As a note, I do not need to show ID when I pick up prescriptions or enter the courthouse, and it's been years since I needed it to buy beer.

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:51AM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:51AM (#719244) Homepage Journal

    -rson.

    For reasons that I'm sure make sense to them but not to me, the homeless shelter and day center in San Louis Obispo California require government-issued photo ID to avail oneself of their services.

    There is a grace period, at the end of which my Arizona friend was kicked out. He figured it would be helpful to get his ID, so he set out from SLO to WALK TO ARIZONA.

    I Am Absolutely Serious.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
  • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:54AM (2 children)

    by Sulla (5173) on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:54AM (#719266) Journal

    If the government is going to require an ID to vote, they need to remove the fees required to get an ID. I recall at least one state included this provision as part of their ID requirement.

    --
    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @07:21AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @07:21AM (#719277)

      And they need to stop adding the photos to facial recognition databases, too.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:16AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @09:16AM (#719299)

        Goddamn business supporting Republican anti-american conservative assholes, like Sulla. Not that bad as a Roman, betrayal, complicency, and realpolitik, but as an American, especially an Alaskan-socialist American: Sulla, you suck donkey balls.

  • (Score: 5, Informative) by tangomargarine on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:43PM (9 children)

    by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday August 09 2018, @02:43PM (#719392)

    John Oliver — the British host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight — focused on voter ID laws during his Sunday show. And it turns out the U.S. does have a voter fraud problem, but it’s not the one that you think.

    Oliver — who is rightfully mystified by the idiosyncrasies of American politics — pointed out that while states have increasingly begun requiring photo IDs to combat voter fraud, voter fraud isn’t actually a problem in elections in the United States. Between 2000 and 2014, for instance, there were only 31 instances of potential voter fraud out of over a billion votes. Yes, 31 out of a billion. But this hasn’t stopped states — specifically, red states — from requiring voter IDs. And why is this? Because the GOP benefits when fewer people vote, so Republican legislators have inflated the threat of voter fraud. Voter IDs are a crazy solution to a problem that doesn’t actually exist, but as Oliver points out, there is one population that commits voter fraud with impunity: lawmakers.

    Unlike Americans in the 18 states that require photo identification to vote in elections, elected officials have no such requirement when voting on legislation. That’s hardly surprising. But what is surprising is that the very people who have written voter ID laws into law are actually guilty of committing voter fraud themselves. Take Debbie Riddle, the representative who filed HB 16, the law requiring government-issued IDs for voters in Texas.

    In 2007, Riddle was caught on tape “ghost voting” for her absent colleagues — basically, reaching across her desk to vote for someone who wasn’t there. Riddle wasn’t alone: A local news investigation found representatives from both parties voting for absent colleagues — often multiple times during a single vote. And although this is a blatant violation of House rules, the investigation found no instance of lawmakers being disciplined for this voter fraud. When asked why this practice was allowed to continue, Speaker of the House Tom Craddick shrugged his shoulders and said it was up to lawmakers to police themselves.

    https://grist.org/politics/john-oliver-explains-how-voter-fraud-is-a-problem-but-only-among-politicians/ [grist.org]

    --
    "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:09PM (8 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:09PM (#719406)

      Between 2000 and 2014, for instance, there were only 31 instances of potential voter fraud out of over a billion votes. Yes, 31 out of a billion.

      This is why no one outside the echo chamber takes this stuff seriously and the DNC is losing all appeal to normal people (ie those not politically rabid in a certain way). Obviously they aren't including the undetected cases of voter fraud in these stats... just stop with the fake shit. Why do they keep self destructing like this?

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:20PM (7 children)

        by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:20PM (#719412)

        So you're denying the video evidence of the lawmakers voting for their colleagues who aren't in the chamber?

        The article had more than one point to make.

        --
        "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:27PM (6 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:27PM (#719418)

          So you're denying the video evidence of the lawmakers voting for their colleagues who aren't in the chamber?

          No, I'm denying that a reasonable person would think that this the extent of the voter fraud. Its like saying we can reduce voter fraud by removing the cameras in the chamber since unknown fraud doesnt make it into the stats.

          • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:03PM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:03PM (#719466)

            No, I'm denying that a reasonable person would think that this the extent of the voter fraud.

            Trump's voter fraud commission disbanded without finding any fraud even though they set out to validate the president's claims [npr.org]. FTFA:

            Well, what's remarkable about the documents is what's not in there, and what's not in there is any substantiated evidence of voter misconduct at any scale. In fact, one of the troubling things about the documents that we saw was that before we were even really meeting, commission staff were working on a framework of a report. And several sections of report talk about voter fraud, and those sections are completely blank. They didn't insert any information whatsoever.

            That quote is from someone on the voter fraud commission.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:26PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:26PM (#719480)

              What is your point?

              Even if we could interpret the disbanding of some crappy apparently planned-to-be-rigged investigation as a lack of voter fraud (we cant), the john oliver quote does not mention this argument. I just says :

              Yes, 31 out of a billion. But this hasn’t stopped states — specifically, red states — from requiring voter IDs.

              "See, 31 out of a billion is a small number which proves republicans are retarded or lying just like we thought all along." While republicans may very well be retarded or lying, the person making this argument is definitely retarded or lying.

              • (Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Friday August 10 2018, @12:52AM

                by sjames (2882) on Friday August 10 2018, @12:52AM (#719708) Journal

                The point is even a commission looking for voter fraud and determined to find it even if it's not there couldn't find anything credible enough even for their intended sham.

          • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:43PM (2 children)

            by Thexalon (636) on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:43PM (#719602)

            No, I'm denying that a reasonable person would think that this the extent of the voter fraud.

            Translation: I have no actual evidence to support my claims about voter fraud, but I know they must be true because my favorite news outlets keep saying it's happening. Said news outlet has no evidence to support their claims either, but since I'm inclined to believe them for reasons which have nothing to do with evidence, I believe them.

            In short, you've been propagandized successfully into believing claims with no evidence whatsoever. And yes, anyone who thinks the end of the Russia investigation will be Donald Trump led from the White House in handcuffs is just as duped as you are.

            --
            The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:53PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @08:53PM (#719613)

              No thats not an accurate translation. The actual meaning is quite clear.

              Anyway, like Ive been saying this bs is driving everyone away from the DNC, will be interesting to see what rises in its place.

              • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday August 10 2018, @10:53PM

                by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Friday August 10 2018, @10:53PM (#720111)

                No thats not an accurate translation. The actual meaning is quite clear.

                No, it is quite accurate. You have not provided any substantiation to your claims there is widespread voter fraud, other than apparently you "know" there is.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:14PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 09 2018, @03:14PM (#719409)

    Beer and airplane I will give you, but the courthouse and prescription? Where do you live that you can't just walk into the courthouse like a human being?

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:33PM

    by sjames (2882) on Thursday August 09 2018, @05:33PM (#719489) Journal

    Welcome to the United States of the GOP. Your papers please!