Voter Fraud

/in , /by

The House just passed the SAVE Act – legislation I cosponsored to safeguard the integrity of our elections by requiring proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. ThisThere’s Nothing to See Here

If you do a search online for “voter fraud,” among the first articles that come up is one that comes from the Brennan Center for Justice entitled, “The Myth of Voter Fraud.” At one point in the article, it says:

Politicians at all levels of government have repeatedly, and falsely, claimed the 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections were marred by large numbers of people voting illegally. However, extensive research reveals that fraud is very rare, voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and many instances of alleged fraud are, in fact, mistakes by voters or administrators. The same is true for mail ballots, which are secure and essential to holding a safe election amid the coronavirus pandemic.1

That is the idea proliferated throughout the mainstream media; that voter fraud is rare and therefore irrelevant to any discussion pertaining to the validity of election results.

The problem with that assessment is that it doesn’t make the distinction between the existence of fraud and the extent to which it can be prosecuted. If you can’t prove it in a court of law, it’s assumed that it doesn’t happen.

Look at What All is There

The SAVE Act

Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or the SAVE Act

This bill requires individuals to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections.

Specifically, the bill prohibits states from accepting and processing an application to register to vote in a federal election unless the applicant presents documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. The bill specifies what documents are considered acceptable proof of U.S. citizenship, such as identification that complies with the REAL ID Act of 2005 that indicates U.S. citizenship.

Further, the bill (1) prohibits states from registering an individual to vote in a federal election unless, at the time the individual applies to register to vote, the individual provides documentary proof of U.S. citizenship; and (2) requires states to establish an alternative process under which an applicant may submit other evidence to demonstrate U.S. citizenship.

Each state must take affirmative steps on an ongoing basis to ensure that only U.S. citizens are registered to vote, which shall include establishing a program to identify individuals who are not U.S. citizens using information supplied by certain sources.

Additionally, states must remove noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters.

The bill allows for a private right of action against an election official who registers an applicant to vote in a federal election who fails to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship.

The bill establishes criminal penalties for certain offenses, including registering an applicant to vote in a federal election who fails to present documentary proof of U.S. citizenship. (congress.gov)

To fully appreciate the scope of voter fraud, you first want to understand the multiple ways in which a fraudulent ballot can be cast.

  • Forging signatures on petitions
  • Voting out of jurisdiction
  • Voting more than once
  • Voting while ineligible
  • Voting for deceased or inactive voters still on the active roster
  • Voting on behalf of someone not mentally capable of voting
  • Stuffing the ballot box (there are several ways to do this)
  • Altering official counts (electronically or on paper)
  • Destroying ballots or records during required retention periods
  • Registering ineligible persons (illegal immigrants etc)
  • Registering fictitious identities to vote
  • Inflating voter rolls (such as false registrations or by not removing known deceased, moved and ineligible voters as required by law)
  • Paying someone to vote
  • Coercing someone to vote
  • Using physical violence, threats or intimidation to discourage voting
  • Misdirecting voters (providing false polling date, time, location)
  • Certifying false statements or documents
  • Access disparities (providing unequal polling place locations or core resources per capita – excessive lines and unreasonable inconvenience may discourage and suppress voters in targeted areas)
  • Improperly accepting or rejecting absentee or mail-in ballots
  • Ballot harvesting schemes (there are a few super-easy ways to cheat)
  • Swearing false oaths (such as vouching for someone living in a particular district when they don’t)

It’s not difficult to cheat, but what’s even more difficult is to prove it court. For example…

Voting with a false identity is nearly impossible to prosecute after the fact, because there logically can be no list of people who don’t exist and if two votes by the same person are detected, short of an admission, there is no way to know for certain who cast the second fraudulent ballot. This is why properly identifying voters before they cast a ballot is important. Once in the box, ballots are anonymous. There’s no way to fish back out a fraudulent ballot once it’s been cast. 2

The best way to prevent voter fraud is to require proper ID when you vote.

A Photo ID

What’s So Bad About Voter ID Laws?
Voter ID laws have long been debated in the United States. While supporters argue that voter photo ID laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud and ensure the integrity of elections, reality tells a different story. Not only do these measures disproportionately impact Black, Native, elderly, and student voters, but they also fail to effectively address any real issues related to election integrity — the very thing advocates say these measures are designed to do. (League of Women Voters)

You need a photo ID to:

  • Travel: Boarding commercial flights (TSA checkpoints), checking into hotels, or renting a car.
  • Government/Legal: Voting, applying for a marriage license, visiting federal buildings, or entering military bases.
  • Age-Restricted Purchases: Buying alcohol, tobacco, or tobacco-related products at retailers or bars.
  • Financial & Professional: Opening a bank account, withdrawing large sums of cash, or starting a new job (Form I-9).
  • Medical & Security: Picking up prescriptions at a pharmacy or entering a secured workplace.

To insist that requiring proper identification is a form of oppression and should not be required is absurd (see sidebar). When you consider the above mentioned activities that require a photo ID, it’s pretty obvious that if you want to operate as a fully functional adult in today’s society, you need to be able to properly identify yourself. You’re not being oppressed when you’re being asked to be responsible.

But while there is little to no opposition in having to produce a photo ID in order to get a driver’s license, for some reason, having to show a photo ID to vote is condemned as something sinister.

Those who oppose the SAVE Act describe it as “…a discriminatory and disastrous bill designed to block millions of eligible voters from free and full access to the polls.”(Legal Defense Fund) Part of their argument insists that it doesn’t significantly impact the integrity of elections.

But that’s not the case…

A Specious Strawman

A common talking point among fraud deniers who oppose requiring photo identification to vote is that “ID only stops voting with another voter’s identity, which is exceedingly rare, so showing ID is an unnecessary burden.”

This argument is a specious strawman, however. Photo identification would help prosecute ineligible voters by establishing proof that they cast the ballot themselves. State-issued photo ID may also contain information that could indicate a voter’s ineligibility based on citizenship. Combined with an electronic pollbook (also known as electronic rosters) capable of instant eligibility verification, like the 2010 Minnesota Voter ID bill required, ineligible felons and wards would also be prevented from voting illegally.3

“Specious” means “to be superficially plausible, but actually wrong.” “Strawman” is a term used to describe the practice of characterizing your opponent’s argument in a way that’s intentionally exaggerated and distorted so it’s seemingly easy to defeat.

To say that requiring a photo ID doesn’t significantly impact the potential of someone illegally voting is a specious strawman argument.

More often than not, those who don’t have something say as much as they’ve got something to hide won’t make an argument as much as they’ll make an excuse. They hide behind the idea that they’re either wounded or they’re trying to protect those who are. But the fact of the matter is they can’t champion their platform directly without sounding either selfish or foolish so instead of trying to get people to agree with them, they try to get people to feel sorry for them.

It can be an effective strategy because of the way most will go out of their way to avoid being labeled cruel and hateful. But it’s revealed as a bogus excuse when it’s brought into the light of real results and common sense thinking.

In an article in the New York Post, the point is made that in most countries around the world, providing a photo ID in order to vote is commonplace and to perceive it as an authoritarian takeover of the electoral process is ludicrous.

This Works

In 2008, Al Franken was declared the winner of his state’s Senate race after a lopsided and legally questionable recount by a margin of 312 votes. Despite being able to demonstrate serious discrepancies in the voting process, including proof that ineligible felons had voted illegally at a rate that was three-times Franken’s margin of victory, Franken went on to give the Democrats a 60 seat super-majority in the Senate who would then go on to pass Obamacare, a financially unsustainable enterprise that every Republican voted against, both in the House and the Senate.4

In 2018, 22-year-old Abdihakim Amin Esa of Minneapolis was charged with 13 counts of voter fraud. He claimed that he was working on behalf of a candidate’s campaign committee and while he declined to give the name of the candidate, it was widely circulated that it was Ilhan Omar. (5)

The only people that want to insist that fraud doesn’t occur are those that benefit by it. When they say it doesn’t happen, what they’re referring to is the number of court cases that have been successful in the context of prosecuting a crime committed by a party that is next to impossible to track.

The best, if not the only, way to ensure a secure voting process is require a photo ID. Absentee Ballots are still available for people in the military and those that represent legitimate voters. But to vote in person, in order to ensure you’re not illegally voting on someone else’s behalf or voting in a jurisdiction other than your own, or any of the fraudulent options previously listed, a photo ID makes sense and it works!

Prove that you have legal permission to participate in the voting process and stop insisting that the country is being limited by excessive requirements when, in fact, it’s being liberated from sinister concessions.

1. “Brennan Center for Justice” “The Myth of Voter Fraud”, https://www.brennancenter.org/topics/voting-elections/vote-suppression/myth-voter-fraud, accessed March 28, 2026
2. McGrath, Dan, “The Voter Fraud Manual”, Dan McGrath, 2023, Kindle LOC 230
3. Ibid, LOC 243
4. Ibid, LOC 98-99
5. Ibid, LOC 1062