I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states,

[Bigun]

Jeff Sessions needs to be confirmed NOW!

And we know why he isn't!

[geronl]

Voter roles should be cleared for each election, registration should be done individually and in person.

[alicewonders]

And we know why he isn't!

yep

[Oceander]

Whether there's been voter fraud or not, I strongly believe that a dispassionate,  nonpartisan study needs to be done precisely because we don't know, and I think certain recommendations should be given serious thought, such as a national identity card, that would protect against potential voter fraud in the future. 

I have no problem with anyone calling for such a study, as long as it is nonpartisan and is not simply used to go after political enemies.

[geronl]

Whether there's been voter fraud or not, I strongly believe that a dispassionate,  nonpartisan study needs to be done precisely because we don't know, and I think certain recommendations should be given serious thought, such as a national identity card, that would protect against potential voter fraud in the future.  ]

A national ID is a terrible and horrible, no good idea. The next President could be like Obama, he'd give those ID to anyone crossing the border. We already have states giving ID's and drivers licenses to illegals and the federal government gives them SS numbers and such. Another ID will offer no more protection against vote fraud than the ID's from the states.

[skeeter]

Voter roles should be cleared for each election, registration should be done individually and in person.

This is probably the only practical answer.

The left would crap prickles.

Which is good.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

And I agree with this, but will add that he must stop making this claim without evidence, unless evidence is found.

This is one of those issues where Trump is ultimately going to do a lot of good, but his choice of language was poor.  It is completely true that there are millions of people illegally registered to vote -- there is not evidence that all those people actually voted in this past election, so Trump is wrong there.  But the existence of millions of bogus registrations itself is a major problem that needs to be corrected, and it's not like Dubya did much about it when he was in office.  I wish Trump hadn't oversold this, but if his overselling actually draws enough attention to the existence of the potential for massive fraud, and takes steps to address that, he'll have done us an enormous service.

[Taxcontrol]

Gaining state voter registrations should automatically trigger a notice to the losing state to remove the voter from the rolls
Every four years, 30 days after the President's inauguration, all voters from all state rolls should be purged
New voter registrations should require proof of citizenship for federal elections as well as proof of residence.
No person currently serving time or parole for a felony conviction should be allowed to vote
No person having been convicted of treason, sedition or vote fraud should EVER be allowed to vote.
All voters should be required to provide voter id in order to receive a ballot

[Maj. Bill Martin]

So poll is foreign born respondents, and of those, 13 percent are illegal voter.

It's even worse than that.   The article actually said:

A poll by John McLaughlin confirms again we may have a significant problem with noncitizens participating illegally in our elections. Based on a sample survey of 800 Hispanics in 2013, McLaughlin found that of foreign-born respondents who were registered voters, 13 percent admitted they were not United States citizens.

So it wasn't even that they actually voted.  It was just that they were registered to vote.  The headline is just wrong.

[Free Vulcan]

First off, this:

Study Claims Up To 2.8 Million Non-Citizens Voted In 2008

http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php?topic=245465.new#new

Second, we need total voter reform. Voter ID yes, but also tightening up same day registration, ballot chain of custody, stopping people from registering in two or more states, absentee fraud, tightening up the registration process, cleaning up voter rolls, and so on.

Look at every link in the chain and plug the holes.

[Sanguine]

It's even worse than that.   The article actually said:

A poll by John McLaughlin confirms again we may have a significant problem with noncitizens participating illegally in our elections. Based on a sample survey of 800 Hispanics in 2013, McLaughlin found that of foreign-born respondents who were registered voters, 13 percent admitted they were not United States citizens.

So it wasn't even that they actually voted.  It was just that they were registered to vote.  The headline is just wrong.

That's sort of like saying "But, I didn't inhale".

[Victoria33]

@txradioguy
@mystery-ak
@Oceander

Trump said a major investigation "Regarding VOTER FRAUD, including those registered in two states."  He also said dead people are voting, been on the voting rolls for years.

(Trump throws out words to get attention, not knowing whether something is true or not, without researching before speaking.  After you read this, you will know more than he does about elections.)

Let's find out how voter registration works and what checks and balances are used in a state and a county (I will use "county" to also represent a "parish") and a voting precinct where you actually vote, to assure elections are fair.  This is a big country, but elections take place in states, counties, voting precincts - you live in a state, county and voting precinct.  It is easier to understand election law if you consider your own state/county/voting precinct.

The federal law, "Help America Vote Act of 2002" (HAVA), signed into law by President Bush in Oct., 2002, revised the voter registration process.  That process was covered under this part of the law: "establish minimum election administration standards".

There have been some articles about voter fraud, such as more people voting than registered in a county.  The reader goes with that and doesn't find out it wasn't true for some reason.  Let's see what the law of 2002 did regarding voter lists - who is responsible for the master voter list of a county after 2002 (it is not a county now so their number may be different than the Master List, resulting in presumed more people voting than registered, according to which number was used in the calculation).  Those numbers are always in flux due to voters added and removed. 

Also, Trump says people may be registered in more than one county or more than one state.  What safeguard is there to prevent voting in all these places? 

Trump says voter lists have dead people on them and they are voting.  How are dead people removed from a voter list after 2002?  Who does that?

The answers to these questions:
There was no coordinated system about voter registration before the 2002 law.  After that law, the Secretary of State of every state is responsible for the master voting list of their state, made up of every county list.  Now, before a voter is registered in a county, the voter info. goes to the Secretary of State to determine if that voter is legal to be a registered voter.  They have access to all information about this person and the county does not so that is why the SOS is now the “keeper” of the master voter list.   The SOS can access birth and death records, citizenship records, passport records, criminal records, address records, marriage/divorce records, etc..  Only after a voter is determined to be qualified to vote, the SOS puts the name on the master list and informs the county to add the name.  If the name is not qualified, the SOS informs the county of that and the name is not added.  This is true in every state due to the 2002 law.

About Motor Voter:  The person fills out the “form” at the State Motor Vehicle Building, and the form is sent to the SOS to be evaluated to determine if the name should be added to the Master Voter List.

How a name gets removed from the voter list: 
A voter card/document of some kind is sent to a voter, usually every two years.  If that card comes back to the county clerk/voter registrator as “undeliverable”, that name is put on a “Suspense” list.   When the card is sent out again in two years, if it comes back again, the name is removed from the list.  That removes people who have moved from the county/state and their address changed.  They will not be registered in two counties or two states.

Also, the SOS checks death records at set times, and names of deceased persons are removed from the Master List and the names are sent to the county to be removed.   The county also gets death records from their county when a death certificate is issued in that county.

What happens at your voting precinct when you go vote:
You will be asked if your address has changed.  If it has, and you are no longer in that voting precinct, you will be sent right then to your new voting precinct in that county if you still live in the county, where you will register your new address.  If you insist on voting in your old precinct and you don’t live in that precinct anymore, you will vote a Provisional Ballot.  It will be a paper ballot and sealed in an envelope to be forwarded to the Early Voting Ballot Board who will examine the Provisional Ballot the next day.  If it is determined you are not qualified to vote in that voting precinct, your ballot will be voided and not counted.

Your Secretary of State has a name.  Do you know who he/she is?  This is how YOUR Secretary of State gets this job:

“Currently, in 35 states, the secretary of state is elected, usually for a four-year term. In others, the secretary of state is appointed by the governor; Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia are amongst the states with this practice. In three states, the secretary of state is elected by the state legislature; the General Assembly of Tennessee meets in joint convention to elect the Secretary of State to a four-year term, and the Maine Legislature and New Hampshire General Court also select their secretaries of state, but to two-year terms.”

[Maj. Bill Martin]

That's sort of like saying "But, I didn't inhale".

It's really not.  Do 100% of even  legally registered voters vote?  Obviously not -- turnout varies anywhere from 25-60%, so equating the number of illegally registered voters to the number of actual illegal votes cast is wrong. Most of those illegally registered don't even do it deliberately -- it's a function of the ridiculous motor voter laws.

But I agree that having millions of illegally registered voters is a huge problem even if we don't have accurate data on how many of them actually vote.  I really hope the feds crack down on illegal registration, and they could start by getting rid of motor voter.

[DCPatriot]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/10/24/could-non-citizens-decide-the-november-election/?postshare=8991485375895984&tid=ss_fb

Could non-citizens decide the November election?- Washington Post

 By Jesse Richman and David Earnest October 24, 2014

[Maj. Bill Martin]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/10/24/could-non-citizens-decide-the-november-election/?postshare=8991485375895984&tid=ss_fb

Could non-citizens decide the November election?- Washington Post

 By Jesse Richman and David Earnest October 24, 2014

That's really the argument with which Trump should have run, not the arguing that his own popular vote "loss" was because of fraudulent votes.  It's clearly possible that a close election could be swung by illegal votes, and that should be enough incentive to fix it.

[Lando Lincoln]

That's really the argument with which Trump should have run, not the arguing that his own popular vote "loss" was because of fraudulent votes.  It's clearly possible that a close election could be swung by illegal votes, and that should be enough incentive to fix it.

Agree - it is more than enough basis to conduct a thorough investigation.  Identify the problems, quantify them, fix them.  If our elections are pristine, say so.  (Rhetorical question ahead.)  What American would not want that? 

[txradioguy]

Agree - it is more than enough basis to conduct a thorough investigation.  Identify the problems, quantify them, fix them.  If our elections are pristine, say so.  (Rhetorical question ahead.)  What American would not want that?

Like I said earlier...Constitutional Amendment requiring photo ID to vote would fix this.  He's got the momentum and the numbers at the Federal and state level to get it passed.  But there is a limited window of opportunity.

It's just a matter of whether the administration wants to be distracted by shiny things or get real meaningful things done.

[Sanguine]

It's really not.  Do 100% of even  legally registered voters vote?  Obviously not -- turnout varies anywhere from 25-60%, so equating the number of illegally registered voters to the number of actual illegal votes cast is wrong. Most of those illegally registered don't even do it deliberately -- it's a function of the ridiculous motor voter laws.

But I agree that having millions of illegally registered voters is a huge problem even if we don't have accurate data on how many of them actually vote.  I really hope the feds crack down on illegal registration, and they could start by getting rid of motor voter.

Bill, why does one hold the marijuana cigarette up to one's lips and suck in smoke if one doesn't plan on inhaling?

So, why would someone enroll to vote if they didn't, at some level, plan on using said voter enrollment?

[geronl]

Tiffany Trump & Steve Bannon are registered to vote in two states.

 

[DCPatriot]

That's really the argument with which Trump should have run, not the arguing that his own popular vote "loss" was because of fraudulent votes.  It's clearly possible that a close election could be swung by illegal votes, and that should be enough incentive to fix it.

#1.   If he'd just brought up this article without any claim that he probably would have won the popular vote too....it would be solely reported as sour grapes.

#2.   Instead, he simply made the charge...knowing full well the MSM would lose their minds...and at the same time took RUSSIA DID IT, off the news cycle.

#3.   The Democrats are noted for "The seriousness of the charge by itself demands we fully investigate [this]"...He painted the DEM Party into a corner because we know they don't want this investigated.  It's how they steal elections.

#4.   Sure as God...and now genetics corporations make little green apples....strict VOTER ID laws are on the horizon for the 2018 mid-terms.

[TomSea]

I thought the stories out of Detroit were that it was so far beyond reconciling votes, they had to give it up. So it happens and probably in other cities too.

In a way, it is sort of a trap, say one thinks the election was fraudulent, get everyone up in arms, open up the books and maybe they catch the Democrats big time.

[DCPatriot]

http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,245479.0.html

Why Do Democrats Fear a Voter-Fraud Investigation?

[DCPatriot]

I thought the stories out of Detroit were that it was so far beyond reconciling votes, they had to give it up. So it happens and probably in other cities too.

In a way, it is sort of a trap, say one thinks the election was fraudulent, get everyone up in arms, open up the books and maybe they catch the Democrats big time.

By Jove....I think you've got it!   

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Bill, why does one hold the marijuana cigarette up to one's lips and suck in smoke if one doesn't plan on inhaling?

That makes very little sense.  The only possible explanation is that you were subject to peer pressure and so were trying to appear that you were smoking it without actually doing so.

So, why would someone enroll to vote if they didn't, at some level, plan on using said voter enrollment?

First, because we've made it so damn easy to register -- and it sometime happens in schools, at fairs, etc., that you almost have to make a conscious effort not to register.  You can do virtually any day you want to.  Actually voting, though, requires more effort be undertaken, and on a specific day.

Regardless, you cannot ignore the reality that voter turnout isn't anywhere near 100%.  So whether you personally think it makes sense or not, the inarguable fact is that tens of millions of people who are registered to vote, don't actually vote.  That's indisputable.

But second, the real culprit here is the motor voter laws.  There have been various articles written about it, but essentially, when you get your drivers' license, you are automatically registered unless you affirmative opt out.  Or, it amounts to nothing more than checking a block on a form, and pushy DMV workers tell everyone to do it.  And most states don't even ask for proof of citizenship.  That issue actually went up to the Supreme Court.  There are likely a fair number of non-citizens who unintentionally register via motor voter.

But again, I'm not saying this is not a huge problem.   It is, and the problem isn't just that non-citizens may vote.  Perhaps the greater risk is that ballot box stuffers will get lists of those people who are registered but don't vote, fraudulently request an absentee ballot for those people, and then vote for them.   Or corrupt local poll workers will fil out those ballots for them on their behalf.

We need to repeal motor voter, clean up our voter rolls, but also begin to significantly restrict absentee voting overall, because that's where the biggest potential for fraud truly lies.

[beandog]

Tiffany Trump & Steve Bannon are registered to vote in two states.

 

So what?  It's not illegal to be registered in two states as long as you only vote in one state.  I'm sure a lot of people who have moved are registered in two states.  It is up to the states to purge the rolls of people who are know longer residents of their state.