Group says it found 30,000 dead North Carolinians registered to vote

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Charlotte Observer:

RALEIGH A Raleigh-based group devoted to reducing the potential for voter fraud presented the N.C. Board of Elections on Friday with a list of nearly 30,000 names of dead people statewide who are still registered to vote.

The Voter Integrity Project compiled the list after obtaining death records from the state Department of Public Health from 2002 to March 31 and comparing them to the voter rolls.

“Mainly, what we’re concerned about is the potential [for fraud],” said project director Jay DeLancy. “Since there is no voter ID law in North Carolina, anybody can walk in and claim to be anyone else.”

DeLancy said his group has found evidence to suggest voter fraud in these numbers, but will not quantify how much until he is able to do more analysis. Most cases of what look like a dead person voting are likely just administrative errors, such as a son named Junior voting in his father’s name instead of his own.

The rolls of registered voters are updated every month when the state Department of Health and Human Services gives a list of all death certificates received that month to the state Board of Elections.

Problems arise when the names on the death certificates do not match the names on the voting records, which often happens after women get married, Board of Elections General Counsel Don Wright said Friday. Addresses are also often listed with slight differences, Wright said. An address on West Millbrook Road and Millbrook Road might be the same house, but computers won’t always catch it. “Unless there is an exact match, we do not remove people from the voter rolls,” Wright said.

DeLancy said his volunteers work to fix the discrepancies, by examining cases of similar names and addresses and confirming other pieces of data, such as whether the voter has the same date of birth.

Wright said the elections board will investigate the names provided by the Voter Integrity Project and take appropriate action. The state board can remove voters from the rolls for inactivity if they haven’t voted in two consecutive elections, which cleans up most problems over time, Wright said.

In 2009, 261 cases of voter fraud were sent to local district attorney’s offices in the state, the majority of which concluded investigations from the 2008 election, according to a report by the state Board of Elections. Of those cases, 229 involved convicted felons voting. The board did not investigate anyone for fraud in the May primaries, Wright said.

________

 

Well, there go Obama's South Carolina votes...

[Valin]

Nothing to see here...move along

[Pepper]

@WestVirginiaRebel

From a comment

"Actually it is hard to vote when you have to hold up pants with one hand."

[Valin]

@WestVirginiaRebel

From a comment

"Actually it is hard to vote when you have to hold up pants with one hand."

 

Being six feet in the ground and not breathing doesn't really make it any easier either.

[Pepper]

@Valin

Guess you're right, since somehow they manage to pull the liver or punch that chad.

[Valin]

(Exclusive) Internal DOJ Documents Argued for SC Voter ID Approval … but Obama Appointees Overruled

J. Christian Adams

9/12/12

 

PJ Media has learned that a team of career lawyers, expert analysts, and supervisors in the Justice Department Voting Section recommended that South Carolina’s photo voter identification law be precleared under the Voting Rights Act as non-discriminatory. Presidential appointees in the Justice Department then disregarded the career recommendation and an objection followed, blocking South Carolina’s voter ID law.

 

(Snip)

 

This information directly contradicts a central theme of Attorney General Eric Holder’s civil rights enforcement — that career civil servants have been placed back in charge of Voting Rights Act enforcement. It also raises questions about political interference during an election year that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs from a federal court lawsuit to defend the decision by political appointees to overrule the career recommendation. Had voter ID been precleared, South Carolina would not have needed to sue Eric Holder for approval in court.

 

(Snip)

 

The South Carolina voter ID law was reviewed by civil rights analysts, a veteran attorney reviewer, the deputy chief in charge of Section 5 enforcement, and ultimately the section chief. Extensive and detailed memos were prepared by career staff recommending that South Carolina voter ID be precleared. There was a very small difference in voter ID possession between blacks and whites – only a 1.6% difference. South Carolina made photo ID free and allowed anyone with a reasonable impediment in obtaining one to vote anyhow after completing an affidavit. Based on these facts, career staff recommended preclearance.

 

(Snip)

[Draggingtree]

Harris County under attack for keeping ‘dead’ voters

Posted: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 10:43 am

Harris County voters thought to be dead will not be purged from the voter rolls before the election unless a family member confirms their death, Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Don Sumners said Monday.

Last week, 9,018 voters received notice that they would be purged from the voter rolls if they did not respond within 30 days of receiving the letter. After receiving an estimated 300 calls Monday, Sumners announced he would wait until after the election before expunging voters who did not reply.

[clearvision]

][/b]

Sumners announced he would wait until after the election before expunging voters who did not reply.

[Draggingtree]

Ellis: Houston (and Texas), we have a voter rolls problem

 

Rodney Ellis, Texas Senate

 

Updated: 7:10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 17, 2012

Published: 7:06 p.m. Monday, Sept. 17, 2012

In the past week, thousands of voters across Texas opened their mailboxes to learn that they might be dead. It was quite a shock to many of them.

This week, I began receiving calls from constituents who had received letters from Harris County voting officials stating the government had obtained information indicating they were deceased and, unless they responded to the letter within 30 days, their voter registration will be canceled. Thousands of such letters apparently have gone out across the state.

Here's the back story: Last year, the legislature passed a bill, HB 174, instructing the secretary of state to coordinate with county election officials to clean up voter rolls across Texas.

The law, a straightforward plan to remove deceased voters from election lists, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support because we all agree maintaining accurate election lists is vital to running fair and efficient elections. It went into effect Sept. 1 — of last year.

The process is clearly flawed and fraught with peril. It took too long to get under way, and we are too close to Election Day to try to rush through a purge that likely will cost many Texans their opportunity to vote. In the name of fairness and efficiency, we should call a timeout until Jan. 1 and ask the secretary of state to work with the legislature and counties to ensure the cleanup is done in the most efficient, fair and transparent way, long before any elections take place so as to eliminate the appearance of political games.

Our state and our voters deserve no less.

Ellis, a Democrat, represents parts of Fort Bend and Harris counties in the Texas Senate.