The World According to Nick |
My take on Software, Technology, Politics, and anything else I feel like talking about. |
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Mayor Daily in MilwaukeeIn case you're not aware... Milwaukee has been caught up in an election scandal of our own. Apparently we just didn't want to get left out of the fun going on in Washington and Ohio. What's going on is that people are finally realizing the consequences to insanely liberal voter registration laws that have been on the books for years. Boots & Sabers has been rounding up coverage quite nicely, and the Captain's Quarters is also talking about it today. Here's what it boils down to. Milwaukee County's voter turnout was frankly far too large, as was the number of election day registrations. Wisconsin begs, and I mean begs for illegal voting. In the state of Wisconsin, in order to vote, all you need to do is come to your polling place with proof of residence in that district. That's it. That's all it takes. No photo identification is required. There are no checks to see if you are registered from an old address in another precinct, which allows for double voting quite easily. What counts as a proof of address you ask? The common one mentioned is a utility bill, but a pay stub will also suffice. In fact, it has been found that many people used proof of residence for the same location that was an empty lot! Of course we're just finding out about all this now. The number of fraudulent votes is so high in Milwaukee County alone, that it accounts for Kerry's margin of victory for the entire state! This doesn't even include Madison which isn't being talked about yet. Madison is even more liberal than Milwaukee, and a big college town. I'm willing to bet good money that similar irregularities could easily be found there. What always bugged me was that nobody ever asked me to prove who I was when I went to vote, even if I was registered. When I walk up to the table, I simply give them my address. They look me up in their book... they tell me my name... I say yes, and they hand me a ballot. How easy would it be for me to canvas several precincts early in the morning with some addresses and vote in someone else's stead? How hard would it be for them to ask for a photo ID, or at the very least require me to say my name and verify it with what's in the book, instead of telling it to me? Jesus... we're talking about basic stuff here. So much for one person one vote eh? Update: I knew I had blogged on this before! Here is what I wrote among other things on election night:
Just curious if you're claiming that votor fraud is the reason why Kerry won the state or if you are just mentioning that questionable votes acount for more than the margin of victory.
Because the number of questionable votes account are greater than the margin of victory for Kerry, it does in fact call that victory into question.
Now then... with that said, what we don't know, and can never know is how many of those fraudelent votes were Kerry votes, and how many were Bush votes. Mathematically, when your margin of error (in this case the number of fraudlent votes) is greater than the difference in the total votes for both sides, than you can't say who won. Its just like when you have a telephone poll and they report the results as saying that 49% said Kerry and 51% said Bush, with a margin of error of 3%. That is called a statistical tie.
Yes, I get all that, and I understand that if the total number of fraudulent votes exceedes the margin of victory, there are major issues that need to be dealt with before the next election. I just don't currently believe that:
A. Fraudulent voting in Wisconsin has changed the outcome of a major election. (not sure about that South Milwaukee mayoral race) 2. When all suspect registration cards are checked, the actual number of fraudulent registration cards will be greater than the margin of victory. On the other hand, I also believe that if we don't change anything, soon enough one of the two will actually happen.
I'll start with your number 2. I certainly hope that you're right about 2. But whether it's true or not does not mean (as you pointed out) that changes aren't needed. In some respects I hope that the number is greater than the margin of victory, for it doesn't matter in terms of the presidential election. Bush won anyway. So this would be a great way to have enough outrage to encourage reform, without actually paying a penalty.
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As far as A is concerned, we'll never know. Because so many people who weren't registered were allowed to simply put their ballots in the machine right away, we'll never know how they voted, or whether it truley did change the election outcome. |
About Me
Name: Nick Home: Wauwatosa, WI, United States I'm a Software Consultant in the Milwaukee area. Among various geeky pursuits, I'm also an amateur triathlete, and enjoy rock climbing. I also like to think I'm a political pundit. View My Profile Archives
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