A two-month long voter fraud investigation in Maine concludes with no evidence of illegal voting by the 206 students that were singled out by the state Republican Party.
In July, Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster urged Secretary of State Charlie Summers to investigate the voting records of the out-of-state students who were attending public Maine universities when they voted in the 2010 election.
“I am convinced that my research proves that [voter] fraud is a problem, and I’ve only found the tip of the iceberg,” Webster said at a state conference earlier this summer.
But, Summers said that out of the 206 students his office investigated, “77 were registered both in Maine and in their home state, and a handful voted in both states in the same year. But he said none voted in the same election twice,” the Maine Public Broadcasting Network reports.
Only one illegal vote was reportedly found and was cast in 2002 by a noncitizen, who has since been deported.
In August, the Fair Elections Legal Network blogged that “‘Voter fraud’ has become a catch-all code word used by Webster and others to push for election laws that turn voting rights into a privilege, rather than a fundamental right of all citizens.”
Although Summers’ investigation proves that voter fraud–whether it be double-voting, voter impersonation, or noncitizen voting–is a non-issue in Maine, he still seems to believe that Maine’s election system is “fragile and vulnerable.” Vulnerable to what is the question that Mainers are asking, including state Representative Diane Russell (D-Portland).
“I can’t communicate how absurd this all is,” she said. “It is like I dropped down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland; black is white, up is down, and nothing makes sense.”
Summers hasn’t made it clear exactly what is wrong with the state’s election system or what his election “integrity” efforts entail. He has, however, shown support in recent months for restrictive voting measures, including the state’s recent ban on Election Day registration after nearly 40 years of successfully implementing the policy as well as voter ID bill, LD 199.
While Summers has gone on record earlier this year to say that the elimination of same-day registration “has nothing to do with fraud” and everything to do with making work easier for election clerks (who were actually against the ban), voter ID bill LD 199 is touted as an anti-voter impersonation measure. And it may be re-introduced in 2012.
But, if a state investigation turned up no evidence of voter impersonation fraud and these restrictive measures are supported to prevent fraud (or…not?), then why are elected officials trying to punish voters by making it harder to vote? That’s the question that state Democrats and voting rights advocates are asking. But for now, there are no substantial answers.
As for same-day registration, more than 70,000 voters petitioned to re-instate the law by putting it on the November 8 ballot.
“Now, Republicans are on the hot seat for their own overreaching,” editorialized Douglas Rooks at the Seacoast Online. “When there’s no real demand for changing voting laws, it’s not a good idea to change them.”