You’ve probably heard it many times. It was invoked in 2014 by a Pennsylvania judge to rationalize throwing out the state’s voter ID law. In a 100-page opinion, Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley argued that “if even one person is disenfranchised by the law,” then we have failed as a democracy.
Those same words — if even one person is disenfranchised — have been uttered ad nauseam by Democrats to justify their opposition to laws that would combat voter fraud. That fallback argument is about to come to the fore again now that President Donald Trump has announced via Twitter:
I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
The mainstream media immediately fired back that the problem is not as widespread as Trump is making it out to be.
But the data compiled to date come down on Trump’s side. In 2012, Pew Research Center did what the president is recommending, and what they found is compelling. The study determined that some 24 million U.S. voter registrations — that’s one out of every eight — are no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate. In addition, more than 1.8 million deceased individuals are still on the voting rolls, and approximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state.
More recently, an undercover video of a conversation with Alan Schulkin, Manhattan commissioner of the Board of Elections, confirmed that “there’s a lot of voter fraud.” Schulkin added that “people don’t realize certain neighborhoods in particular, they bus people around to vote.”
But the exact number of dead or invalid voters shouldn’t really make a shred of difference. Ultimately, liberals’ go-to argument cuts both ways. Conservatives should practice repeating this mantra: “If even one fraudulent vote is cast, that is one too many.”
