A Okie look at all thing Politics, eCampaign, New Media and Warfare - - - I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. - John Adams
A measure that significantly increases election fraud penalties is intended to deter election and voter registration irregularities in the state.
Senate Bill 1921, by former Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, takes effect today.
Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, said SB 1921 was requested by state Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax.
The measure passed 91-7 in the House of Representatives and 33-10 in the Senate, both controlled by Republicans, Democratic Gov. Brad Henry signed the bill into law.
The measure increases the maximum punishment for felony violations of election laws from a fine of $5,000 to $50,000 and from two years in prison to five years.
It also increases the penalty for misdemeanor violations of the election code from a fine of $1,000 to $10,000.
The law also makes it a felony to vote with and submit an absentee ballot issued to another person, make false application for an absentee ballot, cause the cancellation of a qualified voter’s registration, cause the submission of voter registration forms with false information, and conspire to commit election fraud.
"We had not increased our fines in a number of years," Coffee said. "They were not conforming with other states for similar crimes."
"Although there are not very many problems with voter registration fraud or election fraud in Oklahoma, our state is not totally immune to such allegations." Ziriax said. "As secretary of the state Election Board, I believe Oklahoma has the best election system in the nation. By deterring fraud through tougher criminal penalties, SB 1921 improves the public's faith and confidence that our elections in Oklahoma are fair, honest and accurate."
An Adair County man who had previously been investigated for voting irregularities was charged in July with falsifying ballots.
Court proceedings are pending against Darryl Cates, of Westville, who is charged with two counts of false affidavit in voting registration and two counts of false notarization of an absentee ballot.
He is accused of signing the names of Sherri Eagle and Michael Cooksey in absentee voting for the Cave Springs school election in February 2009.
Oklahoma State lawmakers voted today to target voter fraud by requiring that Oklahoma citizens provide proof of identity before voting in an election.
"Any election reform package approved this year must start with voter ID as its foundation," said House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa. "Our top priority is to ensure the integrity of our elections, and to do that we must ensure that only eligible voters cast ballots."
House Bill 1037, by state Rep. Sue Tibbs, would require citizens to provide "proof of identity" before voting. Under the bill, proof of identity could be established by producing a document containing a photograph of the voter that was issued by a state, federal, county, municipal, or tribal government.
"For Oklahomans to have faith in our election process, we cannot tolerate any opportunity for voter fraud," said Tibbs, R-Tulsa. "This legislation provides a simple, cost-effective way to guarantee that no Oklahoman is disenfranchised as the result of illegal votes."
Under the bill, if a voter is unable to produce a photo ID, that person can sign a statement under oath swearing to his or her identity.
Anyone found to have signed the oath falsely would be subject to felony punishment.
In recent election cycles there have been reports of voter fraud in numerous states, prompting lawmakers to enact new reforms.
For example, ACORN, a liberal activist group that has registered millions of voters across the country, has been embroiled in countless fraud allegations and was the subject of an FBI investigation.
Some ACORN employees were accused of submitting false voter registration forms – including some signed `Mickey Mouse' and several in Nevada listing Dallas Cowboys players’ names, though none of the players live in the state. Another Nevada ACORN worker was caught filling out voter registration forms using names and addresses copied out of the telephone book.
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a similar law in Indiana that required voters to show photo identification.
Last week, former Federal Election Commissioner Hans von Spakovsky noted in the Wall Street Journal that Georgia and Indiana saw record numbers of Democrats vote in November, despite having some of the nation’s toughest voter ID laws.
"With every election that has occurred since states have begun to implement voter ID, the evidence is overwhelming that it does not depress the turnout of voters," von Spakovsky said in the Journal. "Indeed, it may actually increase the public’s confidence that their votes will count."
House Bill 1037 passed out of the House Rules Committee today. It will next receive a vote from the entire Oklahoma House of Representatives.
If registration and voting are not easy, voters are disenfranchised! More voters would vote if registration and voting were not so hard.
Same-day voter registration. Give it to me! I'm entitled to it! I pay taxes (probably not income taxes though)!
Easy registration and voting does not improve voter turnout.
Substantial research by the London School of Economics and American University indicates that easy voting measures - same day voter registration, early voting and mail ballots - do not improve voter turnout except in certain states.
Minnesota and eight other states have same-day voter registration. In January, both houses of Congress will consider legislation to federalize same day voter registration. It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Right now registration rates exceed 80%. We will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make registration easier for 20% of the population.
Besides the cost, what is wrong with letting the Federal government take over our election systems? I like to point out how elections work in Kazakhstan, a dictatorship faking democracy.
A dirty little secret - most of those ten or fifteen academics in cahoots with activists who convinced everyone to junk millions of dollars worth of voting machines were disgruntled Gore supporters from 2000. As a so called voting integrity activist, an election administration coup by the Federal government should scare you more than the Supreme Court deciding an election.
Outrage won't come from the Democrats. Funny thing happened on the way to election reform. The Democrats are all over it, while the Republicans are shuffling off their Buffaloes. I'm not even sure the Republicans understand how elections are actually run. That would explain why they just react, instead of being proactive on issues like the mounting same day registration movement.
I wouldn't depend on the Republicans to defend our election systems against same day voter registration.
Until the Pentagon or some other agency invents a fail safe way to assure voter's eligibility, including current residency, same day voter registration should be left up to the states'.
States with same day voter registration find it is not problem free, as the media would have you believe. Significant problems exist, including nonresident's voting in local elections and inability to verify voter eligibility.
ElectionNeutralityNow's main objection is the partisan nature of enacting federal legislation clearly benefiting one party. Even if it is your party benefiting, what about when you aren't in control?
Are you willing to denigrate our election systems to benefit 20% of the population? Why not empower those voters by educating them to their civic responsibility.
Of course, if you like the government of Kazakhstan, perhaps you want to take responsibility for those citizen's votes?
Jan Tyler is a former Denver election commissioner, certified election registration administrator, veteran of eight international election-observation missions, and blogs atwww.electionneutralitynow.com
An East Side man was indicted this week on charges that he requested absentee ballots and filed false voter registrations for himself and others, using a residential address that doesn't exist, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said Wednesday.
But no one with any of the names he used voted in the Nov. 4 election, either absentee or in person.
Antonio Alvande, 36, of 532 S. James Rd., was arrested Tuesday on a 24-count indictment charging him with 14 counts of false registration and 10 counts of absentee-ballot fraud.
He is scheduled to appear in court Friday.
Six other cases were forwarded to prosecutors by the Board of Elections last week, including one involving a woman who voted twice in different polling places and nonresidents who attempted to vote. More indictments are expected, O'Brien said.
In the Alvande case, O'Brien said the Franklin County Board of Elections flagged multiple forms before the election because they were from Apartment 326 at the same E. Broad Street address or were signed by the same person.
The address is a retail strip mall that includes a box-shipping store where Alvande rented post-office box 326.
A handwriting analyst confirmed that the forms were written and signed by Alvande, O'Brien said.
"This case is being prosecuted because of the signatures," he said. "Some people in this state don't think they are necessary" - a reference to statements made by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
"Anyone who thinks that a signature is not necessary to deter or prosecute voter fraud is not living in the real world."
Meanwhile, Jeff Ortega, a spokesman for Brunner, said that Brunner "commends the Franklin County Board of Elections for following Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's directive to investigate any and all instances of voter registration fraud and to report it to the proper authorities.
"This is proof yet again that the policies and procedures are in place to give voters the confidence in our great bipartisan election system.''
O'Brien told the elections board this month to discard about 1,000 provisional ballots without a signature, saying it's required under Ohio law.
Five voter-registration forms identified Alvande by name at three different addresses; nine others referred to seven fictitious people he identified as Democrats.
Of the 10 applications for absentee ballots, one was in his name and nine used names and addresses of others. Two belonged to real people.
A post-office box can't be used as an address for voter registration, said Ben Piscitelli, a spokesman for the elections board. Voters must have a verifiable residential address before voting absentee and must show proof of address when voting in person.
Voter fraud through false registration is a felony in Ohio, punishable by up to 18 months in prison.
Last year, a Licking County man who emigrated from Haiti and had registered in both Licking and Franklin counties was convicted of voting twice in the 2006 election. Claudel Gilbert said he was confused when registrations from both counties came to him in the mail. He was placed on probation and paid a $500 fine in what authorities said was the first conviction for illegal voting in Franklin County.
State Sen. Jim Reynolds will serve another four years in the Legislature.
His Democratic challenger today withdrew his complaint that alleged irregularities occurred in the Nov. 4 Senate District 43 race.
A hearing on the complaint was scheduled for this afternoon in Oklahoma County District Court.
David Boren said he withdrew his challenge because there wasn’t enough time to find the people whom he believed voted irregularly and to get them all to court in time for today’s hearing.
Boren, not related to University of Oklahoma President David Boren, earlier sought a recount of the votes cast in the district that covers parts of Cleveland and Oklahoma counties.
Unofficial results showed Reynolds won by 157 votes.
After a two-day recount last week, Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, picked up two votes.
Boren, of Moore, paid $4,500 for the recount. He claimed in his complaint alleging irregularities that at least 161 votes were from people who lived outside the district, but he conceded today some could have been voters who had moved away but had not changed their voting registration.
Boren dropping his complaint clears the way for Reynolds to be sworn in for his third and final four-year term. Legislators in Oklahoma are prohibited form serving more than 12 years.
Newly elected and re-elected senators will be sworn in at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Reynolds will attend the ceremony, but he won’t be able to take his oath of office until the state Election Board certifies the Senate District 43 election results. The Election Board is scheduled to meet at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
As the Indiana polls opened at 6:00 am on May 6, opponents of Indiana’s Photo ID law eagerly anticipated word from our more than 5,500 precincts that the state’s requirement that all voters show a photo ID at the polls was causing havoc. It’s what they told the United States Supreme Court would happen. To them, it was time to watch Indiana’s most highly anticipated presidential primary in generations collapse under the weight of the requirement.
In Indiana, our election officials and voters are fully committed to increasing confidence in and the integrity of our elections. We have invested a great deal of time, money, and energy over the last few years in needed improvements to our election processes. The central component to this effort is the preservation of the fundamental right of each citizen over the age of 18 to have ONE vote, and to have that vote count.
In recent years, sweeping reforms and improvements to the way we administer elections have included new voting systems in all 92 counties, improved accessibility of polling places, educational outreach and training, and absentee ballot reform. One of the most significant and important reforms has been our photo identification law, which requires voters to prove their identity by presenting a photo ID before casting a ballot.
One week prior to Indiana’s primary elections, the United States Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s photo ID law. The Justices agreed that, with our law, Indiana is paving the road to better voter confidence for states by preventing in-person voter fraud.
Jeffrey Milyo, a professor of economics and public affairs at the University of Missouri, had noted in a recent study that overall voter turnout in Indiana has actually increased since the implementation of the photo ID law. I attribute this directly to voters having better confidence in the process, and therefore, being more willing to invest their time in it.
Several other studies by organizations like the Universities of Nebraska and Delaware and the Heritage Foundation tell us requiring ID at the polls does not reduce voter turnout.
On May 6th, opponents to the law were left disappointed. Indiana experienced one of its highest turnouts ever for a primary election. Turnout increased from 21 percent in the 2004 primary to around 40 percent for the 2008 primary. Presumably, the hotly contested Democratic presidential primary brought scores of new voters to the polls. Nearly 76 percent of the participants took part in the Democratic primary.
By comparison, in 2004, only 40 percent of those who participated voted in the Democratic primary.
Simply put, Indiana voters showed up by the hundreds of thousands to fulfill their civic duty with a photo ID in hand. According to our figures, the number showing up to vote without ID continues to be miniscule, dropping slightly even from previous elections when the rate has been two-tenths of a percentile. In fact, opponents of the concept of having a voter identify his or herself still cannot produce one voter who has experienced a violation of his or her rights.
The deadline to file recounts with the state recount commission has passed. Despite close contests in both the Democratic presidential race as well as that party's gubernatorial primary, no one has filed for a recount. No one has found reason to question the results our closely watched, closely contested statewide election.
With the Supreme Court’s decision, election leaders across the country can now confidently move forward with their efforts to protect voters and improve the integrity of the election process. Mississippi, Missouri, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas are all states where photo ID requirements were debated and voted on in legislatures this year, and scores of other states have called my office wanting details on the law.
Sure, my staff was in place before sunrise on primary day, ready to ensure a smooth election by helping voters find their polling places, answering questions, and looking into any polling place issues that would come up. But of the more than 1,300 calls we took that day from voters, only two even related to enforcement of Indiana’s photo ID law -- neither demonstrating that someone was shut out from voting.
And even if they were, photo ID opponents fail to point out one very important Federalist notion – that states have the right to put parameters on, and therefore, introduce order into their electoral processes. To not do so would allow chaos to ensnarl the process, rendering it useless. Results would be in doubt and voter confidence shredded. The likelihood of increased participation would dwindle.
Indiana has now conducted eight successful elections since the passage of the photo ID law. There has not been one proven instance of a voter who was unable to exercise his or her right to vote due to the law. The law itself helps prevent this, including provisions to allow voting by those who forget their ID, can’t make it to the polls on Election Day, or who have religious objections to being photographed. The well-publicized nuns in South Bend, who were reportedly unable to vote during this year’s primary election due to not having proper photo ID indeed had the opportunity under the law to cast a provisional ballot and have their votes count by producing ID within ten days. This is eight days longer than Jimmy Carter even suggested when the Carter-Baker Commission suggested photo ID was needed in the polling to boost election integrity and participation. Sadly, they all waived this right to participate in the election process.
Indiana’s photo ID law is our state’s means of protecting the integrity of elections in a manner that creates the least burden for citizens. Furthermore, it’s a right and duty given to us by the 10th Amendment. It is about ensuring accuracy through increased integrity. It’s a 21st century way to manage our election process that gives us confidence again in exercising our franchise -- our most sacred civic transaction. I look forward to an exhilarating 2008 general election with this issue finally settled.
Todd Rokita is the Secretary of State of Indiana. We are proud to note that he was an intern at Human Events in 1992.
Legislation to require unqualified candidates to pay for the resulting election costs passed the House Rules Committee this week thanks to state Rep. Phil Richardson.
House Bill 1394, by Richardson, requires an unqualified candidate to withdraw one week after being declared unqualified based on residency by the Oklahoma Election Board or be liable for all fees and costs associated with the contest for candidacy.
Richardson said the bill was inspired by an incident in his district.
"An individual ran for a board seat at the Canadian Valley Technology Center in El Reno who was not qualified because the person lived outside the district. Even after the individual was made aware of ineligibility, they did not plan to withdraw," said Richardson, R-Minco. "The school had to send a school notary to the individual's residency to get them to sign the documents to withdraw in the allotted time. If the individual had not finally withdrawn, the school would have been out almost $30,000 to hold what was actually an uncontested election. That would have been very unfair and just plain wrong for the school to have to foot the bill for someone else's lack of responsibility."
Richardson noted that if a person who is unqualified somehow gets elected, there would have to be another election with even more costs involved.
"This bill puts a stop to any chance for someone to create unnecessary election costs and pass the buck to the taxpayers," Richardson said. "There's no reason for the citizens to pay for an election involving a candidate who isn't even eligible to run.
Sen. John Ford (R - Dist 29) is renewing his effort to protect Oklahomans against election fraud. Ford has filed Senate Bill 1150 which will require voters to show identification when they cast their ballots. While similar legislation has gone unheard in past sessions, Ford said it was important to keep fighting for this measure.
“The role voters play in determining the future of our cities, counties, state and nation is just too important to leave it open to fraud,” said Ford. “Senate Bill 1150 will protect the integrity of the process by helping ensure that only duly registered voters participate in elections.”
Ford, who represents Craig, Nowata and Washington Counties, said his measure simply requires voters to show identification at the polls. Voters could use a valid voter identification card, driver license, passport, state identification card, a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check or paycheck, or any other government document showing the voter’s name and address.
“No one thinks twice when asked for identification when writing a check or for commercial air travel,” Ford said. “When you consider the critical roll elections play in determining our very future, it is simply good sense to make sure we do everything possible to protect that future by ensuring citizens who are registered voters are the ones making those decisions.”
If approved, SB 1150 would take effect on January 1, 2009.
