Voter Fraud, Texas style - Granite Grok

Voter Fraud, Texas style

voterfraudIt just seems that for this issue, if you aren’t willing to look for it, you’re not going to find it.  Methinks that this story out of Texas mirrors that what we’ve seen here in NH (re: how many affidavits are piled up in boxes in the NH AG’s office, just sitting there?).  As a software engineer, I have learned that 20% of my time is spent writing code to actually make “it work” and the rest of it is often spent “moron/idiot-proofing” it. Yeah, I said it because dollars to donuts, somebody is going to hit the wrong thing or enter a “nonsense” value at the wrong time.  And that isn’t even those that have a malicious intent.  Pretty much, NO system is not hackable be it automated or manual.  And here from Texas is yet another example of a voting system that is being gamed (re: fraud) from Fox News (reformatted, emphasis mine):

Officials in Texas acknowledge that hundreds of people were able to bypass voter ID laws and improperly cast ballots in the presidential election. Voters were able to sign a sworn statement instead of showing ID. The chief election officers in two of Texas’ largest counties are considering whether to refer cases to prosecutors for possible charges.

Which is how it should be.  Then, however, we have the flip side (sorta analagous to our “NH Not Working”):

Officials in many other areas say they will let the mistakes go, adding that there was widespread confusion among workers and voters.

Like I said above, it you are bound and determined to not find any, well, ignore it or turn a blind eye.   Or, make the system such that either idiots or malicious intent type of folks can spot the holes and then exploit it – with “tacit” approval (be it actively or passively).  Their system?

The law requires voters to show one of seven approved forms of identification. The affidavit process was adopted after an appeals court ruled that the voter ID law discriminated against minorities. The change was intended to help voters who could not obtain identification for a variety of reasons, including disability or illness, lack of transportation or conflicts with work schedules.

Yeah, right.  Almost every voter ID law has a bunch of stuff in it to make sure that IF you want to get an ID, you can get it (often times, free).  But this is one way that the system can be gamed.  And it was:

An Associated Press analysis of roughly 13,500 affidavits submitted in Texas’ largest counties found at least 500 instances in which voters were allowed to get around the law by signing an affidavit and never showing a photo ID, despite indicating that they possessed one.  Questionable affidavits were identified in over 20 counties around the state. Tarrant County alone had at least two dozen. In Bexar County, home to San Antonio, the top election official estimated that a large chunk of the nearly 600 affidavits submitted should have been declined and voters instructed to cast provisional ballots instead.

 

There’s a bit more at the article but you get the drift.  If you make it possible to skirt it, people will.  Remember: ACORN

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