The Integrity and Reliability of Voter Registration Lists
The names listed on voter registration list throughout our country need to be sanitized if they if this action has not already taken place. This election year again is an important one given the state of our economy and the size of our debt. Additionally the gridlock in Congress and their low approval rating along with the Executive branch has voters evaluating their voting decisions this coming November and the elections in between.
The integrity of election results in any election is paramount to have reliable and reputable results. Some states have recently gone or are going through their voter lists to ensure the names on them are valid not only that they are alive but that they live in the location in which they are registered. In the past it has been found that individuals who were deceased somehow voted in past elections. Having deceased individuals still active on a voter registration list opens an election up for possible voter fraud. Large numbers of deceased individuals on these lists the greater the impact on any election.
In addition to these lists ensuring the person voting is who they say there are with some kind of voter identification. An individual that voted for someone who was deceased raises questions of how individuals were validated before they were allowed to cast their vote. Voter ID laws have been under attack from many fronts but the integrity of our elections is at state without some kind of confirmation that those voting are who they say they are.
Some individuals or groups say that voter fraud is not a problem but when any individual who represents himself or herself to be someone else as in a deceased individual it is a problem. Any voter fraud regardless of the number is a problem. Our system of elections is well structured from local to state and federal levels. The key to keeping the results of any election accurate and reliable falls on election officials at all levels to ensure several things. The first is that those voting should be citizens of our country and meet residential requirements in place for local and state elections. The next thing is to ensure voters are residents of the precinct in which they are voting. The last thing is to ensure the identity of any individual who presents themselves to vote.
In addition the importance of the above requirements cannot be overemphasized with the number of illegal immigrants known to be in this country. We need to have processes such as the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph to keep illegal immigrants from voting. Illegal immigrants should have no voice in any type of election or ballot issue in addition to those who have not achieved their citizenship. There have even been reports of individuals selling their votes for money. Individuals who pay for such things should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. While it is an individual’s decisions on who to vote for selling your vote for money impacts the integrity of the election results. This kind of activity if it is not already illegal it should be and those involved with such activity need to be vigorously prosecuted. The problem with this kind of activity is proving it took place.
