There is a universal truth that just because you believe something doesn’t make it true.
And, just as accurately, just because someone says something doesn’t make it true.
Let’s walk back to the fall of 2011, when Mainers were battling over the citizen’s initiative to repeal a recently enacted law requiring voters to register at least two business days before an election is held.
That law, passed the prior June by a Republican-held Legislature to fight voter fraud, had set aside a 1973 law that had allowed Election Day registration.
The citizen’s initiative prevailed, overturning two-day registration with a thump.
Mainers were not duped to vote their fear. Instead, they relied on the fact that — prior to 2011 — there were only two prosecuted cases of voter fraud in Maine.
Two.
At the time, much was made of the possibility that if there were two there could certainly be more. To make that point, then-GOP Chairman Charlie Webster waved around a list of 206 college students’ names, announcing each had committed voter fraud by registering in Maine while also being registered in their home states.
A two-month investigation conducted by then-Secretary of State Charlie Summers cleared every single student. No one was prosecuted.
While many of them were doubly-registered, none had cast more than one ballot in a single election — including Brendan O’Brian, a Bates student from Mont Vernon, N.H., who was chairman of the Maine College Republicans. Registered in Maine and New Hampshire, O’Brian told the Sun Journal that his decision on voting location was based on where he thought his vote would have the most impact.
In 2011, that was in New Hampshire, where his father was running for the House of Representatives.
Not one to let fear subside, Webster promptly came back with an accusation that 19 people staying in a South Portland hotel were improperly registered to vote — calling them fraudsters.
The truth was, these 19 people had relocated from their Caribbean medical school to Maine seven years earlier to escape the ravages of Hurricane Ivan and the hotel was serving as dorm space for St. Joseph’s College because the Westbrook campus was full.
Each was an American citizen, and all were eligible to vote in Maine.
Webster’s accusation was no more than a string of words let loose to cause worry and prompt fear. There was no truth to what he said, whatsoever.
Now, fast forward to 2016, and the politics of fear are back at work, ramping up as we race toward Nov. 8.
GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, echoed by Maine Gov. Paul LePage and others, is doing his best to convince the American public that our election system is rigged, that fraud is rampant and that any outcome of the elections should not be trusted.
Voter fraud is not a myth, but it’s also not a monster.
In Maine, counting the two cases known in 2011, there have been several more cases prosecuted since.
In 2012, the Attorney General’s Office brought three cases, the first against a 65-year-old man who voted twice in 2009, the first in Dixmont and again in Newburgh; the second case against a 44-year-old man who voted twice, first in Boothbay and again in Boothbay Harbor; and the third against a 78-year-old man who voted early in Waldo County and a second time in York County.
In each case, the men owned property in both towns and said they thought they could vote in each. The first man was sentenced to 12 days in jail; the other two served community service.
This rate of voter fraud appears to be about equal in many states, according to an exhaustive study by News21.
Researchers sent thousands of requests to election clerks in 50 states asking for every documented and alleged case of any sort of voter fraud, including registration fraud, vote buying, false election counts, in-person voter impersonation and more.
Clerks reported the most fraud with absentee ballots and voter registration.
Remember, this was a survey of the entire country: returns indicated 491 cases of alleged absentee ballot fraud and 400 cases involving registration fraud.
Of those, nearly half were dismissed because the fraud was found to be simple mistakes, not outright criminal activity.
So, we’re now down to 409 allegations across a nation of 146.3 million registered voters, a number almost too small to calculate.
The survey was conducted in 2012, just before widespread voter registration fraud was discovered in Florida where election officials questioned registration forms filled out on behalf of the Republican Party of Florida in nine counties. So, there is cause to believe voter fraud is higher than in 2012, but there is no evidence an entire presidential race is rigged or that voters should believe our election system is under siege.
Just because someone says something does not make it true, and just because more people are willing to pile on doesn’t make it any more true.
The facts on fraud are known. The fear of fraud is trumpery.
jmeyer@sunjournal.com
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