[EL] Massive vote fraud defined

Chandler Davidson fcd at rice.edu
Sun Jul 31 10:32:08 PDT 2011


The adjective I see most often applied by those making a fuss about the existence of vote fraud is "massive."  In such descriptions, it's difficult to get a sense of what massive fraud consists in, as distinct from mere  "significant" fraud.

I now have a pretty good implicit definition of "massive," thanks to the article cited in the Daily Caller.  The author is Matthew Vadum, described as " a senior editor at Capital Research Center, a Washington, D.C. think tank that studies the politics of philanthropy with a special focus on left-wing advocacy groups".    The article begins:

While NAACP President Benjamin Jealous lashed out at new state laws requiring photo ID for voting, an NAACP executive sits in prison, sentenced for carrying 	out a massive voter fraud scheme.

In a story ignored by the national media, in April a Tunica County, Miss., jury convicted NAACP official Lessadolla Sowers on 10 counts of fraudulently casting 		absentee ballots. Sowers is identified on an NAACP website as a member of the Tunica County NAACP Executive Committee. . . .

Sowers was found guilty of voting in the names of Carrie Collins, Walter Howard, Sheena Shelton, Alberta Pickett, Draper Cotton and Eddie Davis. She was also 	convicted of voting in the names of four dead persons: James L. Young, Dora Price, Dorothy Harris, and David Ross.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/29/mississippi-naacp-leader-sent-to-prison-for-10-counts-of-voter-fraud/#ixzz1Th32w9za

If ten instances of  fraud by one person constitute massive fraud, one  is entitled to ask what adjective would apply in the event that the perpetrator voted the names of twenty people rather than ten:  Humongous?  Mind-boggling?  Overwhelming?  Of biblical proportions?  Apocalyptic?   

I suppose those who believe the national photo ID movement is essentially a disfranchisement movement should feel free to adopt similar terms to describe its effects, assuming as many as ten people are unfairly kept from voting. 

Chandler Davidson

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