[EL] Lead Penn Voter ID Plaintiff gets her ID

[Larry Levine]

If all of the provable instances of voter/election fraud committed in any
single election cycle across the nation were aggregated in one single
jurisdiction they wouldn't add up to enough to change the result of any but
the rarest of elections. And for this we are erecting barriers that will
likely prevent far more people from casting ballots.

Larry

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of
Greenberg, Kevin
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 1:14 PM
To: John Meyer; law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Lead Penn Voter ID Plaintiff gets her ID

 

For the record, I want to be clear.  I'm not saying that Philly does have
absentee voter or petition fraud as a major issue.  But there have been
documented and isolated instances of each over the last several years both
in Philadelphia and across the Commonwealth (in both R and D areas).

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of
Greenberg, Kevin
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 3:59 PM
To: John Meyer; law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Lead Penn Voter ID Plaintiff gets her ID

 

As someone who practices in Philadelphia, I can only say that the Schmidt
report showed a number of cases of simple poll worker error (i.e. allowing
someone to vote in the wrong primary because they didn't flip a switch) and
a nine serious problems over the last 10 years in a city of 1.4 million
people.  

 

One is a woman who voted twice in a single election.  This is the only "new"
discovery by Schmidt and was referred to the DA.  As it should have been.

 

Seven were non-citizens who voted.  Serious offenses, but in each case the
intent appears to have been innocent.  (apparently another 12 non-citizens
registered but did not vote over the 10 year period reviewed)

 

The final matter was a single case of two fraudulent registrations, in
similar names at nearby addresses, which cast votes (the Joseph
Cheeseboroughs).  Under prior law, the second of these had been subject to
an ID check  in 2003 when he voted in person for the first time at the
location.  He had evaded it, presumably with fake ID.

 

This matter was well known to the local bar because the civil service staff
had, well before Al Schmidt was elected, identified the issue, reported on
it in a public meeting of the Board of Elections, referred the matter to the
DA, opened a formal investigation, and was going through the process to
cancel the registrations.

 

Philadelphia is probably one of the stronger jurisdictions in the country in
terms of handling registrations and voting, at least since major reforms a
little more than a decade ago.  That's not saying Philadelphia does not have
petition fraud or absentee voter fraud, but neither of those have anything
to do with the proposed solution.

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of John
Meyer
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 3:44 PM
To: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Lead Penn Voter ID Plaintiff gets her ID

 

I think many of you may have read this, but it is relevant to the question
of need for voter ID requirements with specific reference to Pennsylvania

as it includes reference to an actual, recent look at various voting
irregularities in Philadelphia:

 

 
<http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/314273/voter-fraud-keystone-state-jo
hn-fund>
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/314273/voter-fraud-keystone-state-joh
n-fund

 

                    I certainly am not an expert on Pennsylvania voter
problems, but it is well-known in political circles that both parties used
to have areas where they would

manufacture votes by various methods. with the demise of big-city Republican
machines, the tendency became more party-specific -- and even more so with

the collapse of some of the Republican suburban machines, such as Nassau
county in New York (I don't know if Nassau County R's actually manufactured
votes

or if they only followed the 1% of salary for all public employees
tradition).  Anyway, I do recommend the article.   

 

  _____  

From: Jon Roland <jon.roland at constitution.org>
To: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu 
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 12:26 PM
Subject: Re: [EL] Lead Penn Voter ID Plaintiff gets her ID

 

In general there are no requirements for a plaintiff to prove identity to
file a case, in any jurisdiction. Identification comes in with being a
witness and providing evidence, such as presenting an affidavit, which must
be sworn before a notary or other designated verifier. Of course, the
attorney will be expected to provide his name, address, and bar card number,
but he will usually not have to otherwise prove he is who he says he is, and
his client can be a "John Doe". Even a witness may be anonymous with the
consent of the court. 

The elevation of personal identity to the importance accorded it today is an
innovation in our legal tradition. Historically it has had much less
importance, usually where ownership of property was involved.

On 08/17/2012 11:07 AM, Michael McDonald wrote: 

The state of Pennsylvania has a more strict
identification law for voting than to be a plaintiff in a case?

 

-- Jon
 
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Constitution Society               http://constitution.org
2900 W Anderson Ln C-200-322           twitter.com/lex_rex
Austin, TX 78757 512/299-5001  jon.roland at constitution.org
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