STEALING IT FAIR AND SQUARE

Posted at 9:23 a.m. ET

We've been warning for months at Urgent Agenda that two factors would have an inordinate influence in this election - extreme press bias and widespread voter fraud.  We've written extensively about the press bias, and will again.  We turn our attention to voter fraud, and an excellent piece by John Fund that lays out the problem:

Our nation may be on the brink of repeating the 2000 Florida election debacle, but this time in several states, with allegations of voter fraud, intimidation and flawed voting machines added to the generalized chaos that sent Bush v. Gore to the Supreme Court for overtime.

"If you think of election problems as akin to forest fires, the woods are no drier than they were in 2000, but many more people have matches," says Doug Chapin, editor of the nonpartisan Electionline.org.

For example:

The issue of photo ID has become symbolic of the clash of values on election standards. Supporters say it is bizarre that most states don't require a photo ID to vote, at a time when one is needed to buy an airline ticket, rent a video or cash a check. A Rasmussen Research poll found 82% of Americans believed voters should show photo ID, including 70% of Obama voters. But liberal groups insist that even laws that allow voters to use a paycheck or utility bill as ID discriminate against minority voters and could lead to "profiling."

Maybe we should let people in baby carriages vote on grounds that they're really 21 but have grown slowly.

But when voters are disfranchised by the counting of improperly cast ballots or outright fraud, their civil rights are violated just as surely as if they were prevented from voting. The integrity of the ballot box is just as important to the credibility of elections as access to it.

Where did John Fund get a strange idea like that?  Probably from Karl Rove.

Party machines in Hawaii and south Texas intimidate critics and journalists as they harvest votes from illegal aliens and the dead. A left-wing "community organizing" group called ACORN has seen its employees frequently convicted of voter registration fraud. This year its employees are under active investigation in several states. Perhaps one reason for ACORN's go-for-broke behavior is that Barack Obama used to be a lawyer and top trainer for the group.

There he goes again.  Guilt by association.  Just because he did a little honest work for these folks...

Even after Florida 2000, the media tend to downplay or ignore stories of election incompetence, manipulation or theft. Allowing such abuses to vanish into an informational black hole in effect legitimizes them.

Sad to say, but I'm afraid that's the point.  Much voter fraud occurs in inner cities, and there are those who will charge "racism" against anyone who looks into the problem. 

If the race tightens, this may be a very big story on election day.

October 5, 2008.