Ohio has discovered two verified cases of voter fraud, a husband and wife who voted by absentee ballot and then voted again at the polls, claiming their ballots had been lost. They also have identified at least 18 other possible cases of intentional double-voting. The AP reports that Buckeye State election officials have yet to decide how to handle the case:
Prosecutors were trying to determine Wednesday whether charges should be filed against a couple in Madison County accused of voting twice. In addition, Summit County election workers investigated possible double votes found under 18 names. …
The couple who voted twice in Madison County cast absentee ballots in October, then voted in person on Election Day, county elections director Gloria Herrel said. The couple said election workers told them their absentee votes were lost, prosecutor Steve Pronai said.
In Summit county, typically the votes were made by absentee ballot or in person, and then a second vote was cast with a provisional ballot in another precinct, elections director Bryan Williams said.
Under Ohio law, people who vote twice could be charged with election fraud, falsification or illegal voting, according the Secretary of State’s Office. The maximum penalty for the most severe charge is 18 months in prison.
I fail to see the conundrum here. We have been debating about ensuring the validity of our elections for four years now, after the Florida debacle that gripped the nation for five weeks, throwing the presidential election in doubt. Double voting is fraud. If Ohio wants to discourage people from committing voter fraud, then it has to aggressively prosecute those cases which give them clear evidence of the crime.
If we intend on having clean elections, we have to punish those who attempt to circumvent the controls. Even Afghanistan knows that, and they’ve had one free election in their entire history. If there are no negative consequences for cheating, within a few election cycles we’ll be electing the most efficient crooks instead of the best candidates.
Prosecute the fraudulent voters – part 3
Captain’s Quarters reports today on 2 documented cases of attempted double voting in Ohio. He agrees that prosecution is the only answer.
My earlier post is linked here.
If this happened in my jurisdiction, I’d prosecute
Evidence of voter fraud is popping up, just little instances, but voter fraud nonetheless. Captain’s Quarters has this, which includes the story of an Ohio couple who voted by absentee ballot, then again at the polls, claiming their absentee ballots…