Kerby Anderson

Federal courts have thrown out part or all of the voter-ID laws in states like North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. Judges and politicians argue that they are racially discriminatory and completely unnecessary since voter fraud rarely occurs.

Americans apparently disagree. The latest Pew Research Center survey found that only 31 percent of Americans were confident that the votes were accurately counted in the 2012 election. Last night I was at a meeting where party officials were concerned about voter fraud and explained how the voter-ID laws reduced the amount of voter fraud that apparently was taking place in one Texas county.

John Fund has written about this subject in two books and numerous columns. His latest piece in National Review reminds us that concerns about voter fraud are legitimate and well documented. Political scientists writing in the Washington Post estimated that about 6.4 percent of non-citizens voted in 2008 and 2.2 percent of non-citizens voted in 2010.

Investigative reporter James O’Keefe and his team have shown how easy it is to impersonate someone else in order to affect the vote. His most recent outing in Michigan tested the state’s voter-ID law that allows non-ID holders to vote by merely filling out an affidavit. Such affidavits are rarely checked.

You have to love his sense of humor. He told different poll workers he was Detroit mayor Mike Duggan, Wayne State University Law School dean Jocelyn Benson, and columnist Nancy Kaffer – all whom strongly oppose voter-ID laws. He was even offered the ballot of Michigan rapper Emimen.

During this campaign season we will probably hear politicians and voters claim that America’s elections are rigged. That is not the case, but ballot integrity isn’t what it should be. And that is why millions of Americans are not convinced that voter fraud rarely occurs.