Is voter fraud a real problem.?

FAITH IN OUR ELECTIONS NEEDS TO BE RESTORED

LOTS OF ACCUSATIONS, LOTS OF UNPROVEN DEFENSES

The Presidential elections are less than 3 weeks away, and again there is much talk about election fraud. Whether true or not, this issue will not be put to rest without a thorough analysis. That certainly will not happen before this election. It is imperative that faith in the election process is maintained but this will not be accomplished by denying that fraud is possible and most likely does exist to some extent. Efforts to require photo id to vote have been fought against by democrats for years, this has only added to peoples fears that they resist this to enable them to fix elections. Whether true or not it suggests that their motives are not in the best interest of our democracy.  If people can rig an election, someone will.

So, first of all lets explore if elections can be manipulated and how that could be done. Lets look at voter machines, if they are not connected to the internet or are capable of being programmed remotely, there is little chance that these machines can be manipulated from someone hacking into them. I assume these machines need to be programed for each election, this is one area that could lend itself to manipulation, but it requires the assistance of voting bureaucrats who control and program the machines. I don't know how this is done, but I would hope it is done individually and not over the internet. I also would assume all these machines are tested by representatives of all parties concerned. This should be able to be accomplished by strict oversight and severe penalties of many years in prison for anyone who should be involved in this kind of activity. There should be tests and analysis done and all these facts made open to the public to put aside any questions that voters may have.

Tallying of votes should be pretty accurate as representative of all parties can be present for this.

The biggest threat to voter fraud is through the registration process. If someone wanted to rig an election, this is were you would start. First would be to have voter registration drives in metropolitan areas, lots of potential voters who could be encouraged to register, they could be enticed with gifts or payment for filling out and signing registration applications, then put into a database that would single out those who are unlikely to ever vote. This would include homeless, and people not part of mainstream society. Now that you have lists of registered voters, who are more than likely not going to vote, you could have people vote for them. This would be enhanced by early voting, so that you would have lots of time, for your designated voters, who again could be paid or enticed with gifts to accomplish voting many times. This would not be able to be revealed, without voters producing id to see if this is the registered person. This is a database that could be added to every year, it could be pursued 365 days a year, every year, after some time it would be a powerful way to swing elections. Two things would go a long way in stopping this potential abuse, voter ID, and doing away with early voting, both  the backbone of the democratic ground game. The argument is always that there is no evidence of voter fraud. How can there be evidence, if id is not required or there is never any investigation. Have republicans ever attempted to rig elections, probably, but the democrats hold the political power in every large city in America and have for many decades. They have much more opportunity.

There needs to be more done than just deny that fraud does exist. The above example is just one possible way to rig elections, there are probably many more.  After this election, there should be a bi-partisan effort to restore faith in the process. There needs to be investigation of registration roles, to see if these people exist and then surveys to see if they have ever voted. Then solutions to insure honest voting. Anyone who fights against reform is suspect to endorsing possible fraud.