Democracy Has Prevailed.

December 23, 2011

Daryl Metcalfe's Zombie Lie

Today, we start with this from the Tribune-Review's op-ed page:
Naughty: The contention of the Pittsburgh chapter of the NAACP that requiring voter identification at the polls will disenfranchise black voters is a red herring. Protecting the integrity of the franchise should be everyone's goal.
And that led us back to this Trib article:
The NAACP's Pittsburgh branch is mobilizing to oppose a bill that would require Pennsylvanians to show identification before voting.

The organization on Wednesday likened the importance of the effort to ones that resulted in the abolishment of poll taxes. Members called on city residents to sign and help circulate petitions. They called on ministers to shout it down from their pulpits.

"The African-American community across the country fought long and hard to be able to vote," said NAACP President M. Gayle Moss. "This is a tactic to reduce the number of senior citizen voters, African-American voters, who do not have cars or drive, and young voters."
And this one in the P-G:
Decades after the African-American community fought for the right to vote, a voter identification bill proposed for Pennsylvania could again disenfranchise black voters, members of the NAACP said Wednesday.

"We cannot let that happen," said M. Gayle Moss, president of the Pittsburgh branch of the NAACP.

Ms. Moss, joined by NAACP members and religious leaders, held a news conference in the Freedom Unlimited building in the Hill District Wednesday morning. Speakers urged the state Senate to halt progress of a voter identification bill and called the legislation a tactic to disenfranchise African-American, Latino, young and elderly voters.
Each points out that the legislation is from our good friend Daryl Metcalfe (R-Cranberry) and each offers up his defense. First the merely condescending response from the P-G:
In a phone interview Wednesday, Mr. Metcalfe called it a "laughable position" that people should not have to show identification before they vote. Showing a photo ID is already required for everything from getting a library card to flying on a plane, he said.

And he said it should be required to vote to prevent fraud, which he said does happen.

"It's really outrageous that anyone would claim that it is about anything but ensuring that we have integrity in our election process," he said.
To his far more insulting response in the Trib:
The legislation, he said, will protect those voters and ensure honest balloting. The Cranberry Republican said he was surprised at the NAACP's response.

"You have to question whether they want fair elections or want to have fraud continued to be perpetrated," he said.
There it is!  According to him, the NAACP does NOT want fair elections and they DO want continued voter fraud. Tucked in at the end of the Trib piece are the usual right wing suspects:
Metcalfe cited voter fraud arrests of ACORN workers in Pittsburgh and the submission by ACORN workers of 8,000 fraudulent voter registration forms in Philadelphia several years ago as evidence that the law is needed.
Too bad those arrests were not voter fraud - here's the Trib's own reporting of the Pittsburgh arrests:
A worker for a grassroots organization was so eager to fulfill a voter registration quota during the presidential campaign that she filed a fraudulent application in the name of a county elections employee, but got the Social Security number wrong, prosecutors said Thursday.

In all, seven canvassers for ACORN in Allegheny County are accused of forging 51 signatures and violating election laws in connection with last year's registration efforts, said District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.

Zappala said a six-month investigation by county police and the Pittsburgh FBI office found clear evidence of an illegal quota system in use by ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The investigation continues, and the arrests mark the end of only one phase, he said.
See that?  Nothing about voting.  And all about voter registration.  How would a photo ID at a polling place have stopped those ACORN canvassers?

It wouldn't.  And it's frankly dishonest of Metcalfe to use that evidence to support his legislation.

Hardly surprising, but only the P-G even gets close to calling Metcalfe out for his lie:
Although tales of voter fraud -- such as people voting more than once by impersonating others -- are common, verified instances of fraud are rare, Allegheny County Elections Division Manager Mark Wolosik said Wednesday.
But just how bad is this problem?  Well, there's this from State Representative Margo Davidson (D-Delaware):
In the 2008 presidential election, 5,995,137 Pennsylvanians cast ballots. Just four people have been prosecuted for voter fraud since the 2008 and subsequent Pennsylvania elections.
We saw this zombie lie bubble up last June.  Still a zombie, still no voter fraud.

11 comments:

Social Justice NPC Anti-Paladin™ said...

Nothing about voting. And all about voter registration
Blink Blink
HA HA HA HA HA.
So voter registration has nothing the do with voting.
I wonder why the Democrats bothered to register voters and pushed Motor-voter laws?

Winding down said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Winding down said...

Voter fraud is a tempest in a "TEA"pot

From the Brennan center:


"The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law carefully examines allegations of fraud to get at the truth behind the claims. The Brennan Center has analyzed purported fraud cited by state and federal courts; multipartisan and bipartisan federal commissions; political party entities; state and local election officials; and authors, journalists, and bloggers. Usually, only a tiny portion of the claimed illegality is substantiated — and most of the remainder is either nothing more than speculation or has been conclusively debunked.
This paper seeks to distill our findings: the truth about voter fraud. It first offers a straightforward definition to avoid the common trap of discussing election irregularities that involve neither voters nor fraud as if they showed voter fraud. It then discusses different alternative reasons more credible than voter fraud to explain many of the recurring allegations. The paper then analyzes, scenario by scenario, some of the more common types of alleged voter fraud and their more likely causes and policy solutions. Finally, the paper presents individual case studies of notorious instances of alleged voter fraud, and finds those allegations to be grossly inflated. For more information, analysis, and opinion about voter fraud, by the Brennan Center and others, please see www.truthaboutfraud.org."

Ol' Froth said...

Heir, its NOT voter fraud unless someone who isn't eligible to vote, votes.

For example, if I am signing up voters, and I knowingly write, say, your internet handle on a registration form pretending it to be a "real" person, I've committed voter registration fraud. Voter fraud doesn't occur unless I try to cast a ballot as "Heir to the Throne." See the difference? Eh, of course you don't.

In any case, Dayrl "The Shame Of Butler County" Metcalfe's babbling about flying and checking books out of the library is inapplicable anyway, since neither of those activites are fundamental rights of citizens.

EdHeath said...

And the most infuriating part of this story is that ACORN did quality control checks on all the registrations that it's temporary workers had collected, calling the number on the registration forms. Because they refused to destroy any form with a signature, they would turn in the form with a red flag. So if the elections officials investigated, ACORN turned over their (temporary) employees, on a platter.

If all voter registration efforts were conducted like ACORN's programs, there would never a question of vote fraud (as Froth described it). But y'all Republicans (HTTT) hounded ACORN out of existence. Now you slam motor voter laws, because you don't want any poor people to vote at all. Because underneath your condescension, you actually want to destroy democracy. Like your Republican/Tea Party/conservative pals.

ACORN had more integrity in the pinky of any given secretary than in the whole of the Republican party.

Ol' Froth said...

And to put an exclaimation point on it HTTT, there's this:

However, you might be shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, at who is committing the fraud.

Sue said...

Just a point. I believe Carnegie Library will accept a paystub or piece of mail in lieu of ID. So folks using a shelter can access that resource. Obtaining and maintaining photo ID can be financial hardship for low income and fixed income families. It is just not a reasonable expectation that everyone carry it.

Conservative Mountaineer said...

@Sue.. Why don't you find out before posting "I believe.."

They either do or do not.

Ol' Froth said...

Took .26 seconds of googling to find the info CM. You DO know how to "do the google," don't you?

EdHeath said...

I have read that some African Americans born in the last seventy years, perhaps in the South, could well have been born at home, delivered by a perhaps illiterate midwife. So those citizens might well not have a birth certificate. But, CM, you Republicans would deny them the vote.

However, Republicans can not wait to get convicted felon their right to own and carry guns back. Because even though guns have not been outlawed, still in should be easy for criminals to have guns.

Prove me wrong, CM. Without "typos".

EdHeath said...

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/12/26/395287/93-year-old-tennessee-woman-who-cleaned-state-capitol-for-30-years-denied-voter-id/