Case of Voter Fraud

            A case of voter fraud in North Carolina proves that such a thing is possible. Republicans have been claiming that the laws are too loose and trying to tighten them, but Democrats have resisted all the calls. Even though they must now admit that there is voter fraud, they still resist the need to do something to stop it. 

            In “a hard-fought congressional election in North Carolina” Republican Mark Harris claimed a lead of 905 votes over Dan McCready. However, the North Carolina Board of Elections refused to certify the election and opened an investigation. The board of elections, made up of both Republicans and Democrats, listened as witnesses reported “the rogue collection of absentee ballots.” Harris abandoned his claim to the congressional seat for the Ninth District. A new election has been scheduled.

            Liberals are claiming that Republicans are “strangely silent” about the fraud, even while reporting that President Donald Trump “condemned fraud – ‘all of it, and that includes North Carolina.’” They say that this silence by the Republicans is proof that they are only trying to suppress the vote by calling for photo identification to avoid voter fraud.

            Jason Snead and Hans von Spakovsky at The Daily Signal say that the case in North Carolina only proves what Republicans have been saying for decades. 

The news confirms just how vulnerable our elections are to vote fraud, and how profound the consequences can be.

That should be the takeaway. Yet many on the left and in the media seem far more interested in spinning the situation for partisan gain than finding genuine solutions to the election insecurities that enabled this fraud in the first place.

They focus on the fact that this is “Republican” voter fraud, and accuse conservatives of “deafening” and hypocritical silence. They even refuse to call it “voter fraud” to avoid embarrassment after years of denying that voter fraud is a problem.

These claims debase the political process. They are cynical, politically motivated, and miss the point entirely. Election integrity is about much more than partisan politics – it is about preserving faith in the democratic process itself.

That’s why Heritage Foundation analysts were quick to condemn this instance of “Republican” voter fraud and called for an investigation, writing: “It is incumbent on conservatives and Republicans to resist the urge to circle the wagons or reflexively support the outcome in North Carolina as it stands today merely because of who won.”

While some on the left were busy arguing over whether to call it “election fraud” or “voter fraud,” we made no distinction: Securing elections isn’t a semantic game, it’s about taking voter fraud seriously, adopting election integrity reforms, and holding responsible parties accountable – regardless of their political persuasion

            President Trump and The Heritage Foundation are both correct in calling out Republican fraud just as they do fraud conducted by Democrats. Fraud is wrong, whether it is called “election fraud” or “voter fraud.” It weakens the election process because fraud destroys the people’s confidence in the democratic process. The case in North Carolina illustrates perfectly the need to tighten the strings on voting by requiring photo identification of every person who votes and by maintaining clean voters’ rolls. It is good the Republican perpetrator in this case has been caught and will be charged with a felony.