In a Culture of Corruption, Voting Fraud is Just Another Piece of the Puzzle

We now know there is ample evidence of widespread corruption involving bribes, kickbacks and money laundering among congressional Republicans, administration members indicted or under investigation for security leaks for personal revenge, and a President who admits to authorizing surveillance activities that most legal scholars consider to be illegal. Many on the left, including a few key members of Congress, have rightly labeled what we have seen a “Republican Culture of Corruption” under the current leadership.

Justice Department investigations are ongoing into numerous potentially criminal activities, and congressional investigations are likely to follow. Amid the flurry of activity aimed at rooting out corruption, so far very little has been said regarding previous allegations - at the time swept under the rug – of voting irregularities on a large scale in the last two presidential elections. Looking back, I am led to ask the question: If the current Republicans in control would lie, accept bribes, launder money, secretly torture detainees in violation of the Geneva Conventions, and secretly wiretap American citizens without proper court approved warrants, would they not try to rig elections in order to ensure they were able to gain and keep control of the country?

This article in today’s WAPO provides even more evidence that there is a significant problem that needs to be addressed in many jurisdictions around the country. Since even Republicans are falling over themselves to be seen as trying to “clean up” Washington, why not revisit the entire election process and investigate whether we actually have had free and fair elections in this country? Without fixing the voting process, we might be able to catch a few crooks, but we can’t ensure that they aren’t simply replaced by different crooks who will keep the culture of corruption alive.

During the last two presidential elections, most people couldn't comprehend the possibility that elections in the great United States of America could be tainted. According to the WAPO piece,

Questions about the security of electronic voting machines have been circulating widely in recent years. But many of the concerns have been dismissed as the fantasies of Internet conspiracy theorists or sore-loser partisans who could not accept that their candidates simply got fewer votes.

For many of those people, particularly in the media but also in many living rooms around the country, voting fraud was just beyond the imagination. So the allegations were quickly cast aside.

Similarly, however, before Katrina most people couldn’t comprehend the possibility that a major American city like New Orleans could be wiped out by a hurricane. Now we know it can! And before being hit by “Hurricane Abramoff,” we couldn’t comprehend the depths of Republican corruption. Now we can!

In light of what we have seen, dismissing allegations of voting fraud as being merely "sour grapes" is more like dismissing allegations of lobbying fraud as being mere jealousy that Republicans have money. It sounds hollow and even Republicans aren't willing to say it. At this point, ensuring free and fair elections is clearly one of the most critical issues facing our country. Rooting out corruption among those in positions of power is only as good as our ability to root out the corrupt means by which they come to power!