Republican claim of voter fraud, with miniscule evidence, undermines democracy

Editor:

The Associated Press has once again provided evidence that voter fraud is minuscule. But let’s be honest, Republicans are not interested in factual evidence.

Remember President Trump’s voter integrity committee in 2018 failed to find evidence of wide spread voter fraud. After the 2020 election, in over 60 court cases, there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

William Barr, President Trump’s Attorney General, stated on Dec 1, 2020 that there was no widespread voter fraud.

This past week the Associated Press (12/14/21) reported on a month’s long comprehensive review of votes cast in five swing states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – and found very little fraud; way too little to change election results.

In the five states there was more than 25.5 million votes cast, Joe Biden won by more than 311,000 votes and in those five states the AP found less than 475 cases total of fraud or irregularities.

There is no evidence and there has never been any evidence of widespread voter fraud, but that is not the point. Republicans use this ether, this thin disguise, of voter fraud to pass legislation that will allow them to overturn free and fair elections without providing evidence.

Pew Charitable Trust reported (7/28/21): “Republican lawmakers this year passed an unprecedented bevy of bills targeting the authority of state and local election officials, a power grab that might allow partisan legislators to overturn future election results by claiming there was fraud.”

This claim, by Republicans, of voter fraud and stolen election, drove hundreds of people to try and overturn the democratic process of a peaceful transfer of power. What Republicans could not achieve by physical violence on Jan. 6th they are trying to achieve by the violence of lies and deceit.

The Declaration of Independence states that it is self-evident that government is only legitimate if it has the consent of the governed. Republicans, using lies and deceit of voter fraud, are passing laws to prevent votes they disagree with from counting. This Republican lie of voter fraud is being used to threaten and overthrow our democracy.

William Fine

Brockport