[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 111 (Thursday, August 2, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8692-S8694]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             ELECTION FRAUD

  Mr. BOND. Madam President, for the past several months I have been 
waiting patiently for the opportunity promised me to offer testimony on 
election fraud before the Senate Rules Committee. The committee has 
held days of hearings in Washington, and they have been on the road. My 
concern was that perhaps the committee was not interested in vote 
fraud, was not interested in hearing the details of the criminal 
activities that took place in Missouri in November of 2000. Certainly, 
it was not interested in what election law reforms are necessary to 
attack vote cheats.
  Unfortunately, I can wait no longer. I am here in the Chamber rather 
than the committee because, although I was assured I would have the 
opportunity to testify about the extraordinary circumstances that 
occurred around the election in St. Louis, and thus make the case for 
real vote fraud reform, the committee has decided to move ahead without 
giving me the opportunity to pursue a voting machinery bill before the 
recess.
  It is an understatement to say I am disappointed. But rather than 
dampening my enthusiasm, that disappointment makes me even more 
committed to the cause.
  Simply put, it is imperative that we pass legislation this year that 
makes it easier to vote but harder to cheat. One without the other will 
not work and will not be acceptable.
  Voting is the most important duty and responsibility of a citizen of 
our Republic. It should not and must not

[[Page S8693]]

be diluted by fraud, by false filings and lawsuits, judges who don't 
follow the law, and politicians to try to profit from confusion. At the 
same time, voters should not be unduly confused by complicated ballots 
and voter rosters or confounded by inadequate phone lines or voting 
machinery.
  One simple point as we begin: Vote fraud is not about partisanship. 
It is not about Democrats versus Republicans. It is not about the north 
side of St. Louis versus the south side. It is not about ethnic groups 
or religious groups or interest groups. It affects all citizens. It is 
about justice, for vote fraud is a criminal, not a political, act.
  Illegal votes dilute the value of votes cast legally. When people try 
to stuff the ballot box, what they are really doing is trying to steal 
political power from those who follow election laws. There can be no 
graver example of disenfranchisement. The Missouri Court of Appeals 
wrote:

       [E]qual vigilance is required to ensure that only those 
     entitled to vote are allowed to cast a ballot. Otherwise, the 
     rights of those lawfully entitled to vote are inevitably 
     diluted.

  Let's discuss what is vote fraud; how does it work; how widespread is 
it; how can we stop it. Vote fraud is, at the core, the practice of 
illegally adding votes to a candidate's vote total or taking them away. 
It can be done by simply stuffing the ballot box with extra ballots at 
the end of the voting day. It can be done by voting in the names of 
people who are dead or otherwise have not voted. It can be done by 
creating lists of bogus names and addresses and then voting all those 
fake identities. It can be done in person. It can be done by absentee 
ballot. It can be done with a judge, incompetent, inattentive or 
unlawful, who issues a court order.
  However, it is done, its design and purpose is single-minded: cheat 
to win. Fortunately, most of the time it does not work. But 
unfortunately, there are those who argue that because it fails more 
than it succeeds, it is not a real problem.

  To those who make that argument, I recommend they take a few moments 
to review the comments of an old friend of mine with whom I served when 
I was Governor of Missouri. He is from the other party but is an active 
leader. State Representative Quincy Troupe stated this year, after news 
of the vote fraud came out in St. Louis: In this town, to win in a 
close election ``you have to beat the cheat.'' That is the cry in St. 
Louis, people trying to cheat to win.
  The impulse has been around since the dawn of civilization. Parents, 
teachers, and coaches tried mightily to instill in us that we should 
play fair, abide by the rules, and 99 percent of the time their lessons 
took root.
  Unfortunately, not everybody has gotten the message. Every day we 
read stories of consumer fraud, the selling of test scores, point 
shaving scandals, stock swindles, real estate scams. I suppose we 
should not be shocked that people also try to steal votes and, 
ultimately, elections.
  Because we are a nation of laws and we have basic faith that people 
will play fair, we simply don't like it when people try to cheat to 
win. That, of course, is what voter fraud is all about.
  Unfortunately, we in Missouri saw it in this past election. No one 
wants his or her State to become a poster child for a problem, the 
hometown become a laughingstock. So it is with dismay that I come 
before my colleagues today to describe what has gone on in St. Louis, 
what is going on, what reforms I believe are vital.
  Missouri's secretary of state has just completed a comprehensive 
review of election 2000, centered around four basic voter fraud 
schemes, the question of felons voting, as well as reviewing the 
actions by local judges and the now infamous dead-man-claims-long-
lines-keep-him-from-voting court case.
  The four vote fraud schemes regularly practiced across the country 
are: Did individuals register and vote more than once; did any dead 
individuals have votes cast in their names; were false names/addresses 
voted; were drop sites used to give individuals multiple voting 
identities.
  Each of these are classic vote fraud schemes designed to allow a 
small number of people to cast numerous votes either by absentee 
ballots or by moving from polling place to polling place and voting 
multiple names from the voter list.
  Each scheme relies on access to registered voter lists in order to 
know what names to use, knowledge of the false names, or requires the 
individuals to have control of the absentee ballots. In one common form 
of absentee ballot fraud, the drop site scam, the individuals used in 
the scheme simply register, usually by mail, multiple names at one 
address and then request absentee ballots for all their new roommates, 
phantom though they might be, and they vote all of the ballots coming 
into those invisible roomies.
  Sad to say, each of these schemes was in use on election day in 
Missouri. In reviewing only 2 of Missouri's 114 counties, the secretary 
of state found 14 probable drop sites where there were at least 8 
registered voters, 8 registered voters in one house, with another 200 
possible sites requiring further review. We had 68 dual registered 
people who voted twice. Good luck, folks. I think your day is coming. 
There were 79 vacant lots used as addresses for voters, and 14 dead 
people voted--certainly an inspiring theological effort, but one that 
is disappointing politically.

  In addition, this investigation found that 114 felons voted and over 
1,200 people who were not registered at all voted--in direct 
contravention of Missouri law. These people went before judges and 
said, ``I want to vote.'' The Missouri Constitution says you have to be 
registered to vote. The judges said: You look like a nice guy or lady, 
so we are going to let you vote. That is illegal; that is fraud; that 
is criminal.
  As I said, for each of the drop sites, the secretary of state used an 
eight-person rule--meaning he only reviewed those sites that showed 
eight or more registered voters at one address. And his staff only 
visited 20 percent of the total sites identified. Only law enforcement 
would be able to determine how many illegal votes were cast from these 
sites.
  However, those responsible for voting twice, voting dead persons' 
names, and creating false addresses were obviously violating the law. 
There can be no question that criminal fraud occurred.
  What can be done to protect us from this cheating in the future? In 
our review of the secretary of state's report, it is clear that a 
fundamental requirement for fraud is voter list manipulation. Bogus 
names are added with the intent to vote them absentee. Voters who have 
moved or died are left on the lists in order to create a pool of names 
to be voted, and the sheer confusion of clogged up voter rolls is used 
to further complicate efforts by election officials to keep the votes 
legal.
  My staff's review of the voter lists in St. Louis has found rolls so 
clogged with incorrect, fraudulent data it almost defies description.
  The number of registered voters threatens to outnumber the voting age 
population. A total of 247,000-plus St. Louis residents, dead or alive, 
are listed as registered voters compared with the city's voting age 
population of 258,000. That is a whopping 96-percent registration rate.
  The reason why: Almost 70,000 St. Louis residents, or 28 percent, are 
on the inactive voter list. That means 1 in 4 eligible St. Louis voters 
cannot be located by the U.S. Postal Service as actually living where 
the voter rolls say they are registered.
  More than 23,000 people in St. Louis are also registered elsewhere in 
Missouri. That means 1 in 10 are at least dual registered. Over 17,000 
voters still are listed as registered in the city, even after moving 
out and registering at new addresses. Nearly 700 voters are registered 
twice in St. Louis. No fewer than 400 are registered once in the city 
and twice more elsewhere in the State. And five Missouri voters are 
registered at four different places across the State.
  Though dead for 10 years, former St. Louis Alderman Albert ``Red'' 
Villa was actually registered to vote this spring in the city's mayoral 
primary. Ritzy Meckler, a mixed-breed dog, was also registered to vote 
in St. Louis. We don't know her party preference, but I won't go into 
the ``voting is going to the dogs'' line.
  This spring, a city grand jury began an investigation of 3,800 voter 
registration cards dumped on the election board on the last day to 
register before the March 6 primary: Press reports initially noted that 
at least 1,000 were

[[Page S8694]]

bogus registrations for people already registered.
  The U.S. attorney has now taken over the case, and a Federal grand 
jury investigation is underway, as the FBI has recently issued a 
subpoena to the St. Louis Election Board for records pertaining to any 
person who registered to vote between October 1 of last year and March 
6 of this year. They also requested all records of anyone who cast 
absentee ballots or regular ballots, as well as anyone who was turned 
away from voting.
  It is obvious that there has been brazen fraud with these bogus voter 
registrations. With dead people registering, fake names on voter lists, 
and phony addresses, it is painfully clear that the system is being 
abused.
  The only conclusion: Reform is imperative.
  There are three key weaknesses in the current system: the ease in 
which drop sites can be created; the ability of individuals to imposter 
others and vote in their name; and dual registrations.
  The drop sites are a direct result of allowing mail-in or drop-off 
registration without also requiring some form of authentication that 
the names being registered are of people actually existing. This 
creates pools of false names on the voter rolls.
  Because absentee voting after mail-in registration is allowed, it is 
very easy for those bent on cheating to cast votes for people who never 
existed. This clearly is in need of reform.
  Second, the ability of individuals to pose as others is directly 
dependent upon what type of identification is required for people 
voting. In the St. Louis mayoral primary this past March, as a result 
of the attention I and others brought to this situation, they required 
photo IDs, and there were no complaints of voter impersonation or voter 
intimidation. Obviously, the ability to pose as another would be 
severely restricted with a simple photo ID requirement. St. Louis may 
have had an honest election. It should be celebrated in the history of 
Missouri. The March election was an honest one.
  Third, the number of dual registrations creates a huge pool of names 
for the unscrupulous to abuse. It also causes confusion for the 
legitimate voters. A statewide database would clearly eliminate most 
dual registrations. That is certainly one of the recommendations of the 
Carter-Ford Commission that deserves support.
  However, as simple as these reforms may be, the problems are deeper. 
For example, motor voter actually blocks States from requiring 
notarization or other forms of authentication on mail-in registration 
cards.
  Given that nearly all of the fraudulent registrations were mail-in 
forms, it is obvious that we need to make real reforms in this area. At 
a minimum, States need to be given the authority to require on mail 
registration forms a place for notarization or other authentication. 
Under current law, States are actually prohibited from including this 
safeguard. This is one obvious place where the Federal law is clearly 
an impediment to antifraud efforts. Why do we so easily require a photo 
ID to board a plane or to buy beer and cigarettes, while leaving the 
ballot box undefended?
  Motor voter has also built a system whereby once bogus names are 
registered, it is impossible to get them off the lists. Current Federal 
law blocks a person's removal from the rolls unless he or she is 
reported dead, requests removal, or the U.S. Postal Service returns 
certified election board mailings to the person as ``undeliverable'' 
and the person fails to vote in two successive Federal elections. When 
names are added to vote lists for fraudulent purposes, they certainly 
are not going to request removal, or they certainly are not going to 
forget to vote. If you have gone to the trouble to register somebody 
fraudulently, you are going to vote them in every election. What 
protections do we have? None.

  We passed the motor voter bill with best intentions. Unfortunately, 
we now have proof that the very mechanism designed to boost voter 
participation has turned the Nation's voter rolls into a tangled mess. 
In Missouri, we saw how the motor voter flaws paralyzed the St. Louis 
Election Board last year. The board's inability to maintain its lists 
invited brazen vote fraud, now the subject of a Federal criminal probe.
  In Florida, St. Louis, and elsewhere, sloppy maintenance of voter 
rolls fueled charges of minority disenfranchisement. The legacy of the 
motor voter bill is that while it tried to boost voter participation, 
it may, in fact, now be responsible for reducing the integrity of and 
confidence in our elections. The best election ``reform'' Congress can 
undertake this year is to go back and fix the flaws in the law we 
passed 7 years ago.
  We need to get a handle on the voter lists. People who register and 
follow the rules should not be frustrated by inadequate polling places 
and phone lines, or confused by out-of-date lists. At the same time, we 
must require the voter list to be scrubbed and reviewed in a much more 
timely manner--so cheaters cannot use confusion as their friend.
  It is time we got rid of St. Louis's lasting reputation, described my 
old friend Quincy Troop this way: The only way you can win a close 
election in this town, you have to beat the cheat.
  Madam President, I thank the Chair and my colleagues. I yield the 
floor.

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