The Legislative Democrat party continues to seem bound and determined to mess with free speech and election rights as much as they can get away with to tilt the scales away from fairness in state elections. Not too long ago the Democrats rammed through last minute legislation to load-up our November ballot with so many ballot propositions that, in their hope, Proposition 32, the “Stop Special Interest” initiative banning mandatory union dues for political campaigns, would be at a disadvantage. They “stacked the deck” by forcing that initiative onto the crowded General election ballot where it would be lost in a mix of measures, and presumably more Obama voters would venture to the polls and also vote to defeat it. They also are messing with free speech rights right now, pushing SB 488, a dreadful, highly unconstitutional bill attempting to give public employee unions monopoly rights on images of police and firefighters in election slate mailers. (Yes, I am involved in that business and am on the First Amendment side of the issue.)
But now, according to news reports (thanks to my friend Brandon Powers for the clue on this) a “last-minute bill” moving in the Legislature would require counties to count mailed ballots postmarked on election day and received by the counties within three days of the election, rather than the current law which requires ballots to arrive no later than the close of polls on election day.
If you watch Fox News Channel studiously, you will already know that Democrats and their liberal think tanks such as the Brennan Center in New York City do not believe that voter fraud exists, and for this reason, they believe there is no need for a voter presenting themselves at the polls to present a picture identification as a condition of being handed a ballot. They do think California slate mail can be deceptive if it is a Republican who is given the advantage in the mailer, but they don’t think voter fraud exists. Period. And for that reason the Office of the Attorney General of the United States continues to direct the agency to not pursue voter fraud cases and to actively challenge implementation of local voter ID requirements.
But we know voter fraud exists. It exists here in California, where, despite Democrat outrage about poll watching security guards, Loretta Sanchez was elected to Congress by a thin majority, a winning margin that was dwarfed by the documented votes of non-citizens on the election. Yet she took her seat in Congress……
I feel confident in making the observation to Democrat friends that if you really don’t think voter fraud is happening now, just wait till you pass this awful legislation, which will allow any clever scofflaw with a USPS compliant private postage meter and a treasure trove of tardy voters the ability fix an election after it has happened and after the results have been announced. Like so many other bone-headed bills, this one may pass, but it won’t pass without controversy and adversity to fair elections in future.