It Takes Drug Dealers Killing People To Stop Vote Fraud

Vote fraud deniers such as the Brennan Center are sure to note that convictions in Clay County Kentucky for vote fraud have been overturned and to completely ignore it.  Rather than the technicality of the legal system we would rather focus on what happen in Clay County.  Let’s begin with a source that is hard to impeach: 

There was a time when vote fraud was so pervasive in Clay County that a lot of honest people saw no reason to vote, said Ken Bolin, pastor of Manchester Baptist Church.

Brennan and other deniers are sure to follow up with “oh that was ancient history or just some local yocals.”  Actually that was going on until 2011 if not later and was tracked by the FBI. 

From 2002 through 2011, there were 237 public-corruption convictions in the federal Eastern District of Kentucky, compared to 65 in the western district, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. It wasn't the first decade in which the eastern half of the state had one of the highest rates of corruption convictions per capita in the United States.

Chronic poverty and cynicism about government help explain the history of vote fraud. Control over scarce jobs by local politicians also has played a role, allowing power brokers to influence elections with cash or threats. And with small populations and many people related through blood or marriage, kinship and friendship have long created potentially compromising relationships between officials and criminals.

This goes to show that among other things vote fraud deniers are hurting the poor.  The article also details something more sinister.  Despite the widespread vote fraud the only reason this came to light is that law enforcement officials were after drug dealers who were buying the politicians.  When vote fraud was about jobs or corruption, no one cared!  Tough anti-drug laws led to arrests that uncovered politicians protecting drug dealers. 

Vote fraud deniers should read the Kentucky case to help to understand the serious problem of vote fraud.  More likely, they will ignore it and continue to hurt the American public, including the poor.