AG Obenshain and a Missed Point on 44,000 double Registrations in Virginia and Maryland

There is a story right now that has Republicans up in arms:

A crosscheck of voter rolls in Virginia and Maryland turned up 44,000 people registered in both states, a vote-integrity group reported Wednesday.

Kudos to Virginia Voter Alliance for their hard work uncovering this.  Of course, pro-fraud Democrats and their allies such as the Brennan Center are going to point to this number:

[Virginia Voter Alliance President Reagan] George acknowledged that the number of voters who actually cast multiple ballots is relatively small. In the case of Maryland and Virginia, he revealed that 164 people voted in both states during the 2012 election.

Putting aside that 164 people are committing a crime is significant, it still misses the point.  How many Maryland residents voted only in Virginia in 2012 because it was a top-tier Presidential race?  In contrast, Maryland was a lock for President Obama.  In other words, these people committed vote fraud but did not double vote. 

Put another way, how many of these 44,000 only voted once but cast their vote in the closer race, not where they reside?  For example, in 2013, when Maryland did not have statewide elections and Virginia did, the statewide Virginia Attorney General race was decided by 907 votes.  It would only take 2% of the double registered to sway that race. 

The best non-partisan report on vote fraud by a task force of the Milwaukee Police Department detailed how former Wisconsin residents living in California where still voting in Wisconsin so their Presidential “vote would count.”  In 2008, then Senator Obama had a program entitled “float the vote” encouraging college students to select their voting location (home or school) based on how purple the state was, not on actual residence rules. 

Of course, it is possible for a Maryland and Virginia resident to move back and forth between the states and legally vote in different elections in alternating places where they reside.  Possible but not very likely; certainly not 44,000 times.  However, this is a real reason why the left will continue to fight against efforts to update the voter rolls and voter list maintenance.  Democrat operatives understand that only allowing people to register and vote in the state of their residence will lead to things like Republican Attorney General Mark Obenshain instead of a 907 vote victory for a Democrat with the likely help of out of state voters.