In Philadelphia, they don't wait for Election to Start Committing Vote Fraud

There has long been an unofficial competition for the “vote fraud” capitol of the United States.  Philadelphia has its backers for the claim, which seemingly include arch-liberal Chris Mathews who has discussed how people are bussed around to vote for others who are not showing up on Election Day.  Yesterday, Philadelphia went one better/worse.  Allegedly adding votes to the machines BEFORE the election:

However, four of those people tasked with making sure there is a fair election probably will not be there tomorrow because they were arrested today by District Attorney Seth Williams due to tips he fielded from Republican Pollworkers who reported infractions to City Commissioner Al Schmidt who, in turn, forwarded them to the District Attorney.   Williams stated that “election judge Sandra Lee, 60; minority inspector Alexia Harding, 22; machine inspector Gregory Thomas, 60; and machine inspector James Collins, 68, at the time, were charged with a variety of election law violations because they also worked together to add six votes to the total tally [and that] Harding, Collins and Thomas also did not live in the division where they claimed to be residents, he said.

Vote fraud is not novel in Philadelphia, as Joe DeFelice noted:

This isn’t the first time that Philadelphia has been at the forefront of Election irregularities and voter fraud.  Last year Election Judge Dianah Gregory was arrested and found guilty of tampering with voting machines.  Prior to that, as reported in the Associated Press, there were hundreds of more votes cast than actual voters that showed to the polls in a Primary Election. 

Personally I don’t think Philadelphia is the vote fraud capitol for the United States.  Which should frighten those interested in open, fair and honest elections.