There's An Actual Case Of Voter Fraud, And It Came From A Trump Supporter
Donald Trump was right. There is voter fraud going on, for Donald Trump.
Police and court records show 55-year-old Terri Lynn Rote was arrested in Iowa on suspicion of voting twice this month for Trump, the Des Moines Register reports.
The woman, a registered Republican, was booked on Thursday and charged with election misconduct, which is a felony in Iowa. She is accused of casting her ballot via early voting, but at two different locations in her state.
Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald told the Register,
I think it shows that our voting system works in Iowa, that we're able to catch it.
The alleged crime is ironic, of course, given that Donald Trump has been ramping up his argument the election could be "rigged," and that his supporters should take it upon themselves to be vigilant and "watch" for cheating.
As far back as August, Trump told supporters at a rally if Hillary Clinton wins in ever-crucial Pennsylvania, it would be an illegitimate result.
The only way we can lose, in my opinion — I really mean this — in Pennsylvania, is if cheating goes on. We have to call up law enforcement. And we have to have the sheriffs and the police chiefs and everybody watching.
He then added,
I hope you people can sort of not just vote on the 8th, go around and look and watch other polling places, and make sure that it's 100 percent fine.
There is, of course, no factual evidence of widespread voter fraud, never mind enough to a degree that could tip the scales of an election. The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU crunched the numbers and found voter fraud is only likely to happen less than .001 percent of the time.
There is, however, historical precedent for voter intimidation being used to suppress voters from certain groups, which makes Trump's call to action among his supporters an ominous one.
But as far as voter fraud goes? This election has seen a lot of terrible things happen, but fraud doesn't look likely to be one of them.
Citations: Des Moines Register, Voter fraud suspect arrested in Des Moines (Des Moines Register)
