I broke decorum today and flat-out told a coworker that he's full of shit

[Orrex]

He wholly endorses strict voter ID laws, for the standard bullshit slogan-bytes ("you have to show your license to buy cold medicine," etc.), and he said that it's necessary because 26% of the votes cast in 2008 were fraudulent either because they were cast by dead people, by non-citizens, by people in incorrect districts, or by people who voted twice.

He couldn't say where he'd heard the figure, and he was quick to assure us that the 26% weren't solely in the Presidential election, but rather that it was spread out over all elections nationwide.

I called bullshit, pointing out that utterly failed nations have lower rates of fraud, and furthermore if it were true then our noble Republicans would have taken up arms by about the second week of November '08.


So here's my standard question, since he couldn't provide it: anyone have any idea where he came up with that 26% figure? I can't readily find anything on The Google to support it, so... Is it possible that he was making it up? Say it ain't so!

[Betsy Ross]

1. made up

Can't remember the details, but I've read the number of recent voter frauds could be counted on two hands. That is if you don't count Ann Coulter or Mitt Romney.

[ohheckyeah]

2. He pulled it out his ass.

The analysis of 2,068 reported fraud cases by News21, a Carnegie-Knight investigative reporting project, found 10 cases of alleged in-person voter impersonation since 2000. With 146 million registered voters in the United States, those represent about one for every 15 million prospective voters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/election-day-impersonation-an-impetus-for-voter-id-laws-a-rarity-data-show/2012/08/11/7002911e-df20-11e1-a19c-fcfa365396c8_story.html

[Orrex]

5. Thank you

I had seen several reports highlighting the absurdly small incidence of fraud, but that article is a handy summation.

[ohheckyeah]

10. You're welcome. Glad it helps. n/t

[pinboy3niner]

13. Not so fast...

That first figure DOES have a '2' and a '6' in it.

[ohheckyeah]

17. The rest of the numbers

wouldn't fit because of the stick.

[bluestate10]

24. You beat me to it. But here goes, he pulled it out of his unwashed ass. nt

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

3. Sounds like he pulled 100% out of his ass.

Speaking of which, you should tell him to pull his head out of his ass before it grows roots.

[brewens]

4. They assume whatever the figure that it's 100% on the Democrat side too.

I'd be willing to bet that whatever fraud there is is fairly even if not more on the Republican side. I'm usually dissapointed when I see someone quote the fraud numbers. Like Big Ed quoting how many fraud case in Milwaukee last election. I don't know if he could find out but I'd like to see that broken down. How many on each side?

[tjdee]

6. Like his leaders, he is making that up.

That's the Republican MO. Don't have the facts? Just make them up.

If a quarter of the total votes in 2008 were fraudulent, 1 in 4 votes, that would be outrageous. And wouldn't all the Republicans be all over that? Wouldn't the talking heads use that to defend voter ID laws?

It's just not true.

[Selatius]

7. In the last presidential election, something like 130,000,000 people voted.

I believe the number of actual cases of voter fraud in that election was under 100.

Voter ID laws are a solution searching for a problem.

The fact is the Republicans have had a hard time getting some people to vote for them, and rather than spending effort trying to do so, it's easier to prevent them from voting.

[MNBrewer]

12. The problem? that's easy! Too many people voting for Democrats.

[RagAss]

8. .000026 %

[Ikonoklast]

19. THIS IS THE CORRECT ANSWER!!

Actual voter fraud in this nations is statistically non-existent.

The .000026% is the actual number.

[DrewFlorida]

9. It appears as though he just doubled Romney's last known rate of taxation.

[MNBrewer]

11. Ask why he's ok with having to show ID to buy cold medicine!

It's "big brother, nanny state government"! Does he want that in the voting booth???

[Cha]

14. It's the f****** reCons who

do voter fraud..like they're doing now with Voter Suppression. F****** aren't fooling anyone but idiots.

[former-republican]

15. Be careful at work

It's way to easy to lose ones temper and say the wrong thing.

All it takes is one person to go to HR and say you are making a hostile work environment because of your political beliefs.

There's SO many things I would like to say to some co workers when I hear them talk politics amongst them selves.. but I don't.
If some pushes the wrong button with me , I could be looking for another job.

[Orrex]

16. Your concern is well-taken, but I'm confident that this guy won't go to HR

I could present a laundry list of his acutely inappropriate workplace behaviors and statements, so I'm not worried that he'll lodge a complaint.

Thanks, though.

[reformist2]

18. One way to avoid getting angry... do you live in a blue state?

If you do, it makes the nonsense coming from a teabagger a little easier to deal with.

If you're in a swing state, though, you're out of luck!

[Orrex]

21. We're in PA, which is trending strongly toward Obama...

but if Corbett's draconian voter suppression bill stands up in court, it could be a very different story.

[reformist2]

23. Ok, you're in the thick of it. I'm in MA, so right-wingers here don't bother me in the least. :)

[Tennessee Gal]

20. Make him prove it. Surely he can.

NOT!

Keep asking until he admits he can't. When he admits that, he is a proven liar.

[porphyrian]

22. It's a made up number. n/t