Like good steak, vote fraud is rare

I’ve got a gift for timing.

On the very day I posted a column supporting mail-in ballots, a story broke about a South Philly Democratic committeeman and judge of elections who had ballot-stuffed in three recent elections, which I will talk about later.

It was like Fate giving my argument a big, fat, upraised middle finger.

But was it really?

No, say I, and here is why: I wrote about mail-ballots, while the fraud was committed at the ballot box. 

The debate over the sanctity of voting by mail breaks down — surprise! — into political camps.

Those opposed are following the lead of President Donald J. Trump, who finds mail-in voting “corrupt,” “horrible,” and more, even though his last ballot was cast, yes, by mail.

Those in favor of vote-by-mail tend to be left of center.

As for you on the right, you don’t have to remind me that liberal journalists long had written there was no such thing as election fraud or voter fraud, right up until the time such fraud was proven. They now say it is rare.

We know fraud happens.

Airplanes also crash, but that doesn’t keep most people from flying. 

Let’s look at some facts. There are five states that only use voting by mail. They are Colorado, Hawaii, Utah, Oregon and Washington. In political alignments, Colorado is purple, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington are blue, white Utah is red. None have reported fraud, as far as I can tell. Over the years, more votes have been stolen in polling place than anywhere else, but I don’t hear people threatening not to vote in person because of it.

Advantages to mail-in voting: It is easy, lower personnel costs than in-person, raises turnout.

Disadvantages: The civic tradition of coming together with a common purpose is lost, expensive vote-reading machines must be bought, mail delivery is slow in some regions, and the vote count may be delayed.

That last reason is causing some consternation in Pennsylvania, which Trump won by a whisker in 2016 and which is regarded as a battleground state. Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar reports that more than 1.7 million vote-by-mail applications have been received, which is more than the 1.5 million Pennsylanians who voted in 2012, the last non-contested presidential primary. 

On Election Night, this year June 2, everyone is in a tizzy to know who won and that’s not hard to get with voting machines. When the polls close, an election official checks the tally on the machine and phones it in.

Clean, simple and fast.

Mail ballots? Oh, noooo.

In Philadelphia, and presumably elsewhere, the count will not even start until Wednesday, June 3. By Boockvar’s estimate, that will be nearly 2 million ballots, more than those cast in person. 

In Philadelphia, scanners read the ballots, followed by an audit by hand, I was told by City Commissioner Al Schmidt.

If all goes well, it could take hours. If there are screw ups — and they are likely with a system handling numbers it has never handled before — it could take days. That will infuriate the instant gratification crowd, not to mention journalists, who need answers before they can write their trenchant analyses.

Remember Florida in 2000, with results delayed for days and argued over for weeks?

Well, that won’t happen next month because, let’s face it, Joe Biden and Trump will be the candidates. The general election in November will be another matter. Delays in counting could be very serious.

Back to the recent case of fraud committed by Domenick J. DeMuro, 73, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy by adding votes to the totals of several Democratic  candidates. 

DeMuro’s tactic was low tech: When no one was looking, he slipped into the voting booth and voted over and over again.

In 2014, he added 27 votes, in 2015 he added 40 votes and then 46 in 2016. 

Schmidt said his office found that one of DeMuro’s divisions had a history of registering more votes than there were voters. Troubling numbers from 2014 and 2015 were turned over to the D.A. for investigation. “It was pretty flagrant,” Schmidt told the Inquirer.  There are an average of six questionable divisions each year, Schmidt said.

Full stop: Let’s assign blame.

First, the Republican Party for not having sufficient poll watchers to prevent DeMuro from jumping in the booth like it was a shower in his bathroom. If you don’t have enough troops, work with a local college to get poli sci majors to volunteer for extra credit.

Second, the D.A. for not nailing this bird earlier.

Yes, I hear some of you saying, “He’s a Democrat. What do you expect?”

So say hello to GOP operative Leslie Dowless charged last year with several counts related to ballot fraud in North Carolina.

It ain’t the party, it is the integrity of the individual. The record shows voter and election fraud happens, like bank robbery.

But you still keep your money in a bank.