Heaven help us all.
Alternative President Donald J. Trump has stumbled upon a "voter fraud" app
called VoteStand where voters could use Twitter to report election
irregularities, such as "machine jammed" or "sister voted
absentee but was still in book" or "someone wore shirt with slogan on
it inside polling place."
I scrolled through dozens of these tweets today but could not find a single instance of voter fraud. Three things were apparent, however:
(1) There was no way to know if any of these tweets was true. They were just what someone claimed to have seen during the election. Curiously, people using the app were not required to
report their name, only the town in which they voted. In this era of alternative facts and fake news, this could be real...or not.
(2) Even if you accept that every one of them was true, none that I read
indicated that anyone voted illegally. They were just reports of irregularities
that did not involve the actual casting of ballots.
(3) And, even if you assume that some people did vote illegally, there was no indication
of which candidate they voted for.
Nevertheless, I’m predicting that Donald “I Could Never Have
Lost the Popular Vote” Trump will come out with a report in a day or so that
says more than 3,000,000 illegal votes were cast and every single one of them
went to Hillary.
This morning, he tweeted this:
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Look forward to seeing final results of
VoteStand. Gregg Phillips and crew say at least 3,000,000 votes were illegal.
We must do better!
Phillips, a former Health and Human Services Commission
executive from Texas and the founder of VoteStand, has declined to provide
proof to the media of illegal voting, saying he will instead "release all methodologies,
data and analysis directly to the public." My bet is, he'll release some kind of report to Trump who will then tweet it to the entire world.
Meanwhile, the following is a random sample of consecutive tweets
copied directly from VoteStand’s Twitter account an hour or so ago (note
the absence of names). You can judge for yourself what it shows.
North Bethesda, MD: Democrat sample ballots visible on
check-in table.
Sumner, IA: Took the paper ballot machine three times to
read my ballot today in Iowa. Third time was the charm. Hope it worked.
Massapequa Park, NY: Voter finds sister's name in registry
not reflected as having voted absentee despite ballot already being cast.
Los Angeles, CA: "The place where I voted in the
primaries did not have my name in the voter book this time. Had to vote
provisional."
Tucson, AZ: "Tucson poll workers telling a Hispanic
woman (my wife) that she would be deported if she voted for Trump."
Saint Petersburg, FL: Ballot containers arrived without
proper serial numbers, packaging.
Virginia Beach, VA: Poll workers reportedly told voter they
had neglected to ask for #VoterID all morning when asking why she wasn't
carded.
Euclid, OH: "Woman signing poll book caught that her 15
year old son had ended up in the book."
Philadelphia, PA: "WARD 36 district 48 electioneering
right outside of the location."
Troy, NY: Optical ballot scanner jammed on voter's ballot.
New York, NY: "Woman handing out information in the
polling station line for 'alternative candidates'." #Electioneering
Oakland, CA: Voter asked if she was a @realDonaldTrump
supporter after specifically requesting an English "I Voted" sticker.
None available.
Rockville, MD: Poll worker mistake leads voter to cast a
provisional ballot.
Santa Monica, CA: "Multiple people" seen wearing
partisan clothing, accessories in polling place.
Chicago, IL: Voter tells clerk they've ID'd the wrong voter
in registry. "He passed away months ago."
Arlington, TX: "Precinct 1627. Lady helping with
turning in ballot was looking at everyone's ballot, even if they didn't ask for
help."
San Lorenzo, CA: Voter demands that optical scanner be fixed
on site, refuses to leave ballot in a bag for later counting.
When I voted in November, I noticed that my Dad's card is still in the book at my polling place. My Dad passed away in 1996. However, to the best of my knowledge, I don't believe he's voted once since he passed. If he did, then I'm absolutely sure he never stopped by to visit after doing his civic duty. -Dave H
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