Patrick Mallon
Monday, Aug. 26, 2002

Tammany Hall's Next Target – Simon's Faith (8/16)
California Governor's Race: Defying the Lies as Bombs Fly (8/9)
Stealth Agenda Trumps Academic Success in Schools (8/2)
Simon Survives Attacks, Davis Cons for Cash (7/26)
Paralyzed From Facing Reality (7/19)
California: Wanted! An Ethical Governor. Apply Within (7/15)

For starters, we're all aware that there are no ID requirements to vote in California, right? Everyone knew that. When I went to vote last March, just for fun, I said to one of the poll workers who found my name on the precinct list, "Why don't you ask me for identification to prove I am who I say I am?" In return all I got was a puzzled look, a smile, and "Oh, we're not supposed to ask that."

The other workers looked at me as if I was from another planet. How dare I ask such a question. What a troublemaker!

I asked, "What happens if someone wants to vote and their name is not on your list, say they just moved to the neighborhood and hadn't changed their address?" "Well, we give them a provisional ballot," she said.

In other words, anyone, from anywhere, legal or illegal, felon or foreigner, can request a ballot and vote, no questions asked.

In general, in all states, in order to register to vote, an applicant must be a U.S. citizen, a legal resident of the state, and 18 years old on or before Election Day. Simple verification, a simpleton might think, would be a validated photo ID.

But then this is California.

An Obvious Problem Meets the Immoral Silence

Like the hush-hush over the billions of dollars taxpayers fork over for services to illegal immigrants and others who do not file state taxes, the problem of vote fraud is like that huge, cankerous pimple on one's nose. It's just not there no matter how much the mirror lies.

Nannette Moffett, a member of the Voter Integrity Project and a columnist with the Nevada Policy Research Institute, had the following to say about California elections in "Voter Security: A Right Precariously Balanced."

"The INS turned over to Congress a list of more than 500,000 people who were not legal citizens on Election Day in 1996 but who appeared on voter registration files for Orange County, California, in the battleground race between Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D) and former Rep. Robert Dornan (R).

"The man accused of killing Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was a Mexican citizen who was registered to vote in two California cities."

The Gray Davis Solution to Vote Fraud

Latest word is that Gov. Davis is about to sign into law AB60, a bill that would give driver's licenses to up to 1 million illegal immigrants. Under existing law, an applicant must provide a Social Security Number to a DMV official to obtain a license.

AB60 would WAIVE this requirement. As a driver's license is the key to quasi-legitimacy in the eyes of law enforcement, and state agencies have effectively been intimidated from inquiring into an individual's lawful or unlawful presence, possession of a driver's license operates as de facto entry into the U.S.

Now, what was it Clinton signed into law in 1993? Oh yeah, the Motor Voter act that "makes it possible for Federal, State, and local governments … to enhance the participation of eligible citizens as voters in elections."

This "enhancement" is now in many cases interpreted to mean that ANYONE can register to vote at the DMV.

As the law states, "An application for, or a renewal of, a driver's license will serve as an application for voter registration unless the applicant does not sign the voter registration application portion of the form."

So, who's stopping a technically ineligible applicant from signing the form? There are no background checks, and there's no stopping anyone from assuming a false identity.

Ms. Moffat's 1996 article concluded prophetically: "Attorney General Janet Reno was asked by GOP Rep. Ed Royce to investigate non-citizen voting in California. But Assistant Attorney General Sheila Anthony retorted with 'there is no federal law that expressly requires voters to be citizens.' "

So, non-citizens can vote, and ballot-stuffing Marxists have been pushing the envelope ever since.

How Do the 'Civil Rights' Groups View Verification of Identity?

The sheer outrage of having to prove you are who you say you are to vote doesn't sit too well with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF).

Back in February when the U.S. Senate was debating the Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001, MALDEF contested the provision that states would be required to establish a photo ID program for individuals who register to vote by mail.

According to MALDEF Vice President of Public Policy Vibiana Andrade, "Not only do Latinos have less access to the documents required, they will be subject more often to its requirements." Huh? You mean since they don't legally qualify to vote, they have no obligation to obey the law like other voters, Ms. Andrade?

The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) membership chimed in and requested that their membership support the Wyden-Schumer amendment opposing the photo ID program requirement.

Mr. Wyden, in a disingenuous ploy to reward vote fraud, said that a mere signature verification was an acceptable alternative to a photo ID for first-time voters casting ballots by mail.

So if you can spell (preferably with a pen), you can vote. And if you need help, someone can do it for you, since we're apparently on the honor system here.

It is beyond extraordinary that the franchise – the right to vote, a cherished privilege – should have its integrity reduced to such tawdry and pathetic subterfuge.

Easy Street at the DMV

According to the California DMV website, here's what appears following the question "Can I register to vote at DMV?"

Yes, when applying for or renewing your driver license or identification card at any DMV office, you have the opportunity of registering to vote. It is important to note that if you are registering to vote for the first time, changing your name or political party, or have moved to a new county, you must also complete a Voter Registration form to update the SOS Elections Division database.

Give your completed Voter Registration form to a technician, and DMV will mail it to the SOS Elections Division office for updating.

There is no mention of identification, eligibility, residency. Just mail it in. Isn't it great how proactive the DMV can be?

What the Cryptkeeper and Davis Don't See

Back on the election front, Garry South's depraved arrogance manifests itself as the Davis team's symbiotic cryptkeeper. The alter ego and architect of boorish shakedowns and brazen demands for cash, South makes no bones about his disdain for California voters and his insatiable thirst for ad buys: "The airwaves rule, and voters don't know anything unless they are told."

Got it, Larry. We don't have a clue, so we'll rely on you. Voters would be sensible in examining how loony Cynthia McKinney misread the negative effects her statements and policies had on constituencies she took for granted. Now she's out of a job.

In "Less-Educated Women Gravitating Toward GOP," published Aug. 19 in the San Diego Tribune, Dana Wilkie said: "Instead of supporting the party that strives to champion diversity, welfare and labor laws, these women in recent years have been voting more for Republicans. Democrats are trying to figure out why."

In the article, Wilkie quoted Anna Greenberg, a vice president at the Democratic polling group of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. "People who are less educated tend to be more socially conservative, they're more pro-life, and they're more religious."

Perhaps Hispanic voters, a traditional lock for Democrats, are seeing through the compost as well, and will act accordingly. It's one thing to be used, it's quite another to be called stupid.

Democrats Do It Because They Can – Got It, Punk?

Average Californians scratch their heads and ask WHY Davis insults the majority with policies clearly contrary to their best interests. It's not that hard to figure out.

Davis must sustain his own brew of injustice to placate the racial and cultural feelings that anchor his political power. There is more than enough money coming from quiet interests who want to undermine and anger the value system of those he seeks to destroy. And he's succeeding, due to the frothing aggression of energized activists who behave as a law unto themselves.

This doesn't mean he'll win in November, only that he is pulling out all the stops.

Too bad the GOP doesn't fight as dirty. And if they did, the legal vultures and opportunists at MALDEF and LULAC would hurl vile invective at Republicans, Bill Simon, whites and anyone else they could falsely accuse of racism.

Proposition 187, the measure that would have denied public benefits to illegal immigrants, passed in 1994 by a 60 percent margin. Today it is now used as the anti-GOP Tar Baby to prevent any and all dialogue about compliance with immigration laws, voting regulations, and responsibility for extraordinary taxpayer burdens in a time of budget bankruptcy.

"Proposition 187 was the last gasp of white America in California." Sounds racist, don't you think? Want to know who said it?

Art Torres, before 400 cheering Latinos at U.C. Riverside on Jan. 14, 1995. Guess where Mr. Torres is today? Why, he's the chairman of the California Democratic Party, a welcoming, progressive, thoughtful, balanced and tolerant organization, dedicated to the California promise and civil dialogue.

So the befitting way to close is to lighten up, be like Dr. Seuss and say: I could be you, you could be me, so pass me a ballot, no need for ID.

See next article in series: The Farce That Is Sacramento

You may e-mail Patrick Mallon at patrick@newsmax.com.

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