Currently, the main focus of the investigation is absentee voting, which is when voters send in ballots through mail or other means, from their home. Two accusations point towards Bladen County official Leslie McCrae Dowless, Jr., who went door-to-door collecting ballots, allegedly working for Harris. Not only is transportation of ballots by non-famiy members illegal in North Carolina, but more serious accusations have also been leveled. Voters claim that Mr. Dowless's team collected ballots that were incomplete, and told voters that "the rest wasn’t important and [they] would fill it out [themselves]." Although this action could have had no impact or been innocent, it's at odds with Mr. Dowless claim that he "operated within the bounds of the law." In addition, there was an usually low return rate of ballots in some districts, especially those with high population of african-americans. Return rate of ballots is the comparison between how many absentee ballots were requested and how many were received.
Jeneva Legions was approached by a woman asking for
her absentee mail-in ballot in Bladenboro.
As far as possible impacts of this investigation, it will not much change the overall result of the midterms. The House is already Democratic, and by enough of a margin that this election going democratic would not have a huge impact. However, from a political standpoint, this issue highlights the straw-man nature of the repeated voter fraud claims from the republican party. It's ironic that after so many unsubstantiated claims from the republican party, and especially Mr. Trump, about voter fraud, a legitimate case of voter fraud would possibly be perpetrated by the republican party.
Questions:
It seems like voter fraud has come up more in the public headspace in recent years. Is this because of a legitimate increase in voter fraud? Or is the political climate more to blame? Was voter fraud not mentioned in the past because of blind optimism, or realism?
Mr. Trump and the republican party has been greatly focused on voter fraud in recent years. Should Mr. Dowless action's undermine Mr. Trump's claims? Or are they independent and unrelated?
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/30/politics/north-carolina-nine-certify/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/04/673472144/house-republicans-hacked-voter-fraud-allegations-in-north-carolina
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/north-carolina-election-fraud-investigation-centers-on-operative-with-criminal-history-who-worked-for-gop-congressional-candidate/2018/12/03/7b270a90-f6aa-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html?utm_term=.753c43e8708d
Karina Mori
ReplyDelete1. I think that voter fraud has come up more in recent years as we as a nation become more partisan. I think that the political climate being very tense and competitive causes a lot of accusations against the opposite party, some including voter fraud.
2. I think that since Trump and the Republican party repeatedly mention voter fraud as a real component in elections, they are inadvertently oppressing minorities, and I think that these two cases are very much related. If Trump wants to address the problem, he must address it against the Republican party as well.
1. Voter fraud has gotten more buzz recently because I think it happens more. I don't think it happens more in the sense of people voting under a different name or anything of that nature, but certainly what Harris was doing.
ReplyDelete2. Trump generally talks about voter fraud with voter ID laws which isn't the problem. If he really thinks voter fraud is an issue he would address the voter fraud that Republicans are doing.
1. Voter fraud has been a more prevalent idea in the media recently because of the political climate. Because Democrats are projected to seize a huge majority over the republicans, republicans have turned to “voter fraud” to explain this change.
ReplyDelete2. Mr. Dowless’ actions do undermine President Trump’s claims. Trump consistently blames Democrats for voter fraud, so a Republican committing an act of voter fraud is damning.
1) I think that voter fraud has become more prevalent in recent ideas because of the media's constant coverage of the Russia-Trump Collusion investigation. Democrats seize on the idea that Trump used Russia to win while Reps say that Illegals vote blue
ReplyDelete2)I think that voter fraud wasn't mentioned in the past because it was too politically incorrect for a serious candidate to talk about.
Voter fraud has come up more in the public recently because the political climate has become increasingly worse, as both the Republican and Democratic parties have become more partisan Therefore, I believe that both sides use claims of voter fraud as a way to undermine the opposing party. I believe that there could be a legitimate increase in voter fraud because the more it is talked about in the media, the more people are aware of its role in affecting elections and might be willing to take part in it as well.
ReplyDeleteMr. Dowless’ actions do undermine Trump’s claims because his party is partaking in voter fraud as well. However, I think it is a good thing that the issue is gaining awareness so I believe he should acknowledge it, but he should talk about the issue overall, not blame one party for it.
^Jessica Masterson
Delete1) Two sides to this - more divergent among Dems and Reps, also mainstream media did not cover this until after Trump's election.
ReplyDelete2) Independent, therefore unrelated, as voter fraud was not an significant issue.
1. I think voter fraud has come up more in recent years because of the political polarization and the increased opposing viewpoints. Democrats and Republicans continue to challenge each other on the basis of policy and other things so I think voter fraud is just an aspect to the liberal v. conservative debate.
ReplyDelete2. I think the actions of Mr. Dowless do undermine Trump on some levels since they are from the same party, but it is also hard to identify the most pressing issue due to the scandal surrounding it.
1. I think that voter fraud has been receiving more attention from the media mostly because of the political climate. Since people are becoming more partisan, maybe people are turning to voter fraud to explain any shifts in beliefs to justify their own party's loss of momentum.
ReplyDelete2. Trump does blame democrats for voter fraud so Mr. Dowless actions undermine Mr. Trump's claims.
1. I think the political climate is to blame here since Democrats and Republicans are becoming more partisan. It's likely that voter fraud is being opposed because of this.
ReplyDelete2. Trump would be addressing the issue if he talks about what his own party is doing rather than others.
1. I believe that voter fraud has become the center of attention due to Trump's presidency, as many people are focused on making him look bad. Because of this, they overlook certain positives and have the media focus on negative aspects such as voter fraud.
ReplyDelete2. Mr. Dowless' actions undermine Trump because he also partook in voter fraud being from the same party