A ‘major’ voter fraud probe? Let’s do it
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will be calling for a “major investigation” into voter fraud (or, as he put it: “VOTER FRAUD.”)
This request might seem odd coming from the person who won the election, not the person who lost it. It might seem even odder given that Trump’s own lawyers argued less than two months ago that “all available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.”
But we think the president is right. An investigation into voting fraud is a terrific idea – with one significant caveat: The investigation has to be a real investigation. If it is, it will show what other investigations have shown for years: There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
What would a real investigation look like? Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Irvine, has a few thoughts. Hasen says any legitimate probe would need to be conducted by respected members of both parties. It would need to be staffed by people with experience in actually administering and running elections, and it should thoroughly examine each issue of voter fraud separately. That means distinguishing between in-person fraud and that which might occur at the voter registration level.
Why is that last item important? Because in states across the country, including North Carolina, Republicans have introduced voter oppression laws based on the fiction that there’s widespread fraud in precincts on election day. A legitimate investigation could stamp out that falsehood once and for all.
In fact, a legitimate investigation would be worth the investment if it put an end to all manner of untruths surrounding elections – including that dead people are voting in large numbers, or the Trump whopper that millions of illegal voters (presumably undocumented immigrants) are casting ballots.
Hasen, by the way, has some doubts that a legitimate probe is what Trump has in mind. We share his suspicion that the president merely wants an investigation that affirms what he thinks. That’s why Americans and members of Congress should demand that an independent commission answer Trump’s call.
We also recommend that North Carolina lawmakers wait on the results of such an investigation before pursuing new voting laws in 2017. Republicans hinted at such measures following Pat McCrory’s loss in November, insisting that things needed to be fixed even after the state elections board dismissed McCrory’s claims that fraud may have tainted the governor’s race.
The elections board, it should be noted, had a Republican majority, as does the National Association of Secretaries of State, which responded Wednesday to Trump’s claim of illegal voting.
“We are not aware of any evidence that supports the voter fraud claims made by President Trump,” the group said in a statement, “but we are open to learning more about the administration’s concerns.”
So are we. Let’s get elections questions asked and answered once more. Perhaps this time, Republicans might actually believe it.
This story was originally published January 26, 2017 at 7:22 AM with the headline "A ‘major’ voter fraud probe? Let’s do it."