History of Election Fraud in America: The Wild Truth and the Road to Transparent Voting

In the hallucinogenic theater of American politics, tales of election fraud lurk in the shadows, occasionally leaping out like bats from the belfry. Amid the patriotic fervor and the star-spangled rhetoric lies a darker narrative.

Election fraud is a very real concern. Let’s look at the raw truths about election fraud in America.

1. Miami Mayoral Election (1997): The election was overturned due to widespread fraud with absentee ballots. The New York Times reported that thousands were tampered with or forged.
2. North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District (2018): A political operative tampered with absentee ballots. The state didn’t certify the election result because of these allegations, leading to a do-over election.
3. Philadelphia (2020): A former Democratic municipal ward chairman admitted to stuffing the ballot box. This case was highlighted by the Heritage Foundation.
4. West Virginia (2020): A mail carrier pleaded guilty to altering ballot requests, as also documented by the Heritage Foundation.
5. Troy, New York (2011): City officials were found guilty of a scheme to steal a City Council primary by forging absentee ballots.
6. Wisconsin (2008): The Milwaukee Police Department found widespread fraud in the 2004 elections, including ineligible voters casting ballots, felons voting, and more.
7. Indiana (2008): Dozens of signatures to get Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the state’s primary ballot were found to be forged.
8. Texas (2017): Rosa Maria Ortega, a non-citizen, was sentenced to eight years in prison for voting in multiple Texas elections.
9. Florida (1997 & 2013): Miami’s mayoral election in 1997 was overturned due to absentee ballot fraud. More recently, in 2013, three individuals were charged in a scheme to use absentee ballots to defraud Miami-Dade county voters.
10. Absentee Ballot Frauds: Various instances have been documented where absentee ballots were either manipulated, illegally gathered, or where fake votes were cast.

The US Has a Long History of Voter Fraud

In 1997, Miami’s mayoral election was upturned due to widespread fraud involving absentee ballots. Thousands were found to be tampered with or forged, resulting in the ousting of Mayor Xavier Suarez, as reported by The New York Times.

Move up to 2018, and in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, a political operative was charged with tampering with absentee ballots. Mark Harris, the Republican candidate, had seemed to win by a slim margin, but the state refused to certify the result after allegations of fraud emerged, leading to a do-over election.

Even as recently as 2020, the Heritage Foundation cataloged a range of cases. From the ex-Democratic municipal ward chairman in Philadelphia who admitted to stuffing the ballot box to the West Virginia mail carrier pleading guilty to altering ballot requests, the murky waters of election deceit seem to touch every corner.

Former U.S. Congressman and Philadelphia Political Operative Pleads Guilty to Election Fraud Charges

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced today that former U.S. Congressman Michael “Ozzie” Myers, 79, of Philadelphia, PA, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to deprive voters of civil rights, bribery, obstruction of justice, falsification of voting records, and conspiring to illegally vote in a federal election for orchestrating schemes to fraudulently stuff the ballot boxes for specific Democratic candidates in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Pennsylvania elections. –US Attorney’s office

While these examples are damning, they’re not indicative of a nationwide conspiracy. However, they do scream for reform. To bury our heads in the desert sand and pretend this is all make-believe would make it worse.

What are possible solutions?

The path forward lies not in paranoia but in modernization. If we can develop un-hackable cryptocurrency, surely we can innovate a voting system that’s trackable and visible. A system that’s resistant to manipulation, with every vote cast being verifiable and traceable. Blockchain technology, perhaps? It’s time for America to step into the digital age of voting, not only to combat the very real cases of fraud but also to restore faith in a system that’s taken a few too many blows.

Because with the current environment of machine gun indictments against former President Trump, there’s a clear and present danger that Americans have lost faith in the government’s ability to have fair and accountable elections.

Slipping into this unfolding drama is the burning question of election integrity. As details of the indictment against Trump trickle out, with the added intrigue of private Twitter messages now in play, the stage is set for a defense strategy that could very well shine a spotlight on genuine election concerns. Trump’s legal team, astute and ever-vigilant, is likely to highlight actual instances of election fraud during his re-election bid, using them as sturdy pillars for his defense. It’s a complex, multifaceted dance, and while the broader public might be fixated on the glitter of political theatrics, the underbelly of this case may very well expose the raw, sometimes uncomfortable truths about American elections.

Fraud happens.

To deny the existence of election fraud in the U.S. is to deny a piece of the complex American story. It’s very real, it’s there, but it’s also manageable. The solution? Well, it’s glaringly clear: Bring our voting system roaring into the 21st century.

The truth is out there, and so is the solution. Let’s chase both.