February 16, 2012 07:04 PM UTC

GOP Curiously Unconcerned With Election Fraud

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• by: Colorado Pols

Because all election fraud was not created equal–the Pueblo Chieftain’s Patrick Malone:

On the eve of the 2008 presidential election, Pueblo voters’ phones rang off the hook with automated messages that deviously and falsely claimed their precinct polling places had changed. The voters were redirected to incorrect locations to cast ballots.

“We have experienced it here in Pueblo,” said Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz. “It’s a real thing, and we definitely support harsh penalties if people are funding it or causing this to happen. It’s voter fraud to me, and it’s terrible that people would game our system like that and use deceptive practices to get people not to vote…[t]he morning of that 2008 election was the most challenging of my life.”

…Under SB147, spreading false information about election eligibility or procedure within 90 days of a contest would become a Class 5 felony, punishable by up to three years in prison.

It’s important to note that it must be a knowing act of spreading false information about the elections for this law to kick in–call it the “Vote Wednesday” vote suppression prevention law.

Interestingly, however:

The Colorado Attorney General’s Office opposes the bill and contends that statute already provides for prosecution for election fraud, a misdemeanor that does not specifically speak to voter suppression.

And the Chieftain’s Malone reports that the Republicans on the Senate State Affairs committee, Kevin Grantham and Tim Neville, opposed the bill as “a solution in search of a problem”–language, to be fair, that we’ve heard from Democrats opposed to Scott Gessler’s proposals to combat what he calls “election fraud.” Senate Bill 12-147 is expected to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, then will quite likely die in the GOP-controlled House.

Numerous voters’ rights groups and organizations that protect the interests of women, Latinos and veterans testified in favor of the bill. Ortiz said the raft of inquiries he received from voters who had received the misleading calls in 2008 were exclusively from senior citizens registered as Democrats. [Pols emphasis]

So, does this mean that Republicans do not think vote suppression is a problem? We’re really not sure how you can scream bloody murder the way the GOP has about multiple vote fraud–over what turns out to be a miniscule number of actual alleged cases–then be so dismissive about pursuing this kind of vote fraud. The kind that results in fewer people voting.

The simplest explanation for this double standard is very bad, folks.