Greater Irving Republican Club I WHY VOTE?

"One ACORN-like group handed in over 25 thousand voter registrations but less than one third were valid. This lack of voter registration integrity seems to be based on Deputy Registrars that are paid on a quota or number of registration applications submitted."

The citizen volunteers were frightened at what they saw. In between two-year election cycles, they decided to focus on a pattern that they had noticed in fraudulent registrations. Many of the fraudulent voter registrations were at false addresses or at a single address. True the Vote gathered the number of registrations at addresses where six or more people were registered. The Republican county congressional districts have 2 or 3 thousand while two Democrat congressional district had around 8 thousand and another had almost 20 thousand. This last number seven times the Republican average was determined to be an indicator of fraud. Tens of thousands of volunteer hours were expended in researching and documenting fraudulent registrations. These fraudulent registrations were handed over to the Harris County Elections administrator to be removed.

The Houston Elections administrator also discovered and reported another problem. One ACORN-like group handed in over 25 thousand voter registrations but less than one third were valid. This lack of voter registration integrity seems to be based on Deputy Registrars that are paid on a quota or number of registration applications submitted. Another indicator of poor voter registration integrity is that a number of Deputy Registrars were not Texas residents and/or not registered to vote in Texas. Deputy Registrar practices such as these that encourage fraud should be prohibited by law.

Efforts for a True Vote Begin

Last weekend, True the Vote education came to Dallas - Fort Worth. I attended with several hundred others from North Texas. True the Vote education helped me focus on what is important to get ready for the 2012 elections in Dallas County. There are so many worthy causes at the international, federal, state, and county level. However, our impact on any cause is minimal if we can not trust our election system in Dallas County.

Two major initiatives for 2011 by True the vote are extremely important to Dallas County:

(1) Legislation to reduce fraudulent voting
Efforts are already underway via various legislators in the in Austin, Texas. You can see True the Vote voting integrity initiatives here: www.truethevote.org/legislation Select the line: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEGISLATION. The three broad categories of voting Integrity needed are: Photo ID, Voter Roll, and Election Process. I personally also favor a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) as an independent verification system for electronic votes. Since VVPAT is not currently the case in Texas, the potential for undetectable electronic voter fraud is massive.

(2) Grassroots efforts to cleanup voter rolls Cleanup efforts are planned in other Texas counties. True the Vote plans to assist efforts to cleanup voter rolls in other Texas counties with the aid of software provide by True the Vote. This software would automate the process of searching for fraudulent voter registrations especially where many are registered a a single address.

Both of these efforts deserve the support of all voters in Dallas County that want ensure a TRUE VOTE.

Don Van Slyke
GIRC, 2011 VP Legislative Issues/Actions

March 6, 2011
Don Van Slyke
A TRUE VOTE is needed in Dallas County

Voter Fraud?

Is there voter fraud in Dallas County? Eighteen years ago as an election judge, I felt certain that the answer was no. Today, my answer is yes. Some increased opportunity for fraudulent activity is because of a widespread desire for voting convenience, modernization, and access. Unfortunately in Dallas County, something far more sinister is afoot.

In April 2010, my first Dallas County voter fraud wake-up call was Democrat on Democrat voter fraud in the Sepulveda v. Medrano civil case. In the trial, 140 witnesses testified for Democrat Luis Sepulveda against the Democrat Carlos Medrano's campaign about illegal vote harvesting of mail-in ballots. The civil case was dismissed even though a number of illegal activities were identified. You can find a summary here: www.dallasarena.com/K100725.htm

In November 2010, while Republicans triumphed nationwide and statewide, the Dallas County Republicans were defeated for a third straight two-year election cycle as Dallas County witnessed several situations of likely voter fraud: Citizenship status on voter registration cards never checked, voters from vacant lots or non-existent addresses, mail-in ballots where the signature does not match, etc.

In January 2011, the Dallas County Commissioners, with a Democrat majority for the first time in decades, wasted no time in eliminating Bruce Sherbet, one of the best elections administrators in the country. I personally believe that this means that Dallas County voter fraud in 2012 will be rampant. What other reason would the Dallas County Commissioners have to replace a highly competent elections administrator?

Efforts for a True Vote Begin

An effort called True the Vote can help restore our trust in Dallas County elections. It was started by a small group of concerned citizens in Harris County (Houston, Texas) two years ago but it has grown immensely as more Texans have become aware of the problem. This small group initially focused on volunteering as poll watchers. These volunteer poll watchers witnessed an number of serious voting day problems such as people being allowed to vote without showing their registration cards or any proof of being registered, people being coached on how to vote, and voters registered incorrectly.