BOWMAN BIS: Every Single Vote Matters — Legal Or Illegal

BOWMAN BIS: Every Single Vote Matters — Legal Or Illegal

Lauren Bowman Bis on November 4, 2022

The media and Left constantly tout the message that voter fraud doesn’t exist. If they admit that election crimes occur, they say it happens on such a small scale it could never impact the outcome of an election.

For instance, when Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the first 20 arrests from his election crimes prosecutorial unit, he was met with arguments that this proved voter fraud is rare. Michael McDonald, a professor of political science at the University of Florida and “voting expert,” told The Washington Post, “These arrests are inconsequential to the integrity of the electoral system.”

It’s the same old argument we hear anytime election crimes are discovered.

Now, we have data to refute this old, tired argument.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), launched a new tool tracking elections that ended in ties or were decided by less than 30 votes. So far, we have found 516 American elections that ended in ties.

In these races, one fraudulent vote would have made a difference. We can all agree that we do not want an illegal vote or an error to decide the winner of an election.

States have different procedures for ties. In many states, a tie election is decided by a lottery. Pure chance decides the winner.

One of these tie races decided by lottery determined which political party would control the Virginia House of Delegates. Imagine the control of your state house being decided by drawing a name out of a hat. Unfortunately, Virginians don’t have to imagine.

These tie races illustrate that every single vote matters. Election Integrity is essential to the election process. One illegal vote can change the outcome of an entire race.

Additionally, PILF found 131 elections that were decided by less than 30 votes. There are more tie and close elections results out there. We will continue to update our list as we find more ties and close elections.

Ties and close elections happen far more often than people realize. This is why states need to get serious about election integrity.

Election officials need to ensure that their state has accurate and up to date voter rolls. This includes removing duplicate voter registrations, people who have passed away, and people who moved. Fortunately, many states are failing to keep accurate voter rolls as required by federal law.

In 2020, a report analyzing 42 states’ voter rolls found nearly 350,000 deceased registrants and nearly 38,000 duplicate registrations on the voter roll. This is a huge vulnerability in our elections.

Accurate voter rolls are essential to election integrity because they tell election officials who is eligible to vote. Their especially important in states with automatic vote by mail where ballots are automatically sent to everyone on the voter roll.

States also need to ensure they are not allowing foreigners on their voter roll. PILF has uncovered records showing foreigners on the voter roll in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Georgia and California. Each foreigner on the voter roll represents a chance for an illegal vote to be cast.

The point is every single vote counts. One vote can change the entire outcome of an election.

If you’ve ever felt like your vote didn’t matter, remember these tie elections. Your vote does matter and does have an impact.

Now, get out and vote and make sure your voice is heard.

Lauren Bowman Bis is the Director of Communications for the Public Interest Legal Foundation and former Trump White House Communications staffer.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.