The election is just a week away and my hope is that I don't
end up being disenfranchised - again. If the folks in Ohio and
Florida can weep and moan about how they were cheated out of
their votes in 2000 and 2004, I can surely join the club and whip
up sympathy for my woes at the ballot box. While mechanical
mistakes can happen to anyone on Election Day at one time or
another, voter fraud is a whole other animal.
Readers of this column may remember my experience on Primary Day
in September, when a poll worker automatically assumed I was a
Democrat and erroneously configured the voting machine for that
party. Because the machine could not be used until a Democrat
came in to vote, I was told to fill out a paper ballot. The
worker who made the error claimed to be a Republican, so I
considered the incident a genuine error. Oddly enough, I received
a number of calls and e-mails from white Republicans in the Bronx
and Manhattan who experienced the same faux pas. One is even a
City Hall official. I wonder if all their votes were tossed out
like mine.
I received a notice from the Board of Elections telling me that
my paper ballot was invalid because I voted on the machine. I did
not. A mistake was made. Good gracious: I've been
disenfranchised. Call the ACLU, La Raza: My vote has been
trashed. I feel so helpless.
Okay, enough kidding around. An honest mistake was made and the
next time I vote in a primary, I'll make sure the poll worker
knows what party I'm registered to. I'm a regular voter and have
lived at the same address for 28 years, so I always know where
I'm supposed to vote. Unfortunately, in crucial elections where
the massive party machines recruit neo-voters who are unfamiliar
with the process, mistakes can be made. More likely, though, the
problem is voter fraud may be at work.
A few years ago, my stepson, Bill, witnessed a group of
developmentally disabled adults being guided into a voting booth
by their escorts, who told them to vote straight down the
Democrat column. They were under the impression they were going
bowling. Clearly, this is against the law, but hey, this is New
York, where people can vote as often as they want on the same day
if they're in the right party.
Democrat vote fraud is rarely ever investigated or punished,
except when the defendant is considered a threat. The only
Democrat I know of who was convicted was a former Wall Street
attorney, John Kennedy O'Hara. His crime was registering at his
girlfriend's address as well as his own apartment, even though he
was living at both places at the time. Apparently, there's a
rarely enforced New York State law requiring voters to only
register primary permanent addresses. Susan B. Anthony and O'Hara
are the only two convicted under this voter registration law.
O'Hara was disbarred, convicted of a felony in 1999 and had his
life destroyed, but is still appealing his conviction. He claims
that he has been prosecuted because of his efforts to reform what
he calls a corrupt Brooklyn Democratic machine. Corruption in
Brooklyn? Surely you jest.
But just try to get legislation for voting reform in this town.
It will never happen. Instead, voters who claim to live at the
Main Post Office on 33rd Street will continue to vote without
fear of prosecution.
Because of the primary poll snafu, I was reluctant to recommend
absentee balloting to any members of my family who might find it
difficult to vote next week. Who knows if they'll be counted? Not
all the military ballots were counted in 2000. A 50,000-vote Bush
lead in Florida magically disappeared in minutes and a Palm Beach
City Democrat official, Irving Schlossberg, was found with a
ballot-punching Vote-A-Matic machine in his car.
The Democrats are positive that as of next week they'll be back
in power, and polls seem to lend credence to their optimism. New
York's own Blog Queen, Lucianne Goldberg, the CEO of the best Web
site on the Net, Lucianne.com, was interviewed by Fox News's Neil
Cavuto, and disagrees. She bases her opinion on the input from
the millions of daily hits on her Web site. "We do hear from
the people every day," she said. "It's an interactive
site. Bloggers are out in, you know, in the middle of America.
They are not sitting at 21. They are not here in New York living
the good life or the Beltway. They are out there, where people
really are telling them what's happening."
I share Ms. Goldberg's optimism for the country, but as for New
York, we're as doomed as doomed can be.