Supporters of voter fraud, including the NAACP, the ACLU and Loretta Lynch’s Department of Injustice were rebuked by U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder, who threw out their discrimination lawsuit. Judge Schroeder ruled that considering that black and Hispanic voting has increased since the law has been in effect there could be no proof of discrimination. He also found that the state of North Carolina had a compelling interest in curtailing voter fraud.
The plaintiffs argued that no such voter fraud exists. They were, however, unable to explain why there were 8,241 voters in 2012, who were over 112 years old. All of them democrats. During testimony by Lorraine Minnite, a Rutgers University political science professor, she claimed she had found only 2 cases of voter impersonation in NC over a 15 year period, but under cross examination:
During cross-examination, Daniel Donovan, an attorney for the plaintiffs, referred to a 2014 audit that the State Board of Elections conducted based on data collected through an Interstate Crosscheck program that is run by a Kansas consortium. Participating states agree to check their voter registration records with those of other states to see whether individuals had “double-voted.”
Donovan asked whether the audit found the names of four state legislators and whether she would say that those legislators had committed voter fraud. Strach said she would have to investigate.
The audit report said that 765 voters with an exact match of first and last names, dates of birth and the last four digits of their social security numbers had been registered in North Carolina and another state and voted in both states in 2012.
Another 35,750 voters with matching first and last names and dates of birth were registered and voted in North Carolina and another state. The audit also found that more than 155,600 voters with matching first and last names, dates of birth and the last four digits of their social security numbers were registered in North Carolina and another state, but that North Carolina is not the latest date of registration or activity.
It is also important to note that without the use of voter ID, it’s next to impossible to catch someone casting an illegal vote under someone else’s name.
Current North Carolina law has outlawed same day registration and has shortened the early voting dates. The plaintiffs promise to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court. But that’s not their real plan. They know that the Supreme Court has upheld voter ID laws in the past and will likely find for them in the future. What they want is for a federal appeals court to issue an injunction that will allow voter fraud to continue at least through the 2016 election.