Myth" of Voter Fraud Focus of Senate Hearing
by Jason Leopold
Last year, during the height of the Congressional investigation into the firings of US attorneys David Iglesias and John McKay, two of the nine federal prosecutors who were ousted revealed that they were pressured by Republicans to bring charges of voter fraud against people who intended to vote for Democrats in separate elections in New Mexico and Washington state several years ago.
Iglesias and McKay said they investigated the allegations but did not find evidence to support charges of voter fraud leveled by Republicans. Both men believe their refusal to convene a federal criminal grand jury to pursue the allegations led to their ouster.
There is no concrete evidence of voter fraud in the United States. Many election integrity experts believe voter fraud is a ploy by Republicans to suppress minorities and poor people from voting. Historically, those groups tend to vote for Democratic candidates. Raising red flags about the integrity of the ballots, experts believe, is an attempt by GOP operatives to swing elections to their candidates as well as an attempt to use the fear of criminal prosecution to discourage individuals from voting in future races.
Now a Senate panel chaired by California Democrat Dianne Feinstein is investigating whether the myth of voter fraud has led to "disenfranchisement" among individual voters.
http://baltimorechronicle.com/2008/031008Leopold.shtml