those voter ID laws are really working to stop voter fraud

[Anthony K. S.]

It's highly probable that there was no silly business going on. If the majority of their registrants were signed up as Democrat, they could have been on autopilot.

I think that Andara is right. It probably was just force of habit.

Honestly, Panacea, what could they possibly have had to gain by deliberately registering you as a Democrat if you didn't want to be? It's not as if that's going to change who you vote for in the general election.

If they were really trying to screw you over, it would have made more sense to just discard your registration form altogether, to try to prevent you from voting at all.

That said, you are correct that both parties are capable of voter fraud. We just need to distinguish between genuine fraud and what are more likely to be just honest (if careless) mistakes.

[s_stabeler]

can I just point out one thing? if i remember the statistics, about 1 vote in 15 million is fraudulent. That's roughly 10 nationwide. ( yeah, not going to affect even one elector at the electoral college there) the percentage of those without any form of photo ID? 11% (which is roughly 11 million)

So yeah, I'd say that those 10 fraudulent votes? annoying, but ultimately harmless. It isn't going to affect the outcome of the election. (by the way, the reason why it's rare is that the penalty is a $500 fine and possibly jail time too. PER FRAUDULENT VOTE. It just isn't worth it.) Wheras the posited remedy (requiring picture ID) would immediately deprive 11 million people of their right to vote for their representatives. Worse, do you want to know who would be affected disproportionately? the elderly, the disabled. Those who are most vulnerable, and people want to strip them of the one thing that can make politicians listen to their plight. their right to vote. Some people disgust me.

[Panacea]

I think that Andara is right. It probably was just force of habit.

Honestly, Panacea, what could they possibly have had to gain by deliberately registering you as a Democrat if you didn't want to be? It's not as if that's going to change who you vote for in the general election.

I actually don't think there was voter fraud involved, per se. I think local Democrats, and possible this one worker, wanted to pump up Democrat registration numbers for bragging rights purposes. Of course, none of that would have affected how I actually voted in 2000 (for Bush, damn me).

[smileyeagle1021]

I actually don't think there was voter fraud involved, per se. I think local Democrats, and possible this one worker, wanted to pump up Democrat registration numbers for bragging rights purpose.

or he is paid per democrat registration, so he switched it to democrat so he'd get paid more... why attribute to malice what you cane attribute to greed.

[HYHYBT]

It wouldn't really matter for the general election, but if you didn't catch it before trying to vote in the primary it could cause trouble.

Of course, the trouble it would cause, if any, would be your having to vote in their primary, which they likely don't want Republicans to do, which makes it less likely to have been deliberate.

[Anthony K. S.]

the trouble it would cause, if any, would be your having to vote in their primary, which they likely don't want Republicans to do

I've sometimes wondered how many people would actually do that deliberately. I'm talking about registering with the opposing party just to vote for the weakest candidate in their primary.

For example, if Sarah Palin had run for President in 2012, Democrats could have (if they wanted to) registered as Republicans just so they could vote for her in the GOP primary, knowing that she would have been crushed in the general election.

Not a nice business, but as far as I can figure, not illegal.

[Andara Bledin]

Yes, people do that. Considering that the vast majority of everybody doesn't, it doesn't really make much difference.

^-.-^

[Racket_Man]

I've sometimes wondered how many people would actually do that deliberately. I'm talking about registering with the opposing party just to vote for the weakest candidate in their primary.

For example, if Sarah Palin had run for President in 2012, Democrats could have (if they wanted to) registered as Republicans just so they could vote for her in the GOP primary, knowing that she would have been crushed in the general election.

Not a nice business, but as far as I can figure, not illegal.

my state recently held recall elections for the governor and 14 state senate seats (made the news internationally during the summer).

There were people who were KNOWN Republicans running as a Democrats as foil candidates so the Dems would have to expend time and money in a primary and prolong the electioni cycle a little longer.

[Panacea]

or he is paid per democrat registration, so he switched it to democrat so he'd get paid more... why attribute to malice what you cane attribute to greed.

I did attribute it to greed. Whether it was bragging rights or money, the motivation is still greed.

[HYHYBT]

This year, we had more than one separate primary for some reason I have no idea of. The one for president, though, they just gave everyone Republican ballots. The problem with trying to get the worst to win is that, no matter how bad a major party's candidate is, the chance of their winning in November is too far from zero considering the consequences of having someone like, say, Santorum in there. Is it better to go with a larger chance of a relatively minor disaster, or a smaller chance of a huge one? Unlike at least one of his opponents, Romney at least hadn't declared that he would disband an entire judicial circuit and ignore any Supreme Court rulings he didn't like, so he got my vote.