Q&A of the Day – States with same day voter registration
Each day I’ll feature a listener question that’s been submitted by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Twitter: @brianmuddradio
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Today’s entry: Dear Brian, we are huge Trump supporters! My husband has a doctorate degree in business management from UF. He has been analyzing numbers all day and has discovered a disturbing trend in the counties and states regarding the number of registered voters and the number of those that voted. He is a sharp guy and these discrepancies are unsettling. He is feeling like many others are already examining the same discrepancies.
Bottom Line: I appreciate the concern and diligence of your husband and others. There is a legitimate explanation for many of the discrepancies your husband and others have identified. I’ve now investigated multiple related claims, and all have checked out with a potentially legitimate explanation. In yesterday’s Q&A I addressed the notion of voter fraud generally. In that story I referenced a point that is paramount to this conversation. States are responsible for their own elections and as such each has its own laws governing their elections. To greater illustrate the point I used the example of ballot harvesting. In Florida, ballot harvesting is a felony offence. In California it’s legal. There’s literally that much variance in state election laws across the country. The biggest mistake many are making is taking their understanding of Florida’s election laws, including voter registration deadlines and applying them to other states. The two possible legitimate explanations for many of the voter discrepancies are these:
- Voter rolls which haven’t cleaned up those who’ve died or relocated
- Same day voter registration
Starting with the first concern... While having “dirty” voter rolls replete with voters who’ve relocated or died presents the opportunity for impropriety, it’s not uncommon – even in Florida (which is why we joined the ERIC initiative) where we’re especially diligent. It doesn’t rise to the level of illegal activity unless ballots are cast in the names of the deceased or relocated voters. Now, the most prevalent explanation for the number discrepancies in many key states is related to the second.
While Florida’s law states all voters must be registered 29 days prior to an election... There are 19 which didn’t have a voter registration deadline until their polls closed on Tuesday. These are the states (and districts) which have same day voter registration:
- California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine,
- Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Notice three prominent states in question, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin are among those. On Wednesday a false report made the rounds, including being falsely reported on numerous outlets, that there were more votes cast than voters in states like Wisconsin. That was using dated voter registration totals. I checked in with Wisconsin's Division of Elections and found there were approximately 500,000 more registered voters than the number being reported widely. Notice btw, that the Trump campaign hasn’t sued in Wisconsin. This isn’t to say it’s not possible for there to have been impropriety somewhere, somehow but almost all the most common threads of concern by supporters of the President are explainable. And as far as what’s not, there’s a far better chance Trump’s legal team will identify it before any of us at this point. I had someone ask me yesterday why if I was able to successfully investigate and participate in the investigation regarding the corruption with Broward and Palm Beach County’s Supervisor’s two years ago, I couldn’t do the same this time. It’s simple. First, misfeasance has to be present. Second, I have resources, sources and extensive local knowledge of elections. I don’t have any of that available in any of the states in question. And honestly, unless you do – there's almost certainly nothing to be gained by putting yourself through the paces of these concerns. But look, I love the passion for integrity and the concern for this country. It beats the alternative.
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