The Times Shines a Light on “Ballot Security”

In today’s New York Times, Tom Robbins provides some context on “ballot security,” a practice that is intended to guard against election fraud and which is at the core of the trial of political operative John Haggerty.

Robbins characterizes the practice one that is largely engaged in by Republicans. A former Assembly Democratic staffer calls it “a euphemism for voter suppression.”

While Robbins does not seem to find much evidence that election fraud is common today,  Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf says that it was at one time:

“There are always irregularities in elections, but the era of people going in with pliers to rip levers off machines, which was a constant for years, is over.”

This 2010 report by the Brennan Center for Justice provide some additional background and analysis of the issue.