By Danny Keating, Director of the Louisiana/Mississippi HVAC Insider

In my opinion, our vote is the most important right that we have as a citizen of the United States. It is our one way to impact our government and create change. We, as citizens, should be overly protective of our vote and ensure that no one minimalizes the importance of it. Voter fraud destroys the value of our most precious right.

Is voter fraud real? Yes, and there are many ways for criminals to steal votes and change the outcome of an election. And yes, they are criminals and should be put in prison for stealing votes and unfairly affecting the outcome of our elections.

There are many ways for criminals to steal an election. These include voting in the name of other legitimate voters and voting in the name of voters who have died, moved away, or lost their right to vote (felons). These include voting under fraudulent voter registrations that either use a phony name or claim residence in a particular jurisdiction where the registered voter does not actually live. These include registering in multiple locations and voting in the same election in more than one jurisdiction or state. These include requesting absentee ballots and voting without the knowledge of the actual voter; or obtaining the absentee ballot from a voter and forging the voter’s signature.

On a larger scale there are many more ways for criminals to steal votes and change the outcome of an election. They include paying voters to cast a vote (either an in-person or absentee ballot) for a particular candidate. They include offering illegal ‘assistance’, usually force or intimidation, particularly to the elderly, disabled, illiterate, and those for whom English is a second language. They include illegal registration and voting by individuals who are not U.S. citizens, who are convicted felons, or who are otherwise not eligible to vote. They include changing the actual vote count either in a precinct or at the central location where votes are counted.

In light of the many ways there are for criminals to steal our elections, I find it amazing that there are a total of only 17 states that require voters to present photo identification in order to cast their votes. Louisiana and Mississippi both require photo ID to vote.

But it isn’t just our home-grown election criminals we have to worry about. Ask yourself this question: “Can illegal aliens actually vote in our elections?”

The simple answer is yes, of course they can, and they do. And yes, it is illegal. According to federal law, noncitizens are expressly prohibited from voting in federal elections in the United States. In fact, voting as an illegal alien in federal elections is a crime punishable by law.

However, in what would appear to be an effort to increase illegal voters, The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, among other things, required states to provide individuals with the opportunity to register to vote at the same time that they apply for or renew a driver’s license. In addition, it required states to offer voter registration opportunities at all government offices that provide public assistance and all offices that provide state-funded assistance programs. While this may sound like a good thing, many of the people getting drivers licenses and applying for government assistance are in fact illegal aliens.

Can illegal votes affect election outcomes? No one knows for sure, but I think it’s time that we insist that all voting precincts clean up their lists of registered voters so as to reduce the potential.

Voter fraud does exist and it does rob us by offsetting yours and my legitimate votes.

I personally am appalled when I hear about an election official finding boxes of “uncounted votes” in the trunks of their automobiles. These votes which, if counted, can now potentially swing the election to the losing politician. The whole concept is repulsive and becoming way too common.

The other scenario is, an election is seemingly decided and then votes are counted from a single voting precinct that throw the election into doubt. It turns out that there are more votes being reported than there are registered voters in that precinct, once again threatening the legal outcome of the election.

People should be put in jail when this happens. Our vote is too important.