More Vote Fraud in Palm Beach

Palm Beach County, Fla. -- home of the infamous "hanging chad” of the disputed 2000 presidential election -- is again the scene of voting controversy.

The Republican Party of Palm Beach County has uncovered at least 60 cases of voters it believe voted twice –- once in New York and once in Florida -- in the Nov. 7, 2006, general election.

The GOP investigators believe vote fraud is far worse. Their analysis found as many almost 12,000 Florida voters who were registered to vote in the state of New York. The study did not compare Florida vote rolls with other Northeastern states.

The Republican Party has turned over its reports to the Florida State Attorney and other authorities in the state to investigate criminal wrongdoing.

William J. Skinner, Voter Fraud Committee chairman for the Republican Party of Palm Beach, alleges in each count, "I obtained the voter registration and voter history files from the states of Florida and New York and compared the files for first name, middle name, last name and date of birth. This comparison disclosed the above person voted in Florida and New York for the November 7, 2006 state and Federal election.”

Under the law, persons registered to vote in Florida must sign a statement that they reside in Florida and note any other state in which they are registered.

The complaints were filed this week with State Attorney Barry Krisher, Florida Division of Elections, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Republicans have requested the Division of Elections and the other agencies to open an investigation to determine whether these 60 individuals have violated Florida statutes and whether they may be prosecuted for voting in two states in the same election.

"These 60 individuals represent the tip of the iceberg of persons possibly voting twice when you consider voters who are registered under slightly different spellings or name modifications in each state. There are approximately 12,788 registered voters in Palm Beach County who are also listed as registered to vote in New York State,” noted Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the group, in the release.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Dinerstein disclosed that the analysis was motivated by the 2004 investigation of voter fraud by the New York Daily News that uncovered that 46,000 people were illegally registered to vote in both New York City and Florida.

In that investigation, the Daily News broke down those with double registrations as 68 percent Democrats, 12 percent Republicans and 16 percent without a listed party affiliation.

Although the Republican group in the current case has released a list of the names they allege apparently voted in both venues, the breakdown of party membership is not spelled out.

Dinerstein told the Sun-Sentinel: "We believe there is a lot of voter fraud, particularly in election years, because there's a lot of looseness in the system.”

For his part, Skinner, an attorney, who, according to the Sun-Sentinel, used his own money and about $2,000 from the party to finance the investigation, explained, "I hate to be screwed at the voting booth by someone from New York. It's my civil right to vote and those people are taking it away.”

Skinner’s computer program compared the identities of 11 million registered voters in New York against 800,000 in Palm Beach County. "I guarantee, every one of those 60 people voted in both states,” Skinner said.

But at least one voter on the published list is saying it’s a bum rap.

Shirley Goldberg, an 82-year-old Democrat who lives in Delray Beach, told the Sun-Sentinel that the charge against him is "impossible.”

"I registered and voted in New York when I lived there. But I've been here for the last 12 years. I haven't voted in New York since,” Goldberg said.

Dinerstein is not deterred, however.

"These are allegations, we have no certainty,” he said. "We compiled this list from the best data available to make the strongest list possible. And now law enforcement should take over.”

Under Florida statues, the Division of Elections has authority to conduct preliminary investigations into any allegations of irregularities or fraud involving voter registration or voting, or candidate or issue petition activities.

Under the law, the Division must report is findings to the Office of Statewide Prosecution or to the State Attorney for the judicial circuit in which the alleged violation occurred for prosecution.
As of this writing, neither the Division nor any of the other agencies copied with the complaints have officially had any comment.

A spokesperson for the Division of Elections, however, did offer that the agency "had only just become aware of the issue and is studying it.”

According to the Division of Elections, "A person who commits or attempts to commit any fraud in connection with voting, votes a fraudulent ballot, or votes more than once in an election can be convicted of a felony of the third degree and fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 5 years.”

In the GOP group’s letter to the Division of Elections, there is a note that requests that each and every complaint be individually considered for the "voting fraud reporting awards.”
NewsMax asked Mr. Skinner about that paragraph.

"The Division of Elections is awarding $5,000 for reports of voter fraud,” he explained, directing attention to a video on the Division of Elections website that explains the details.

from newsmax.com