10:46 AM
CAUSA Communications Department
The following report comes from the Immigration Policy Center. The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) is the research and policy arm of the American Immigration Council. IPC's mission is to shape a rational national conversation on immigration and immigrant integration.
In Oregon, anti-immigrant hardliners like to make ludicrous claims that there is widespread voter fraud by non-citizens. The following report shows that their claims are just fear-mongering and nothing more.
Chicken Little in the Voting Booth: The Non-Existent Problem of Non-Citizen “Voter Fraud”
Election experts tend to agree that modern-day voter fraud is a very rare occurrence in the United States, primarily because it is so irrational. The potential payoff (a vote) is not worth the risk of jail time, thousands of dollars in fines, and—in the case of non-citizens—possibly deportation. The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law succinctly summarizes this point in a 2006 fact sheet: “Each act of voter fraud risks five years in prison and a $10,000 fine—but yields at most one incremental vote. The single vote is simply not worth the price. Because voter fraud is essentially irrational, it is not surprising that no credible evidence suggests a voter fraud epidemic.” As an October 18, 2010, story in the National Journal points out, “a five-year investigation by the Bush Justice Department…turned up virtually no evidence of widespread voter fraud.” Nevertheless, anti-immigrant activists are fond of pretending that fraudulent voting by non-citizens is a national epidemic.
In Oregon, anti-immigrant hardliners like to make ludicrous claims that there is widespread voter fraud by non-citizens. The following report shows that their claims are just fear-mongering and nothing more.
Chicken Little in the Voting Booth: The Non-Existent Problem of Non-Citizen “Voter Fraud”
Election experts tend to agree that modern-day voter fraud is a very rare occurrence in the United States, primarily because it is so irrational. The potential payoff (a vote) is not worth the risk of jail time, thousands of dollars in fines, and—in the case of non-citizens—possibly deportation. The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law succinctly summarizes this point in a 2006 fact sheet: “Each act of voter fraud risks five years in prison and a $10,000 fine—but yields at most one incremental vote. The single vote is simply not worth the price. Because voter fraud is essentially irrational, it is not surprising that no credible evidence suggests a voter fraud epidemic.” As an October 18, 2010, story in the National Journal points out, “a five-year investigation by the Bush Justice Department…turned up virtually no evidence of widespread voter fraud.” Nevertheless, anti-immigrant activists are fond of pretending that fraudulent voting by non-citizens is a national epidemic.
In a brief moment of honesty, talk show host and anti-immigrant activist Lars Larson admits he is on the fringe. After hearing the returns from Super Tuesday and Mitt Romney’s lack of support, a caller to the show asked Larson about his support for the anti-immigrant candidate and the results. 
