Voter fraud isn’t a problem, Miller says

CEDAR RAPIDS - Linn County Auditor Joel Miller feels as strongly about preventing voter fraud as Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz, who has made it his top priority.

Where they part company, however, is that Miller believes current registration and election laws have prevented voter fraud problems, while Schultz is convinced that if he keeps “turning over every stone” he'll find fraud.

So far Schultz, a first-term Republican, hasn't found any cases of voter fraud. Miller's not surprised.

“Where's your poster child, Matt?” the Democrat asked.

If Schultz can find a person who is committing fraud by voting as someone else, Miller added, “I'll be right there with him.”

Through 30 Linn County elections since he took office, Miller has never received a report of someone voting at the polls as anyone other than himself or herself.

“I've asked my peers and they can't come up with an example of an impostor either,” he said. “I think he's trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist.”

Election misconduct problems that do exist - and have been documented - haven't involved the kind of fraud Schultz is looking for, Miller said.

Since 2008, 51 cases stemming from Election-Day registration have been investigated in Linn County, resulting in 12 prosecutions. Two people served jail time and 10 paid fines.

The cases of election misconduct stemmed from people voting who shouldn't have - felons whose voting rights had not been restored, for example.

Miller points out that those cases don't involve voter fraud. And those felons or people voting twice - once by absentee ballot and once in person - were caught by the existing safeguards.

In Johnson County, Auditor Tom Slockett's only recollection of election irregularity was forwarding information to the county attorney about the possibility of someone voting in 2008 whose rights may not have been restored.

Miller doesn't agree with Schultz that requiring voters to show a photo ID is necessary. Elections have operated on the basis “this is the land of the free and we believe people are honest,” he said.

“Are we going to change to ‘This is the land of the free, but we don't trust you?'” Miller said. “Which politician wants to say that?”