Vote investigations waste of tax money

I had a bad experience voting on Sept. 10 (school election). Upon arriving at my polling place, I was met by a sheriff's deputy, an apparent security measure.

Once inside, the entire layout was reversed from its usual, an unannounced shuffling of the norm that proved confusing even to this well-seasoned voter. I saw a silver-haired group, hunched over a table, scribbling signatures on a piece of paper. One at a time, each was hurriedly moved along to another stopping point in the process where birth dates were confirmed. At yet another location, a precinct worker slapped a paper down on the table, requesting verification of the information produced. Finally, a ballot was offered.

I asked a worker about these new procedures. He said, “Well, you know, they're talking all the time about voter fraud … .” What voter fraud? According to the Iowa Secretary of State's office, a $280,000 taxpayer-funded probe into voter fraud in Iowa has yet to produce a conviction after more than a year, although 13 individuals have been charged (IowaWatchdog.org, Aug. 9): “With the $99,000 that has been spent … Iowa taxpayers have paid more than $7,600 for each alleged case.”

The campaign by Iowa's Secretary of State is the only real fraud going on. It's almost enough to make a person not even want to try to vote.

Carol Moss

Cedar Rapids