christie-vilsackFormer First Lady of Iowa, Christie Vilsack, said during her last debate with Congressman Steve King in the Iowa 4th Congressional District race that she didnā€™t believe there was any evidence of voter fraud.Ā  According to the debate transcript she said:

I think that we should do everything in this country, especially since we are celebrating the Constitution today, we should do everything we possibly can to encourage every person to vote. It is restrictive in many cases for people who are elderly, there are a lot of situations where people donā€™t have a picture ID and they need to be able to vote. And I think that the most important thing we can do is to make sure that the people are allowed to vote and I donā€™t think that there is any evidence that there is a great deal of voter fraud out there and I think that itā€™s the most important right and responsibility that a person has in this country to be able to vote. And Iā€™ll do everything that I can to make sure that people are allowed to do it.

Perhaps because nobody was looking until now.Ā  Mrs. Vilsack, here is your evidence.Ā  Three people were charged with felony voter fraud in Pottawattamie County, and Secretary of State Matt Schultz has found 3500 non-citizens on the voter rolls.Ā  While the three arrests may not seem like a ā€œgreat deal of voter fraud,ā€ I think you and I can agree that even if only a fraction of those non-citizens that Schultz found didnā€™t become citizens after obtaining a drivers license that is scandalous.Ā  Especially when you consider we are a swing state and this election is likely to be very, very close.Ā  We need integrity in the system.Ā  We must be wary of voter suppression as well to which I know we can agree.Ā  What is happening in New Hampshire could very well happen here.Ā  Our elderly can be at risk of being disenfranchised as well.

The simple fact is this until Matt Schultz came to office nobody was looking into voter fraud so we really donā€™t know what kind of a problem we have..Ā  Now heā€™s diligently trying to make sure that our voting process in Iowa has integrity.Ā  I still canā€™t wrap my mind around, and neither can the majority of Iowans why you and other liberals ā€“ I wonā€™t say Democrats because I believe this to be a bipartisan issue ā€“ canā€™t support a voter ID.Ā  Perhaps your statement that you want to ā€œencourage every person to voteā€ is telling.Ā  Congressman King noticed that and rebutted, ā€œWell I heard that we should do all we can to encourage every person to vote. I donā€™t agree. I completely donā€™t agree. I think they need to be citizens of the United States of America in order to cast a ballot.ā€

Only citizens should be allowed to vote, and we can and should have a voter ID requirement.Ā  For those that donā€™t have one I believe we can have a rationale discussion about how one can be provided.Ā  Like I said before I donā€™t want to see any citizenā€™s right to vote suppressed.Ā  This isnā€™t hard.Ā  Itā€™sĀ  a no brainer and those who oppose voter ID and favor status quo frankly are in favor of voter fraud.

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