A threat to our democracy

In the Senate impeachment trial, the Democrats have been saying repeatedly that President Trump is a threat to our democracy and must be removed from office before he steals the 2020 election. My senators and Congressional representative, Democrats all, have repeated this in daily social media posts. Election integrity is important to me, and I’m glad my elected representatives are as concerned about this as I am.

So I was a little suspicious when my son, Haven, received an official-looking invitation to register to vote in New Mexico. Because he lives in Wisconsin.

Haven’s voter registration form arrived in my Albuquerque mailbox with a letter from the Voter Participation Center advising him that publicly available records show that he is eligible to vote in Bernalillo County. That’s odd because my son grew up in Illinois, moved to Wisconsin years ago and has never lived in New Mexico. Neither Haven nor I could figure out how he got on a list of potential New Mexico voters. He never attended school here, held a New Mexico driver’s license, rented a car or signed a petition. Haven’s only presence in the state is his annual Christmas visit. The only record that could possibly connect him with my address is the birthday presents he sends me via Amazon.

Now, that’s a threat to our democracy. Someone who is less law-abiding than I am could send in the registration form and actually vote on my son’s behalf, since New Mexico does not have a voter ID law.

Who would want my Cheesehead son to vote illegally in New Mexico? Must be the Russians, I thought, or perhaps the Ukrainians or the Trump campaign. Turns out the Voter Participation Center is a nonprofit organization with close ties to the Democratic party. John Podesta once served on its board. The Voter Participation Center has come under fire for misleading registration campaigns in several states. The organization sends out millions of voter registration forms that look like they’re coming from a government agency. Many have gone to felons, undocumented immigrants and the deceased with letters assuring them they are eligible to vote.

State election officials have found that many of the applications from the Voter Participation Center are invalid or fraudulent. And some people who are ineligible to vote got in trouble with the law when they sent in a registration form.

Election officials in some states have issued fraud alerts about the Voter Participation Center’s registration drives, and have warned residents that attempting to register when they are not eligible to vote may subject them to prosecution. The New Mexico Secretary of State has issued no such warning because voter fraud apparently is not a problem in New Mexico.

Now that I know that a fraudulent voter registration drive is under way in my state, I am going to contact my elected representatives to alert them to this threat to our democracy. Because they are so concerned about the integrity of the 2020 election, I am confident they will take immediate action to prosecute the Voter Participation Center to the fullest extent of the law.