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Voter fraud is not a wholesale myth. 11 examples show it actually does happen.

Every election season, cries that voter fraud will threaten the legitimacy of American democracy can be heard throughout the country.

Critics say these claims are exaggerated and backed up by scant evidence. But dismissing voter fraud entirely overlooks the fact that fraud does happen — rarely. This year, Donald Trump has introduced new urgency into the conversation, calling into question any result other than his own victory.

All illustrations by Susie Cagle.


But fear of voter fraud is not new.

It was also cited by those opposing the 1965 Voting Rights Act, its expansions through the ’70s and ’80s, and the 1993 National Voter Registration Act.

Despite the ongoing concern, comprehensive statistics on voter fraud don’t exist — it’s not a crime tracked by government agencies, though many are tasked with policing it.

One study estimated the rate of in-person voter fraud at around...

In 2014, Judge Richard Posner, a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, opined that most of the evidence provided by activists to prove voter impersonation fraud is:

This category of crime — election fraud — constitutes many acts that don’t readily conform to our idea of a fraudulent voter, from activists and party representatives faking signatures on ballot petition forms to mischievous dog owners registering their pets to vote.

And yet, voter fraud is not a wholesale myth. It does actually happen. So who are the people intentionally corrupting the voting process — and how are they able to do it? 

Here is a selection of fraud cases successfully prosecuted over the last 12 years.

1. Vote buying — Virginia, 2004

Former Appalachia, Virginia, mayor Ben Cooper allegedly conspired to rig the town’s 2004 elections along with his supporters. They reportedly bought votes, some in exchange for beer, cigarettes, and pork rinds.

As the ringleader, Cooper was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while most of his accomplices received suspended sentences or house arrest.

Buying votes, whether with pork rinds or cash, may be the most cinematic form of voter fraud. It is, by its nature, a crime more often committed by politicians and their agents than not, and it often results in stiff criminal penalties.

Source: The Item Newspaper

2. Ineligible voter, noncitizen — Illinois, 2009

Peruvian citizen Margarita Del Pilar Fitzpatrick became a permanent resident of the U.S. in 2004. When she later applied for a driver’s license, according to press accounts, Fitzpatrick also registered to vote, and the state processed her application.

She voted in the 2006 election and later told that to immigration officials when applying for citizenship. Her application was denied, and Fitzpatrick was ordered to be deported.

Fraudulent votes by undocumented immigrants are frequently cited as a pressing voter fraud problem, though few cases have been prosecuted. Most have ended in probation and fines.

Fitzpatrick maintained that she registered and voted in ignorance — and the Department of Justice maintained that it didn’t matter. At least some states do not agree. In 2016, California enacted the new Motor Voter law, which states that immigrants who vote by accident, like Fitzpatrick, would not be deported for their crimes.

Sources: Law360, USA VISA Counsel

3. Misuse of absentee ballots — New Jersey, 2009

Former Roselle Borough Council president Jamel Holley allegedly turned in more than 20 absentee ballots in a 2006 election. He was ordered to pay a $125 fine and enter a pretrial intervention program. Despite this, Holley was later elected mayor of the city of Roselle and appointed to the state's General Assembly.

By their nature, absentee ballots are a more attractive tool for fraud than in-person malfeasance. But Holley’s continued rise in politics after the admission of his crime would seem to indicate the voting public, at least in Roselle, New Jersey, is not too concerned.

Source: NJ.com

4. Duplicate voting — Colorado, 2009

David Harold Shackley allegedly voted in two different counties in the same election in both 2008 and 2009.

Shackley was warned after his first offense and convicted for his second. He received a 60-day jail sentence and was ordered to pay fines. He called the case “the biggest joke in the world.”

Double voting appears to be most common among the elderly and the recently relocated, who vote once by absentee ballot and again in person. The vast majority of these cases end in plea deals. Shackley was rare in his insistence that the case go to trial, where he claimed that his fraud was the result of stress and negligence, not criminal intent.

Source: The Denver Post

5. Fraudulent address — California, 2009

Leonis Malburg served as city councilman and later mayor of Vernon, California — the city his grandfather co-founded — for 53 years. It was later discovered that he was not actually one of the town’s estimated 112 residents (because his primary home was elsewhere) and, therefore, was ineligible to run for elected office or even vote there.

Malburg and his wife were convicted at trial, sentenced to probation, and reportedly ordered to pay more than $600,000 in restitution and fines. Malburg was barred from holding office in the future.

Vernon has been the site of many acts of voter fraud, including one conspiracy so broad that the 2012 city council election had to be re-held.

Source: L.A. Times

6. Registration fraud — Georgia, 2010

Heather Milam allegedly wrote her husband-to-be's address as her own on a voter registration form. She was later caught by his ex-wife. Milam was served a cease and desist order and a reprimand.

Registration fraud is the most common form of voter fraud, according to available data. It encompasses a large number of crimes, from filing paperwork only for voters registered with a particular political party, to providing false information on a registration form. Accusations of registration fraud, which often take aim at organized drives in low-income communities, far outnumber successful prosecutions.

Source: State Election Board

7. Voter intimidation — Maryland, 2010

Political consultant Julius Henson allegedly attempted to tip the scales for his client, then-Governor Robert Ehrlich, by orchestrating a robocall operation intended to suppress the African American vote. Ehrlich lost anyway.

Henson was convicted at trial. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years probation, and ordered to pay $1 million in damages. He later received additional jail time when he filed for candidacy for state senate, a violation of his parole.

Henson’s case was notable for his lack of remorse – he said his actions were protected by the First Amendment and called the trial “a witch hunt.” The prosecutor on the case said Henson’s attitude indicated “he would do it again.”

Source: The Baltimore Sun

8. Voter impersonation — Texas, 2011

Hazel Woodard, allegedly worried that her husband wouldn’t make it to the polls before they closed on Election Day, sent her teen son to vote in his place. When Woodard’s husband did make it to the polls later that day, the fraud was exposed. Woodard pleaded guilty to impersonation fraud and was sentenced to two years of probation.

Impersonating another voter at the polls on Election Day is what many think of when they think of “voter fraud.” But in-person voter fraud is one of the most rare kinds of election corruption: a 2014 study found only 31 cases since 2000. Often it is an additional charge in cases of full-scale identity theft. Voter ID laws purport to limit these crimes specifically, but in Woodard’s case, her son and husband shared the same name, which likely made the deception easier to pass off.

Sources: The Star Telegram, Election Law Blog

9. Dead voter — North Carolina, 2012

After her husband died in 2012, Verna Roehm submitted an absentee ballot in his name in order to, she said, honor his final request to vote for Mitt Romney for president. Election officials discovered the illegitimate vote and Roehm pleaded guilty. She was convicted of a misdemeanor and was not sentenced to any jail time.

As in other forms of voter fraud, the crime is easier when it’s kept in the family. This is made possible when dead voters are not swiftly purged from registration rolls, an issue often raised by critics worried about the threat of other Verna Roehms but one which election officials say is still very rare.

Source: WSOCTV

10. Vote tampering — Oregon, 2012

Temporary worker Deanna Swenson was counting votes with other elections staff when she allegedly tampered with two ballots, filling in blank spaces to cast additional votes.

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and more than $13,000 in fines. Swenson, who had previously worked nearly 10 other elections, said the fraud was “totally out of the ordinary” for her.

The case renewed criticisms that Oregon’s vote-by-mail system, which made voting easier for many citizens, was not secure. Election officials insisted this was an isolated “violation of the public trust.”

Successfully tampering with ballots after they’ve been signed and sealed is not easy given the level of surveillance at elections offices. Ballot-counters work in groups and are often videotaped. Poll workers in other states have been found guilty of election fraud a few times in recent years — almost always for negligence, not malfeasance.

Source: Oregon Live

11. Ineligible voter, felon — Florida, 2015

Annique Lesage Newton was convicted in 2009 of embezzling more than $400,000 from her employer. She was sentenced to nearly two years in prison and more than two more years of probation.

But Newton apparently couldn’t stay away: She later pleaded no contest to charges that she defrauded her new employer and registered to vote despite her earlier felony conviction. For her new crimes, Newton received an eight-year prison sentence.

Newton’s own alleged crime of choice may be fraud, but approximately 6 million other convicted felons across the U.S. — or about 2.5% of the voting population — are ineligible to vote after having been convicted of a variety of felonies.

Source: Bradenton

These cases are real but rare.

These aren’t the kinds of numbers necessary to affect election results outside of very small races, but any breach of election integrity can be enough to inspire legislative action.

In 2008, the Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s controversial law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

Judge Posner, who himself wrote an opinion upholding the Indiana law in 2007, has since had a dramatic change of opinion, writing that claims of widespread election tampering as a justification for voter ID restrictions are...

Requiring voters to show ID on Election Day would not have stopped:

or the vast majority of other people convicted of voter fraud since 2000.

via James Breakwell/X

All parents have had similar convos with thier kiddos.

Raising kids is tough, but there's a lot of laughs along the way. Especially when actual conversations start, as kids begin trying to make sense out of the world around them, ask questions, and test mommy and daddy's resolve.

Back in 2018, comedy writer and children's book author James Breakwell, with four daughters who were all under the age of eight at the time, shared their hilarious conversations on X. From these tweets, it looks like comedy runs in the family. Here's a sampling of some Breakwell's funniest kid-inspired tweets.

 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

While Breakwell's 7-year-old wasn't as heavily featured, when she was quoted, the sarcasm was palpable. Which makes sense, considering that kiddos begin understanding this mechanism around that age.

 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

Kids really do say the darnedest things, and we love them for it. It one of the many, many ways then bring so much joy to the world. It almost makes up for the headaches and sleepless nights, doesn't it.

This article originally appeared seven years ago.

Community

30 cheap and delicious meals frugal people swear they never get sick of

"I could eat one every day of my life if I allowed it to happen."

Image via Canva

Frugal people share cheap meals they love.

Groceries are a major expense these days. And grocery prices are continuing to go up in 2025, according to the USDA. Still, making meals at home versus going out to eat is cheaper, and a big way to save money. But getting creative with low-cost ingredients can be a hang-up.

In an online community of frugal people, member samdaz712 posed the question to fellow savers: "What’s the cheapest meal you actually enjoy eating regularly?"

They continued, "We all have that one budget meal that somehow never gets old. For me, it’s rice, eggs, and frozen mixed veggies with soy sauce and chili flakes. Costs next to nothing, takes 10 minutes, and I actually look forward to it."

The post wrapped up with a call-out for others' favorite and frugal meals. "Curious what everyone else’s go-to cheap meals are not the I’ll suffer through this to save money kind, but the ones you genuinely like and would still eat even if you weren’t budgeting. Always looking for new ideas that don’t break the bank," they added.

Frugal people happily shared their cheap (and yummy) go-to meals. Here are 30 cheap meals that they never get sick of.

"PB&J sandwiches. I could eat one every day of my life if I allowed it to happen. If I'm feeling fancy, I'll make a PB, banana, and honey sandwich. Then I'll pan toast with a generous amount of butter on each side until the bread is golden brown and the PB starts to melt. It's so decadent yet so cheap." - Kom4K

"Fried egg sandwich." - Major9000

"Every week-ish we make pinto beans, smash em up into a refried situation, melt some cheese, spread them on toasted torta bread with avocado. Then use leftovers in your eggs the next day or make burritos for lunch. You can never go wrong with a pot of beans." - BoardNo1459

"A pot of pinto beans with a link of kielbasa sausage and corn bread...Absolute baller." - Bigram03

"'Hobo-potatoes,' diced potatoes, onions, salt and pepper, mixed up in a bag of foil with oil and left to cook in the coals of a camp fire. Goes great with any protein and has more potassium per serving than bananas." - BlaqueNight

"Pasta and butter. Sometimes with grated parmesan." - RuthlessLidia

"Quesadilla." - babe_ruthless3

"Toast." - FrauAmarylis

"Pan fried tofu slabs braised in a pan with chopped kimchi, green onion, kimchi liquid or rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, bit of water to make it saucy, a tsp of sugar seems to help it meld together. Takes 10-12 min. Served over short grain rice. Optional toppings, toasted sesame seeds, chopped cilantro, sliced green onion. Edit: this was from The NY Times food, from Sue Li for exact proportions." - LavaPoppyJax

"Costco’s $1.50 hot dog and drink." - StarWolf478

"Rice and eggs for me too. It can be enjoyed in so many ways! My favorite is a crispy egg that’s still yolky on sushi rice with seaweed, salt and sesame oil." - theyrejusttoys

"For me it's an egg foo young - type dish! Stir raw eggs into leftover cooked vegetables (and optional protein, like leftover chicken or whatever you have). Ladle the mixture into a hot pan with a little oil, and fry up into patties. Serve over rice, and top with a drizzle of some kind of Asian sauce and a little hot pepper. You can look up a recipe for Egg Foo Young sauce, but that's not necessary; it tastes great with almost any kind of Asian sauce, or simply soy sauce. The cooked patties last for days in the refrigerator and can be reheated. Bonus: This is a fantastic way to use up any small bits of leftover veggies or meat. And if I have wilted vegetables that are in danger of spoiling, I just chop them up and quickly sauté them together, and freeze them in small containers. Now I have lots of veggies ready to go to make delicious egg foo young." - TIL_eulenspiegel

"For me, it’s instant noodles with a soft-boiled egg, some greens, and a splash of sesame oil. Dirt cheap but feels like comfort food every time!" - Wajid-H-Wajid

"Baked potatoes. So cheap, so good." - killyergawds

"Over-night oats. Eat it every morning before work." - Non_Binary_Goddess

"Nachos for the win." - HappyBear4Ever

"Rice and lentils cooked together." - RichCoast7186

"Potatoes, baked beans, fried eggs. Potatoes, corned beef, fried eggs. Rice (Mexican, Spanish, or Asian), beans, fried eggs. Cottage cheese, bran, frozen blueberries, milk. Home made salsa or pico de gallo on anything. Ground beef, rice, tomato and whatever else I have around. Rotisserie chicken, use the carcass to make soup with rice. Use the chicken that you can get off with tortillas and verde/enchilada sauce. With rice and beans. My advice, get really good at cooking rice, beans, and potatoes. Make sure you have a good selection of spices. Throw whatever extra money you have at whatever meats you can." - himthatspeaks

"Sweet potato black bean burrito a la moosewood. The most basic version is just a sweet potato and a can of black beans (but much better with an upgrade of caramelized onions and some cumin)." - Upbeat-Poetry7672

"Sardines on toast with a over easy egg." - Gandi1200

"Green bean casserole! Takes 10mins and lasts me all week for dinner and lunch." - Kihakiru

"Pan fried Spam, sunny side up egg, over rice. Furikake seasoning to taste." - Cajunsalmon

"I don't make meals I don't enjoy eating, but these are easy, quick, healthy and yummy. 1/2 rice , 1/2 red lentils + cubed veggies (frozen or fresh) eventually crushed tomatoes or coconut milk. Baked savory oats : shredded veggies +oats and eventually eggs or cheese or tomato sauce. Dhal sooooooo delicious. Split pea soup." - sohereiamacrazyalien


Pop Culture

'Wicked' author says one line in 'The Wizard of Oz' inspired Elphaba and Glinda's backstory

Gregory Maguire says he "fell down to the ground" laughing when the idea hit him.

Public domain

The two witches in "The Wizard of Oz" clearly had a history together.

Have you ever watched a movie or read a book or listened to a piece of music and wondered, "How did they come up with that idea?" The creative process is so enigmatic even artists themselves don't always know where their ideas come from, so It's a treat when we get to hear the genesis of a brilliant idea straight from the horse's mouth. If you've watched "Wicked" and wondered where the idea for the friendship between Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) and Glinda (the Good Witch) came from, the author of the book has shared the precise moment it came to him.

The hit movie "Wicked" is based on the 20-year-old hit stage musical, which is based on the novel "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" written by Gregory Maguire. While the musical is a simplified version of the 1995 book, the basic storyline—the origin story of the two witches from "The Wizard of Oz"—lies at the heart of both. In an interview with BBC, Maguire explained how Elphaba and Glinda's friendship popped into his head.

 

Maguire was visiting Beatrix Potter's farm in Cumbria, England, and thinking about "The Wizard of Oz," which he had loved as a child and thought could be an interesting basis for a story about evil.

"I thought 'alright, what do we know about 'The Wizard of Oz' from our memories,'" he said. "We have the house falling on the witch. What do we know about that witch? All we know about that witch is that she has feet. So I began to think about Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West…

 glinda, elphaba, wicked,  In "Wicked," the two Oz witches met as students at Shiz University.  Giphy GIF by Wicked 

"There is one scene in the 1939 film where Billie Burke [Glinda the Good Witch] comes down looking all pink and fluffy, and Margaret Hamilton [the Wicked Witch of the West] is all crawed and crabbed and she says something like, 'I might have known you'd be behind this, Glinda!' This was my memory, and I thought, now why is she using Glinda's first name? They have known each other. Maybe they've known each other for a long time. Maybe they went to college together. And I fell down onto the ground in the Lake District laughing at the thought that they had gone to college together."

In "Wicked," Glinda and the Wicked Witch, Elphaba, meet as students at Shiz University, a school of wizardry. They get placed as roommates, loathe each other at first, but eventually become best friends. The story grows a lot more complicated from there (and the novel goes darker than the stage play), but it's the character development of the two witches and their relationship with one another that force us to examine our ideas about good and evil.

  - YouTube  youtu.be  

 

Maguire also shared with the Denver Center for Performing Arts what had inspired him to use the "Wizard of Oz" characters in the first place.

"I was living in London in the early 1990’s during the start of the Gulf War. I was interested to see how my own blood temperature chilled at reading a headline in the usually cautious British newspaper, the Times of London: 'Sadaam Hussein: The New Hitler?' I caught myself ready to have a fully formed political opinion about the Gulf War and the necessity of action against Sadaam Hussein on the basis of how that headline made me feel. The use of the word Hitler – what a word! What it evokes! When a few months later several young schoolboys kidnapped and killed a toddler, the British press paid much attention to the nature of the crime. I became interested in the nature of evil, and whether one really could be born bad. I considered briefly writing a novel about Hitler but discarded the notion due to my general discomfort with the reality of those times. But when I realized that nobody had ever written about the second most evil character in our collective American subconscious, the Wicked Witch of the West, I thought I had experienced a small moment of inspiration. Everybody in America knows who the Wicked Witch of the West is, but nobody really knows anything about her. There is more to her than meets the eye."

 wizard of oz, wicked witch of the west The Wicked Witch of the West has a story of her own.  Giphy  

Authors and artists—and their ideas—help hold a mirror up to humanity for us to see and reflect on who we are, and "Wicked" is one of those stories that makes us take a hard look at what we're seeing in that mirror. Thanks, Gregory Maguire, for launching us on a collective journey that not only entertains but has the potential to change how we see one another.

This story originally appeared last year.

Walt Disney and Ray Bradbury.

The world’s greatest innovators think and behave differently from us mere mortals. They have a unique view of the world and are dedicated to their craft in ways that most would deem obsessive. But without that type of dedication, Steve Jobs could never have given us the Macintosh, Michael Jordan would never have been able to fly, and Michelangelo would have never painted the Sistine Chapel.

It’s hard for the average person to understand what makes a cultural innovator tick, which is why an interview with groundbreaking author Ray Bradbury on Walt Disney is so inspiring. It lifts the veil on what great artists see in one another that most of us can’t. Bradbury is the acclaimed author of classics such as Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, who was a friend of Disney and worked with his legendary company as a creative consultant.

What did Ray Bradbury think of Walt Disney?

In a 2004 interview, Bradbury explained where the incredibly ambitious and creative Disney got his drive and determination.


“If there’s any secret at all, it’s because Walt, like myself, is not an optimist but an optimal behaviorist. Which means that every day of your life, if you behave well, you begin to feel well,” Bradbury said. “So that’s not false, that’s real. You get your work done every day, and at the end of a week, a month, a year, you’ll turn around and say, hey, look what I did. So you feel good. That’s real optimism. Optimal behavior.”

“He could look back at the end of each year and see his behavior, and it made him want to go on. A lot of people are pessimists because they’ve never done anything,” Bradbury continued. “If you go to bed every night having not done anything, you’re going to wake up unhappy, aren’t you? So the answer to that is do something every day. Be busy, for God’s sake, be busy.”

 walt disney, disney world, mickey mouse, disney company, disney theme parks, A statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse.via Paul Beattie/Flickr

What is a behavioral optimist?

Although “behavioral optimist” isn’t an official psychological term, it’s one that Bradbury often used to describe himself. “I’ve learned that by doing things, things get done. I’m not an optimist; I’m an optimal behaviorist. We ensure the future by doing it,” he said. “Optimists and pessimists are blind. But I’m not either. I’m an optimal behaviorist. In other words, I behave at the top of my lungs every day. There’s no guarantee, but you’re going to have a heck of a lot of fun. You’ll come to the end of your life with the secure knowledge that you tried everything.”

There are just two critical things in life, he said, “Being in love with your wife or husband and being in love with your work. And then everything’s fine.”

If you’ve always dreamed of living a life like Walt Disney, using your imagination to entertain and uplift humanity, you can start by looking at life in the same way. Big goals can often seem too lofty when we think about the finished product. Instead, take small, consistent steps every day towards achieving your goal. Writing a 300-page book may seem like too much work, but if you write a page a day, you’ll have a book before the end of the year. The key is to stay focused and consistent, just like Uncle Walt.

What an amazingly kind gesture.

Closed adoptions—meaning adoptions with no contact between the biological parents and adoptive families—offer privacy, protection and emotional closure. However, it can understandably still be incredibly difficult for biological mothers to instantly and drastically remove their biological child from their life, even if they know they are doing what's best.

This was the case for Alicia Mae Holloway’s biological mom. In a video shared to her TikTok account, the dancer and television personality shared that her adoptive mother, Evelyn, “saw how hard it was” for her birth mom to give Holloway up for adoption. So Evelyn came up with a kind gesture that Holloway dubbed “the sweetest thing.”

“She was like, ‘okay, I’ll make you a deal. Every six months, I’ll send you a picture of Alicia and a little update in a written card of how she’s doing.’”

Getting those biannual letters out wasn’t as simple as dropping them off in the mail either.

As Holloway explained, she had been conceived during an affair her birth mother—a white woman, married to a white man, with three white children—had with a Black man. Not only could Holloway’s birth mom not afford a fourth kid, she feared what her “racist” family might do upon seeing a biracial baby, and told everyone that it was a stillborn.

All this to say, Holloway’s birth mom didn’t want the letters arriving at her home, potentially risking anyone from her family seeing it. Evelyn would therefore need to send the letters to a friend’s house.

But sure enough, Evelyn kept good on that promise. For 17 years, Holloways' birth mom got to celebrate milestones in her daughter’s life. Meanwhile, Holloway had no idea this exchange was happening.

“I get chills when I think about how she was watching me grow up and I had no idea,” Holloway told Today. “She knew I was a dancer and that I was doing beauty pageants and that I was a good kid.”

Holloway added that just before her 18th birthday, she was made aware of her adoptive mom’s kind gesture. And they even went to meet Holloway’s birth mom, an event Holloway that noted was in many ways more emotional for her two moms than it was for her, recalling that both women “had a long, long, long embrace and were both bawling their eyes out.”

As for Holloway, she told Today that she feels no ill will towards her biological mom. Rather, she sees the decision as “an act of love," that set her up for a truly “amazing life.” At the end of their meeting, after the important questions pertaining to family health history and whatnot, all she had to say was “thank you.”

And from the looks of it, she is as happy as ever living life with her adopted parents, who honestly could pass for her biological parents any day.

It's interesting to think about how none of us know our full life story, how many things both bigs and small remain mysteries. But when we are lucky enough to discover hidden truths, we unlock yet another part of ourselves.

This article originally appeared last year.