Illegals Are Voting—PolitiFact Confirms It
Thursday, August 04, 2011
"I personally witnessed an individual who voted but is not an American citizen." – Providence resident Laura Perez
Thank God for PolitiFact. With their second attempt to smudge my credibility they have accidentally helped to reinforce the recently passed Voter ID law by publicizing the details of testimony given by a brave and forthright Providence resident, who witnessed an illegal alien casting votes in 2006.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTTo put it mildly, standing up to the illegal community in Providence is not a safe, politically correct move. Unlike progressive Democrats, however, Laura Perez obviously considers the difference between Right and Wrong to be sacred. She has even declared that she would reveal the identity of the individual if “the state police contacted her.”
My personal recollection of the 2006 testimony in question was that two Providence residents testified before the Board of Elections, saying that they witnessed illegal aliens casting ballots, which prompted me to write this: “The RI Board of Elections has heard official testimony from Providence residents who claim to have witnessed known illegal aliens voting in local elections.”
That’s the line that caused PolitiFact to become “intrigued,” and ultimately rate the statement as “Mostly False.” Becoming “intrigued” is PolitiFact’s way of gleefully informing everyone that they discovered another opportunity to paint another conservative commentator as a liar.
PolitiFact is Agenda-Driven
Of course, whenever PolitiFact’s suspicion of inaccuracy (no matter how trivial) is confirmed, the inquiry is publicized. If not, they retain the editorial discretion to withhold the story. During my first encounter with PolitiFact, the editors required my sources and therefore sent me several probing emails. After responding I asked, “When do you plan on running this?” A PolitiFact editor replied, “I’m not sure when – or if – we’re going to do anything with this statement.”
The second time, already in possession of my source, PolitiFact didn’t contact me until they had made calls to the Board of Elections to verify my claim. Once they were told that only one individual confirmed my comment, a PolitiFact editor contacted me to make sure I knew of no other cases. Now, if the Board of Elections had told PolitiFact that, yes, two people testified to seeing illegal aliens cast votes, would PolitiFact have then sent me an email in order to congratulate me for a job well done? Congratulations, Mr. Rowley! You’ll be receiving an “Absolutely Truth-O-Liciously True” from our Truth-O-Meter next week!
Or would I never have even been aware that PolitiFact was conducting the inquiry? Personally, I’m beginning to think that PolitiFact investigates my claims every week. It’s just that nobody ever hears about it because 99.99 percent of everything I say is perfectly accurate.
In the end, PolitiFact’s inquiry found that, although both Laura Perez and Eulogio Acevedo had testified to “see[ing] evidence of voter fraud,” only Perez made “reference to fraud by illegal immigrants,” among several other “allegations of irregularities.”
No doubt about it, my line should have read, “The RI Board of Elections has heard official testimony from a Providence resident who claims to have witnessed a known illegal alien voting in local elections.” It seems that just one person testified to seeing an illegal alien vote. Not two.
Oh, Bravo. Long Live PolitiFact!
Illegal Aliens
I actually tried to stay particularly distant from this specific issue. While there is plenty of legitimacy to the concern over illegals voting, it doesn’t provide the primary justification for a Voter ID law, nor is it where most of the evidence of voter fraud lies. In two articles regarding this controversy, I made it overwhelmingly clear that the top reasoning behind a Voter ID law lies with the fact that professional radicals are fully engaged in Democratic machine politics – people who have proven over and over again that they are willing to skirt moral and legal standards in order to advance political agendas. In addition, a slew of allegations and complaints of voter fraud provide more than enough suspicion to initiate stronger regulatory measures at our polling locations. I used the term “illegal aliens” only once within two columns.
But the mere mention of illegal aliens sends progressives into fits of frustration and impatience. It went so far up the nose of one PolitiFact editor that he dropped all guise of objectivity and informed his readers that I had “played the illegal alien card.”
Well, yes. But the “illegal alien card” isn’t equal to the Left’s “race card.” When conservatives talk about the “race card,” it’s a reference to the fact that liberals have demonstrated a reckless tendency to inject race into debates for the purpose of creating politically correct distractions – to advance their policies simply by keeping the other side quiet. In this case, however, an eyewitness to a voting illegal alien was already part of an existing body of evidence. I suppose PolitiFact also deems it unfair whenever someone is actually dealt the Ace of Spades and – gasp! – decides to play it.
Of course, this is the type of biased and shoddy analysis that PolitiFact has come to be known for.
Thank You, PolitiFact
But, hey, it’s all a blessing. PolitiFact has actually helped disseminate a piece of information that “intrigued” even their editors, and that the public was most certainly unaware of: Illegal aliens vote in our elections – something the Left has fervently denied throughout the entire Voter ID debate.
Progressives will certainly dismiss Ms. Perez’s testimony as an isolated incident – not enough to prove mass voter fraud being committed by the illegal community! Perhaps. But disclosing Perez’s testimony only helped to heighten the suspicion. As I have previously written, “Reason tells us that if one person is entering a polling location illegally, then he must be part of a larger force of fraud. After all, the mission is to tip an election. And just one counterfeit vote is sure to accomplish nothing.”
If one illegal alien has been seen voting, then it is logical to assume others are as well. Therefore, Rhode Island needs a Voter ID law.
Well, I’m certainly glad I raised the issue!
Now, the only question remaining is this: Who stole Rep. Anastasia Williams’ vote in 2006? An illegal alien? Or a Democrat?
If you valued this article, please LIKE GoLocalProv.com on Facebook by clicking HERE.
Travis Rowley (TravisRowley.com) is chairman of the RI Young Republicans, and a consultant for the Barry Hinckley Campaign for US Senate.
