Plenty of evidence of voting fraud cases

A recent letter writer made an incorrect assertion that voting fraud is "a problem that does not exist," in her letter, "Mean-spirited letter took just a cheap shot ," (June 15). I can only conclude that the writer simply never looked, because any reasonable search will find multiple examples.

Start out with a very recent one - Sundland Park, New Mexico, reported May 17, 2012 - multiple arrests, including the town mayor, on voting fraud charges (also extortion, corruption, etc).

Want something more local? How about Troy, N.Y., on Dec. 21, 2011? Four men - all town officials or Democratic Party operatives - were convicted of voting fraud charges. One of the convicts, in his guilty plea, stated that absentee ballot fraud was "commonplace."

Probably the best reply to the writer's false assertion comes from Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote that "flagrant examples of voter fraud ... have been documented throughout this Nation's history" (majority opinion, Crawford vs Marion County, 2008).

Rhode Island just passed a Voter ID bill in 2011, primarily as a check to voting fraud. The state has a Democratic controlled state legislature, but the bill passed easily. It was hard to find a legislator who didn't believe voting fraud was a problem.

Fredrick Graf