Iowans can vote early in this year’s general election, but they cannot vote often. Unless they want to spend some time in jail and perhaps lose the right to vote entirely. Terri Lynn Rote of Des Moines was arrested last week on suspicion of casting two ballots for the upcoming election: one at the Polk County Election Office and one at a satellite voting location. The 55-year-old woman was booked Thursday on a first-degree charge of election misconduct and released Friday after posting bond. Iowa Code Chapter 39A rightly contains unforgiving language about offenses with the potential to affect the election process, including voting or attempting to vote more than once in the same election. Such wrongdoing should “be vigorously prosecuted and strong punishment meted out through the imposition of felony sanctions which, as a consequence, remove the voting rights of the offender.” Iowans will be watching to see if Rote, a registered Republican who supports Donald Trump for president, is vigorously prosecuted. Because she certainly should be. Rote is not an elderly person with dementia who forgot she had already voted. It appears she knew exactly what she was doing. She told Iowa Public Radio she feared her first ballot for Trump would be changed to a vote for Hillary Clinton. So she went and cast another one. “The polls are rigged,” she said.
The polls are rigged? Where in the world would she get an idea like that? From her favored presidential candidate, of course.
Donald Trump has repeatedly used to term “rigged” in reference to this election, even going so far as to say he would not accept the final results unless he wins. His website includes a form to sign up as a poll watcher on Election Day to help stop “Crooked Hillary from rigging this election.”
The irresponsibility of calling into question the integrity of this country’s voting process prompted Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, also a Republican, to dispute the claim. “I take the integrity of our elections very seriously,” he said. “I can assure you Iowa’s elections are not rigged.” A slew of research has found voter fraud to be close to non-existent.
Full Article: Editorial: Trump rhetoric fosters Iowa voter fraud.