One vote can determine an election, Republicans intent on fighting voter fraud say consistently. That thought drives a investigation ordered by Secretary of State Matt Schultz and carried out by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation to find fraudulent voting in Iowa. “We have evidence that people have gone to the polls and voted when they weren’t supposed to,” Schultz said. “There are several Senate seats that were decided by 20 votes or less.” The actual number from the 2012 and 2010 elections is two, an IowaWatch review of the state’s voting results shows.
In 2012, Senate District 28 was decided by just 17 votes, with Republican Michael Breitbach edging out Democrat John Beard. In 2010, the race between Republican Mark Chelgren and Democrat Keith Kreiman in State Senate District 47 swung Chelgren’s way by only 10 votes. Republican Renee Schulte also beat Democrat Art Staed by 13 votes the former House 37 election in 2008, bringing to three the number of Iowa legislative seats won by fewer than 20 votes since 2000, the IowaWatch review shows.
Yet, that is enough to spring Schultz and other Republican leaders to action in pursuit of fraudulent voters and Democrats in the Statehouse to accuse Schultz and his party colleagues of conducting a witch hunt – an expensive one at that.
Full Article: Iowa’s voter fraud probe becomes a numbers game.