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Yesterday John Hinderaker at Power Line posted an article about voter fraud. Mr. Hinderaker lives in Minnesota, so the focus of the article is on voter fraud in Minnesota, but there are some interesting generic points in the article.

A group called Minnesota Majority has done some research on voter fraud in Minnesota. The group reports:

The report finds that 113 individuals who voted illegally in the 2008 election have been convicted of the crime, “ineligible voter knowingly votes” under Minnesota Statute 201.014.

The article at Minnesota Majority also reported:

Minnesota’s recent charges and convictions stem from research initiated by Minnesota Majority. The research identified upwards of 2,800 ineligible felons believed to have unlawfully voted in Minnesota’s 2008 general election.

“These convictions are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Davis. “The actual number of illegal votes cast was in the thousands. Most unlawful voters were never charged with a crime because they simply pled ignorance. We have evidence of these people casting illegal ballots, but in Minnesota, ignorance of election law is considered to be an acceptable defense.”

I don’t think that number of illegal votes mattered in 2008, but if 2012 is a close election, that number of illegal votes in some states could make a difference in the outcome of the election. Those of us over the age of 60 remember that there were some serious questions about the validity of John Kennedy’s victory in the 1960 presidential election. Richard Nixon chose not to litigate the election, although he certainly could have. The difference in the 1960 election was the city of Chicago. Somehow that city provided the right amount of votes for Kennedy to win. Hmmm.