A full week after the 2012 presidential election, we’ve seen the White House’s “We the People” site flooded with petitions to secede and persistent claims of Democrat voter fraud. While Twitchy has covered hotly contested vote tallies in Florida, Philadelphia, Pa., and Cleveland, Ohio, Fox News’s Brit Hume has been investigating as well, but he’s not convinced that the stories of fraud are true — or, at the very least, were of a scale that could have tipped the election.
Voter fraud? Every example I've looked at has collapsed upon examination. Even if all checked out, unlikely to have changed outcome.
— Brit Hume (@brithume) November 13, 2012
Even this tough piece says "whether vote fraud has the power to affect electoral outcomes is a separate question."http://t.co/K7uyEME8
— Brit Hume (@brithume) November 15, 2012
Even if they weren’t enough to reverse a second Obama term, incidents of fraud are worth looking into; James O’Keefe’s undercover videos of OFA offices led to at least one firing and a resignation. But what else is going on out there? For his part, Hume has been corresponding with followers for several days.
@brithume Massive voter fraud reports coming out. Will you/Fox investigate?
— barb (@barbie124h) November 11, 2012
@barbie124h Hv checked rpts re: Wood Cty OH & St. Lucie Cty FL. Both bogus. Such claims common after national elex. Wise to be skeptical.
— Brit Hume (@brithume) November 11, 2012
What about John McCain receiving more votes than Mitt Romney did?
Claim that Romney got 3 mil fewer votes than McCain were way premature. Current count has him 545K behind, and the count continues.
— Brit Hume (@brithume) November 14, 2012
@brithume Mr Hume.. You know there is not a chance JM had more votes than MR, Not even close.. Why not at least look into it?
— Kevin Coryell (@kevcoryell) November 15, 2012
@kevcoryell I don't know that, but I would love to know how you know it. Evidence, please, not opinion or speculation.
— Brit Hume (@brithume) November 15, 2012
@jtmckee If Romney 500K behind McCain is pitiful, what does that say about Obama, now 6 million behind his 2012 total?
— Brit Hume (@brithume) November 15, 2012
Hume also points to an article on Philly.com which addresses the amazing shutout of Romney in those 59 voting divisions:
“We have always had these dense urban corridors that are extremely Democratic,” said Jonathan Rodden, a political science professor at Stanford University. “It’s kind of an urban fact, and you are looking at the extreme end of it in Philadelphia.”
(Note to Prof. Rodden: be careful about saying “urban” so much.)
GOP would be smart to heed the advice here. Dems now clearly ahead in turnout technology. http://t.co/3MdzY610
— Brit Hume (@brithume) November 14, 2012
As mentioned in Twitchy’s coverage of the Cleveland vote, turnout was key in that area, and the generally agreed-upon “epic failure” of the Romney campaign’s Orca “get out the vote” software certainly didn’t help matters. Getting out the vote was a large enough chore nationwide, let alone in Democrat strongholds with very few Republicans to motivate. By all means, though, specific, first-hand accounts of irregularities need to be investigated. Kudos to Hume for stepping up to the task.
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