Ben Smith identifies perhaps the most idiotic conservative complaint about voter fraud that I've ever seen. In hushed tones, framed by a shaky camera, the woman in the above video describes someone who was told they were not on the rolls being allowed to cast a ballot.
The incident of "fraud" being described above and circulated, according to Smith, by the "libertarian" group Americans for Limited Government actually just describes someone casting a provisional ballot. Allowing someone who is not on the rolls but believes themselves to be eligible to vote to cast a provisional ballot is required by law under the Help America Vote Act. I'm not aware of the specific procedure in Massachusetts, but generally provisional ballots are scrutinized far more carefully than regular ballots precisely because they're suspect, and often have to be certified by some kind of bipartisan board. For all the above reasons, they're more likely than regular ballots to be disqualified.
This is what is so madderning about conservative claims about voter fraud--so many vocal conservatives on this issue seem to have little grasp of actual voting law and procedures, they're unable to distinguish fantasies about voter fraud from the act of someone actually, you know, voting. It's just a knee-jerk reflex meant to preemptively cast the other side's victories as illegitimate.
-- A. Serwer
