US Election Rigged, Not Transparent: American Analyst
TEHRAN (Basirat) - A Washington-based former Senate foreign policy analyst called into question the US’s commitment to a transparent election, noting that the November poll is overshadowed by fraud.
"…as John Gibbs recently documented in The Federalist: ‘According to a Pew Charitable Trust report from February 2012, one in eight voter registrations are "significantly inaccurate or no longer valid.” Since there are 146 million Americans registered to vote, this means that there are 18 million invalid voter registrations on the books that is stunning. Further, "More than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters, and approximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state.” Numbers of this scale obviously provide ripe opportunity for fraud.”’ Gibbs gives examples of significant fraud in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Texas. Add to that the fact that Federal courts have forbidden states to insist on a proof of citizenship while registering to vote. Given that voter registration is offered with documents such as getting a driver’s license (just check the box) we can be sure that lots of aliens, both legal and illegal, are being registered to vote and little of nothing is being done to police it,” James Jatras told Basirat news and analysis website.
James George Jatras is Deputy Director of the American Institute in Ukraine, a privately-funded American NGO. Based in Washington, DC, he is a former US diplomat and adviser to the US Senate Republican leadership.
Following is the full text of Basirat’s interview with Jatras:
Q: In one of your latest articles on the upcoming US presidential elections you said, "Looking into the future in light of 2016 anti-Establishment challenges from Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, the shortcomings of Barack Obama’s policies in Libya, Syria, and Ukraine on top of those of George W. Bush in Iraq and Afghanistan, shrinkage of the American Middle Class, and increasing public skepticism of the "MSM” in favor of digital "alternative media,” both the Washington-based oligarchy and its media component show signs of losing their grip. The possibility exists for a peaceful evolution to a less warlike posture (impacting media as well) that would refocus on America’s domestic needs. Alternatively, the existing order could risk a major war in a desperate bid to save its wealth, power, and privileges – with unforeseeable consequences for America and the world.” Kindly explain more on this.
A: As I explained in my article named "How American Media Serves as a Transmission Belt for Wars of Choice,” while there are many differences in their proposed remedies, Sanders candidacy for the Democratic Partyand Trump candidacy for the GOP have tapped into a rising tide of resentment against the bipartisan establishment. Voters’ fury is directed against both Republicans and Democrats alike in light of a shrinking Middle Class, flat or falling income levels (reflecting in large part loss of high-paying manufacturing jobs), crippling debt levels ("nearly half of Americans would have trouble finding $400 to pay for an emergency”), a rising mortality rate (notably among the white working class, dubbed "the White Death” from suicide, substance abuse (with about five percent of the world's population, the U.S. consumes 80 percent of the world's opioid prescriptions), and a diet of processed foods and GMOs, in a pattern reminiscent of collapsing life expectancy of Russian males as the USSR imploded), and a record low labor participation rate. There is a widespread worry that the future will be even worse, with prospects of a new financial crisis that would dwarf the mortgage-based securities collapse in 2008. Despite an ostensible "recovery” – mostly in the form of record profits on Wall Street generated by the Fed’s throwing free money at the investor class, while the real economy remains flat-line – public unease is palpable, along with the most Americans’ expectation of a lower standard of living for their children and grandchildren.
Q: Back in September 28, US President Barack Obama advised American voters to refrain from voting for any of the third-party candidates who are running for the White House. "If you don’t vote that’s a vote for Trump. If you vote for a third-party candidate who has got no chance to win, that’s a vote for Trump,” Obama said. Why is that so? Why do not independent candidates usually emerge victorious at US presidential elections?
A: Because the two parties have rigged the system between themselves. The Republican-Democrat "duopoly” has effectively divided the U.S. political "marketplace” ever since 1860 when the Republican Party first won the presidency under Abraham Lincoln. For over a century various "third parties” – such as Libertarian, Green, Socialist, Constitution, American Independent, Reform, etc. – have sought to replicate the Republicans’ displacement of the Whigs. But our legal and electoral systems have placed severe roadblocks on the way of potential third parties; in many of US states, the "two major parties” automatically qualify for a place on the ballot, while other parties and independents often must undergo an expensive and cumbersome petition process. They have no chance of taking power, even at the local level, and serve primarily as vehicles for "protesting” votes, the equivalent of voting "none of the above.” The combination of corporate interests with fixing of political marketplace by the GOP and the Democrats, leaves little opportunity for positive development. Also, because we don’t have a parliamentary form of government, there’s little opportunity for a party like UKIP, Front Nacional, AfD, Podemos, SYRIZA, etc., to break through on the Right or the Left.
Q: US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the 2016 election is rigged, saying a "large-scale voter fraud” is taking place. What is your take on this? Is the US election really rigged?
A: Yes. As John Gibbs recently documented in The Federalist: ‘According to a Pew Charitable Trust report from February 2012, one in eight voter registrations are "significantly inaccurate or no longer valid.” Since there are 146 million Americans registered to vote, this means that there are 18 million invalid voter registrations on the books that is stunning. Further, "More than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters, and approximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state.” Numbers of this scale obviously provide ripe opportunity for fraud.”’ Gibbs gives examples of significant fraud in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Texas. Add to that the fact that Federal courts have forbidden states to insist on a proof of citizenship while registering to vote. Given that voter registration is offered with documents such as getting a driver’s license (just check the box) we can be sure that lots of aliens, both legal and illegal, are being registered to vote and little of nothing is being done to police it.
Q: Is there any clear mechanism to monitor the election process and verify the official results? Kindly provide us with an example of election fraud in the US as well.
A: No. Any attempts to demand enforcement of ballot eligibility are met by accusations of "racism”, and it is claimed that there is only one "handful” of documented cases of fraud. That is misleading. As Gibbs points out, the few numbers of proven cases suggest that "a lack of enforcement is failing to reveal the bulk of the violations that occur. Thus, as with many types of crimes, especially victimless crimes, the real number of cases is likely significantly higher than the number reported.”
The classic example is the 1960 election in which John F.Kennedy beat Richard Nixon and became president. It is generally accepted that significant vote fraud took place in Illinois (Chicago) and Texas, though it is still argued whether that was enough to tip those states into Kennedy’s column (without which he would have lost) or if he would have won anyway. Currently, as Gibbs points out, even without consistent and energetic enforcement, "as the election approaches, more and more cases of voter fraud are beginning to emerge. In Colorado, multiple instances of dead people were found attempting to vote. Stunningly, "a woman named Sara Sosa who had died in 2009 cast ballots in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.” In Virginia, it was found that nearly 20 voter applications were turned in under the names of dead people.” These small numbers could be the tip of an iceberg. The fact that the totally pro-Hillary mainstream media ridicule Trump’s claims of fraud, is an evidence of collusion.
