A legal scholar and former commissioner on the Federal Election Commission is warning that voter fraud could be a real problem in the 2012 presidential election.
Hans von Spakovsky is senior legal fellow and manager of the Civil Justice Reform Initiative at The Heritage Foundation. He and National Review columnist John Fund have co-authored a newly published book titled Who's Counting? How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk.
Von Spakovsky explains that there have been several cases of fraud that have changed outcomes of elections -- including the 2008 Senate race between Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman.
"A court after eight months declared Al Franken the winner by 312 votes," the spokesman recalls. "We now know that almost 1,100 felons voted illegally in that election. That's three times the margin of victory. Was that an important race? Well, Al Franken provided the 60th vote that got ObamaCare passed."
Von Spakovsky points out that the Obama Justice Department has gone out of its way to challenge the voter ID laws in states like Texas and South Carolina.
"That tells you a lot about this administration -- frankly in a negative light -- and how they seem to be interested in doing everything they can to make sure the president gets reelected rather than carrying out their job of ensuring fair and impartial elections," he concludes.
The legal fellow believes the 2012 election will be close, and he fears the occurrence of another debacle like the Bush-Gore Florida recount of 2000 that required the intervention of courts and lawyers.