News21, “a cornerstone of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education” funded by The Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation recently released an investigative project on changes in election laws and voting rights:

Exhaustive Search Finds Little Voter Fraud

Despite the push for strict voter ID laws in a charged partisan and racial debate, the most exhaustive study ever of American election fraud reveals the rate is infinitesmal. Since 2000, a time when 146 million Americans were registered to vote, News21 found 10 cases of in-person voter fraud, which only photo ID laws would prevent. That would be about one case for every 15 million eligible voters.

Remember these exchanges involving Shane Schoeller (r), Jason Kander (D) (both now their respective party’s candidate for Secretary of State) and Show Me Progress?:

Rep. Jason Kander (D) in Higginsville (January 10, 2012)

….I’ve served on the Missouri Veterans Commission. I’ve been to a lot of veterans homes where you go in and you’ll talk to a veteran and you’ll find out that this is a person who was in Normandy. But, they haven’t driven in a long time, they don’t have a license. I think that if you were at, on the beach at Normandy you’ve earned the right to vote.  I don’t think we should put the [inaudible] that right….

Rep. Shane Schoeller (r): reading comprehension isn’t a strong point (January 12, 2012)

“….It is imperative that we protect your vote and work to halt voter fraud. By requiring that a photo identification be presented helps us promote the integrity of our election process…..”

Welcome to Rep. Shane Schoeller’s (r) world… (March 7, 2012)

…where veterans can’t vote.

[….]

“…I think that if you were at, on the beach at Normandy you’ve earned the right to vote. …”

Apparently not in Ohio and in other states where republicans want to suppress voter turnout.

[….]

Here it is. The number of voter impersonation fraud cases documented in Missouri since 2000 is exactly zero:

Missouri has 17 cases of alleged election fraud since 2000. By category, Third Party Organizations had the highest percentage of accused at 88 percent (15 cases), followed by Voter at 12 percent (2 cases). The most prevalent fraud was Registration Fraud at 88 percent (15 cases). The status of most cases was Pleaded at 71 percent (12 cases). Responses to requests for public records varied from state to state. Some state and local officials were quick to respond by sending available records; others failed to provide a single document.

Proposing legislation to take care of a nonexistent problem in Missouri? That doesn’t sound very conservative:

Flurry of Photo ID Laws Tied to Conservative Washington Group

By Ethan Magoc | News21

Published Aug. 2, 2012, 10:48 a.m.

A growing number of conservative Republican state legislators worked fervently during the past two years to enact laws requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

Lawmakers proposed 62 photo ID bills in 37 states in the 2011 and 2012 sessions, with multiple bills introduced in some states. Ten states have passed strict photo ID laws since 2008, though several may not be in effect in November because of legal challenges.

A News21 analysis found that more than half of the 62 bills were sponsored by members or conference attendees of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a Washington, D.C.-based, tax-exempt organization….

The goal for the right wingnuts, absent any other rational basis for this legislation, is to suppress the vote of their opposition’s traditional constituencies.

Shane Schoeller (r) is a partisan hack who evidently thinks almost everyone else in the State of Missouri is stupid. He doesn’t deserve to hold public office.