I have heard the cliché “dead men tell no tales.” I have even seen the Steve Martin movie Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid.
Now I am writing a story that could be titled Dead Man Registers to Vote.
The FBI and local police are now investigating how that man, and at least 18 other dead Virginians were recently re-registered to vote in what many are considering a swing state in the 2020 election.
In the elections held last week, Virginia flipped to be a Democratic-controlled state. Come January, the governor’s mansion and both the House and Senate.
One case came to light after relatives of a deceased man received a note congratulating him for registering, Rockingham County Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst said Thursday.
“His family members were very distraught,” said Garst, who confirmed the existence of the FBI and police investigation but said she could provide only a few details because the case is ongoing.
All 19 were initially registered as voters in the Shenandoah Valley city of Harrisonburg, although a clerk double-checking the entries later raised questions about one. She recognized the name of Richard Allen Claybrook Sr., who died in 2014 at age 87, because his son is a well-known local judge. She happened to recall that the judge’s father had died.
“He was a retired Fairfax County elementary school principal and had fought in World War II,” said his son.
He’s retired Harrisonburg General District Court Judge Richard Allen Claybrook Jr.
“So, our family is very disgusted that they would pick his name, because he was such a law-abiding citizen devoted to public service.”
All the necessary forms had been submitted by a private group that was working to register voters on the campus of James Madison University, according to the Harrisonburg registrar’s office. The group was not identified. No charges have been filed.
Republicans in the state House, who in recent years have supported tighter voter ID laws, held a conference call with reporters to bring attention to the investigation.
“Oftentimes we hear our Democratic colleagues suggest that voter fraud doesn’t exist in Virginia, or it’s a myth,” said William J. Howell (R-Stafford).
He’s the outgoing House Speaker.
“This is proof that voter fraud not only exists but is ongoing and is a threat to the integrity of our elections.”
House Minority Leader David J. Toscano (D-Charlottesville) said the case was not proof of voter fraud because no one had actually managed to cast a vote in the names of the dead.
“First of all, there was no voter fraud — they caught him,” Toscano said. “Nobody cast a vote, there’s still no evidence of that going on in the state.”
He says the Republicans are the corrupt party for wanting to require voter ID.
But there is evidence every time you turn around that the Republicans are trying to make it more difficult for citizens to vote in elections.”
First, how requiring an ID to vote makes it more difficult is beyond me. We ask for IDs in Texas, and people still turn out to vote.
Second, with absentee ballots and such, it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that deceased registered could till cast a ballot in the election.
Virginia Republicans struck down Democrat recommendations for a “red flag” law. With the balance of power shifting, Virginia could become the next state to enact some level of gun confiscation without due process, violating citizen’s constitutional rights.
It is vital that our system of elections is protected, its integrity intact, especially with Presidential candidates from the left campaigning on mandatory gun “buy-backs,” or in proper terms, forced surrender of all weapons that Democrats want to see banned.
Guns like the AR-15, the fully semi-automatic rifle that holds 100 clips and weighs as much as 15 moving boxes full of stuff and fires a .50 caliber bullet, are already being targeted by the left.
Should bans and confiscations become law and survive the Supreme Court, the jobs of cops around the country will get exponentially more difficult.
While many law enforcement officials have stated that they will not enforce such laws until the Supreme Court rules them to be constitutional, they would be forced with making the decision of following the demands of lawmakers or quitting their jobs.
Virginia is not the only place to experience this kind of thing.
In 2018, Texas Democrats were aggressively mailing out voter registration applications. Nothing wrong with that in theory, just assisting people in gaining the ability to participate in the democratic process. But like Virginia, many of the recipients were deceased.
One woman, named Ola Allen, was the unfortunate recipient of no less than three of these forms, leaving her in an emotionally distressed state.
Allen received a voter registration application in the mail addressed to her husband, Elroy. He died nearly four years ago. She also received an application for her mother who died three years ago.
Allen initially chalked it up to an honest mistake, but then she received another voter registration application. This one Allen said was inexcusable and hurtful. It was addressed to her daughter Karen.
“I just set it down because I lost it. I really lost it,” Allen said.
Karen is Allen’s youngest daughter. She died when she was 21 years old in 1989.
“My daughter has been gone 20-plus years and this doesn’t do a thing but open up an old wound for me,” Allen said.
Texas Democrat Party Deputy Executive Director Manny Garcia said dead people are receiving voter registration forms because of an honest mistake–the Dem party purchased data sets to reach out to unregistered voters and the data is imperfect.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said there will be an investigation into the Texas Democrat party after they were caught sending illegal aliens voter registration forms.
“This is being investigated,” said Governor Abbott at the time.
He added there will be “serious consequences” if it turns out to be true.
—
