Some conservatives are proudly showing off what they claim is a real live case of voter fraud today. Election Journal and Red State are both trumpeting this 30-second video of a young voter in New Jersey telling the tale of his stolen vote.
Election Journal, which last year released a widely-played video of the New Black Panthers supposedly scaring voters from the polls, posted the video this afternoon under the title “Concerns over absentee ballots realized.”
In it, the voter says he gave his name to election officials, only to find that he had already voted.
“I walk in there, tell them my name and it says that I have a mail thing, someone sent it in the mail. But I never sent mine in the mail, so I had to file a provisional in order to be able vote,” says the voter, who identifies himself as Mark Allen of Galloway, N.J.
The video has also been touted by Red State as, if not proof, then vindication of their claims that the Democrats rigged the New Jersey race via lax absentee-voting laws.
There are a few possible explanations for Allen’s trouble, assuming he was telling the truth. One, he was a victim of fraud.
Two, there was a simple clerical error. The second explanation is more plausible when you consider that Mark Allen is a rather common name. It’s easy to imagine an official receiving the absentee ballot of another Mark Allen and checking off the wrong one.
Late update: TPMDC’s intrepid Eric Kleefeld called the Atlantic County clerk’s office and found out that yes, there are two Mark Allens in Galloway. They are a Mark Allen Sr. and a Mark Allen Jr., who are registered at the same address.
“We have the younger one as having sent in an absentee ballot, not the older one, so it’s possible that’s a clerical error,” said John Piatt, a management specialist for the office. “And that’s why there are provisional ballots, just in case something like this happens.”