Part 1 – Surveillance Videos Show Alleged Ballot Traffickers Take Photos of Their Ballots in Detroit, MI
Democrats refer to ballot trafficking as a right-wing term. They assert that Republicans conflate the term with ballot collecting. Ballot collection is simply returning ballots for others. Ballot “collection” is allowed in 31 states with some limitations depending on the state. Some states designate that only the voter must return the ballot. Others permit a family member, household member or caregiver to return the ballot. Some states limit the number of ballots an authorized person can return.
So, when does ballot collection turn into the pejorative term known as ballot harvesting? And how does this differ from ballot trafficking?
Ballot Harvesting:
Limitations on ballot collecting are “based on the concern that saving people the task of returning their ballot can bleed into encouraging them to vote a certain way.” This “bleeding” can occur when political operatives, campaign and union workers collect absentee ballots from voters homes. Third parties who have a stake in the outcome of an election is a proven threat to election integrity when they collect absentee ballots in an unsupervised setting. It is a proven recipe for voter intimidation, coercion and fraud. The Heritage Foundation’s database includes instances of proven fraud involving ballot harvesting such as the following:
Former Mayor of Martin, Kentucky, Ruth Robinson who was convicted of voter fraud in 2014 for threatening and intimidating poor, elderly and disabled citizens into casting absentee ballots for herself.
Former Mayor of Eatonville, Florida, Anthony Grant who was convicted of coercing absentee voters to cast ballots for him in 2017.
The infamous North Carolina 9th Congressional District election of 2018 was overturned due to ballot harvesting.
Former Mayor of San Luis, Arizona, Guillermina Fuentes, was indicted in December 2020 for ballot harvesting in which she acknowledged that she persuaded voters to let her gather their ballots and fill them out.
So, innocuous-sounding ballot “collection” turns into “harvesting” when voters are pressured, intimidated, or coerced to vote a certain way. Or, if the return envelope was not sealed, ballot harvesters may vote a ballot that was not completely voted. Or, they may simply throw ballots away which did not have the “correct” vote. Ballot envelopes may have been steamed open and new ballots inserted which is why some envelopes wouldn’t easily reseal and had to be taped.
In 2021, at least 14 states have enacted laws that prohibit ballot harvesting.
But, what about ballot trafficking? How is that different? When you pay someone to collect ballots, it is ballot trafficking and it is not legal in any state.
Ballot Trafficking:
The following ballot trafficking schemes, among others, have been reported:
Project Veritas reported that ballot traffickers were paid $55,000 to collect 5,000 votes for Biden in Texas in the 2020 election
Project Veritas also uncovered a ballot trafficking scheme in Minnesota in 2020. Ballots were exchanged for cash. Cash for votes was “an open secret in Minneapolis. Anywhere from $200, $300 per ballot received!”
In Georgia, a whistleblower admitted to making $45,000 for stuffing ballot boxes.
In Louisiana, two public officials orchestrated vote-buying schemes in 2016 and 2020 elections. They paid traffickers to identify individuals who had not yet voted, take them to the polls and back home, if necessary, and then pay them for their vote. The vote buyers, in turn, would then be paid up to $20 for each vote they had procured.
The question then arises, how might a ballot trafficker prove that they had procured the votes they claim to have obtained?
Michigan Citizens for Election Integrity (MC4EI.com) reviewed thousands of hours of surveillance video obtained by The Gateway Pundit from 19 Detroit drop boxes for the November 2020 election. These videos covered a time span of 24 hrs a day for 37 days.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/09/exclusive-part-1-surveillance-videos-show-alleged-ballot-traffickers-take-photos-ballots-detroit-mi/