Bogus registrations

An old saying about computers being only as good as their programming — “garbage in, garbage out” — has relevancy for electoral integrity, as seen eight years ago in Pittsburgh and now in the state of Indiana.

Twelve employees of the Indiana Voter Registration Project, a group focused on black voters and overseen by Patriot Majority USA — which has links to the Democratic Party and denies wrongdoing — face charges for submitting an unknown number of fake or fraudulent voter-registration applications for last November’s election, according to The Associated Press. Thankfully, state police in Indiana found no evidence of actual voter fraud.

But that “garbage in” could have led to “garbage out” — if not for one county clerk, who flagged about a dozen suspicious applications, prompting an investigation that spread to 56 counties. Some of those charged told investigators that fear of losing their temporary canvassing jobs if they didn’t meet a registration quota of 10 new voters daily led them to submit bogus applications. It’s reminiscent of a 2009 case in Allegheny County, where seven canvassers for the nowdefunct, notoriously corrupt, Democratfriendly group ACORN were charged with submitting similarly suspicious voter-registration applications for 2008’s general election. That should give elections officials a clue or two about what and whom to watch out for, lest the “garbage in” of bogus voter registrations results in the “garbage out” of fraudulently cast ballots.