former louisiana governor used to tell a joke. after i die, he quipped bury me in louisiana so i can stay active in politics. a clever line and at times you have to chuckle but some lengths the politicians will go to win an election but when it happens it may be you that may be robbed. your vote may be cancelled out. fox news has investigated voter fraud and how easy is it in this day and age to steal your vote. >> in connecticut. >> i was a little surprised because they said it's not possible. >> but what happened deceased mother voted in 2007. but apparently she did. the town clerk's record clearly shows that she voted more than 7 years after she died. >> it was impossible situation.

>> it's what most americans would think as potential voter fraud. a living person voting in the name of dead. they blamed clerical errors. but other forms of fraud has led to stolen votes and prosecutions. here is what happened to oakland county, michigan. the head of the democratic party and his roommate, tried to get several tea party candidates on the ballot during the local elections. problem was, some candidates had no idea their names were being used. it turns out bower had notarized fake filings for them. >> it was designing from the beginning to be deceptive, to siphon votes from legitimate candidates. >> he received probation plus fines and the other received similar sentence. >> did you steal an election or

try? >> yes. >> they stalled an election by faking absentee ballots. so far four democratic officials and operatives have pled guilty to the scheme. idea to get democratic candidates also on the working family's party line in 2009 primary. more ballot lines that kennedy has to run on more that candidate will get. they did this by submitting fraudulent ballots like this one for voter jessica boomhower. >> did you vote? >> no. >> falsely claimed she was attending a work conference in washington. his vote was stolen, too. >> did you fill out an absentee application? >> no. >> he was home recovering from a medical procedure. >> so your vote was a fraud? >> it was. >> in january, two officials faced the first trial,

democratic election commissioner and form democratic councilman. >> you did nothing wrong? >> absolutely. not a thing. i know as much as you do. >> on march 13th a mistrial was declared but they will be re-tried. two others including a former city council president also faces trial. >> no one tried to steal an election. >> even though the voters didn't vote. they said this stuff was phony. they were not real votes? >> did i nothing wrong. >> one operative that the absentee ballots is a normal political tactic. not just in new york, this 1998 florida department of law enforcement report, they called it the tool of choice for those inclined to commit frauder fraud. they threw out the mayoral election when it was determined

more than 5,000 absentee votes were cast. >> we're going to have a nice orderly hearing. >> an appeals court four months after one other had one. some academic researchers say voter fraud is rare and an issue that is overblown. >> but you may get a different take from those that run for office. >> how easy is it to steal an election? >> if they want to do it's a relative easy thing to do. >> former alabama congressman arthur davis told us while campaigning he would estimate the number of clean votes he would need to overcome the dirty ones cast against him, he says there is a have a light of ways to try to steal an election. >> you can fake absentee ballots. >> you can fake under the names of dead people. >> you dock that and it certainly can happen. >> it sounds like it is easy to do? >> if you have an intent to do

it it's a fairly easy thing to do. >> case in point, brooks county, georgia, a unusually high number of absentee ballots were submitted. after they were counted, two candidates who were losing by a relatively sizable margin had a reversal fortune. they went on to win the general election. about a month later they were arrested and charged with allegedly stuffing the ballot box using absentee ballots. >> ten others were arrested in the alleged scheme. their trial is pending. >> in mississippi, an official was convicted on ten counts of fraudulently casting absentee ballots during the democratic primary. bowers is currently serving a five-year prison term. >> daytona beach, florida, during the 2010 primary, city

commissioner and his campaign manager illegally obtained absentee ballots for 92 people for henry's reelection campaign. they were caught because a large group was sent online using a single e-mail address. his lawyer said he was trying to help african-americans that didn't have internet access to vote. >> instead of using a crime, he shuid be applauded to help these people to vote. >> in january 2011 he agreed to a pretrial intervention program admitting his guilt. he agreed to pay about $23,000 and gave up the four-year term he had won. robinson pled to a similar deal. >> he never needed those extra votes. his 799 votes trounced his two opponents that received only 200. >> probate judge, sheriff, local levels of powers concentrated. >> is that where voter fraud.

>> where it has more of an impact. who your sheriff probably matters than hot governor the state is and many of these people. >> lincoln county, west virginia. >> why did you try to steal the election? >> he was term limited and running for another public office, circuit clerk in the 2010 primary election. he was looking to unseat democrat. >> we were ahead and then they came out. we found some absentee ballots. when the finally tally, we lost. >> he admitted to falsifying ballots and he pled guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. it's not always local offices. election fraud charges touch a race for the highest office in the land. >> did you see sien in petition for barack obama? >> no. >> st. joseph county, indiana. prosecutors charge democratic

operatives faked petitions to put then candidates barack obama and hillary clinton on the 2009 democratic primary ballot for president. >> someone forged this? >> that that's correct. >> so many signatures who were reportedly forged that president obama may have not legally qualified for ballot. butch morgan on ho allegedly ordered scheme have been indicted. including dustin blake who worked in the voter registration and accused of forging the petitions. >> did you make any petitions at all? >> i don't have anything to say. >> all four have plet did gyd. >> the state top election official, charlie white was himself convicted of voter fraud. not for trying to steal the elections but for registering to vote at hising wife's house. coming up allegations of fraud in the wisconsin recall, that

after the break.

>> eric: november 2011, wisconsin democrats, first hurdle to get 540,000 voters saying they want the reelection on walker. as soon as they started collecting signatures.... >> walker supporters begin raising charges of possible fraud. >> i imagine they will get a lot of signatures that are illegal.

>> the specter of fraud was raised by governor walker himself. >> we had one of local affiliates proudly saying they signed 80 different recall petitions. >> so i'm going to get scott walker out of here. he later said he was joking. >> this woman seemed serious. >> i've signed them a couple times. >> so you have suinld more than one petition. >> that is not illegal unless they are intentionally trying to defraud the system but whatever the intent signing multiple petitions can have major consequences. >> eric: if anti-walker forces succeed it would the third recall of a governor in u.s. history. but what if anti-walker forces reach their goal with phony signatures. that would be stealing an election. as a conservative watchdog group

in wisconsin. >> the legitimacy of this election takes place because of a fraudulent recall process. >> they fill hundreds of thousands of signatures, but are they legit. it seems that election officials has never seen something on this scale. it's the stated county government accountability board's job to do it to check. >> we may certainly note fictitious names. if we note them l we will flag them. >> it will be up to walk are and his volunteers to prove which signatures are bogus. >> eric: january 17th. the democrats containing more than 900,000 signatures. twice as many needed to trigger the governor's recall. >> today we are making history.

thank you, we did it. [ applause ] >> eric: the state board was granted 60 days to examine more than 150,000 pages. board director kevin kennedy reiterates they will not be crossing out fraudulent signatures. >> fraud issue that rests with the office hold zblergs in other words, the walker camp. vice chair. >> there is a raise for concern. we have seen an uptick in voter fraud in the last several years. >> they only have 30 days to try to strike 4,000,000 signatures. >> someone signed for someone else in the place that would be fraud. >> they have filled in some of the information. >> we wanted to make sure that wisconsin voters are being disenfranchised by people

signing their names. >> that is a serious concern but can unproven allegations of fraud also undermine the credibility of elections? >> new mexico, 2011, republican secretary of state diane durant launched an investigation of potential by voting by non-citizens. they cross checked voter registration against motor vehicle and other databases. her findings less than shocking. over several election cycles only 19 votes even appeared to be casted by non-citizens. not exactly the culture of corruption she had alleged. she had hard time explaining that to lawmakers. >> do you have evidence of voter fraud? >> the answer is a ditch one to answer. it's hard for maoe78 to say yes or no. >> back in wisconsin, the walker camp is having a hard time uncovering rampant fraud, too. >> any reasonable person looking at this understands there is

going to be recall election. >> eric: and in february, they simply don't have enough time to go through all the petitions. if they don't back off the fraud claims. democrats scoffed saying, quote the real fraud has been scott walker. whatever indicates, republicans and democrats have redirected their energies away from gathering signatures to drumming up votes for the recall election. still, the distrust felt on both sides surely will not bolster confidence in the final outcome. >> eric: when we return, he could not tell a lie, but did george washington vote. election chicanery older than the u.s.a. after the break.

>>. >> eric: true allegations of election fraud is popping up every week but there is nothing new at the polls. it's an american tradition older than the nation itself. george washington the father of our country, the man that could not tell a lie. a politician who bribed voters with booze. washington himself was not above trying to steal an election back in 1758 when he ran for a seat in the virginia house. >> he was too busy being a colonel in the army and not getting out the vote. >> the vice president for competitive politics and historian. >> it's shocking to realize that he went out and treated voters, compensated them with ale and meat for voting. >> eric: no wonder when you look at the receipts. he bought 158 gallons of booze which amounts to a quart and a

half per voter but was what to come, as the nation grew so did the political machines. one that was si no, ma'am miscellaneous with corruption by the mid 1800s. >> they would pay to vote and pay people to count the vote. >> best kno leader was william tweed. who said i don't think there was a fairer or honest election. but corruption and fraud wasn't with a limited. it was found at even the highest levels. for instance, it was perhaps the most hotly contested election ever that came down in the state of florida n.cries of rampant fraud a small panel award had the presidency to a republican. bush versus gore in 2000. no hayes versus tilden in 1876.

>> this was done by all the tools of the trade. throwing out ballots until you had ballots. >> with the contested number of votes in the south, congress set up a commission to decide the election. >> so republican race they stole the election? >> rutherford hayes is forever known as ruther-fried. >> and there was other problems. he ruled in the kansas city in 1920s one of his proteges was harry truman. >> he was a honest man. >> and richard is noted historian. >> he is the clean guy. we want to keep him clean and over there. then they'll be performing their

black art on the side. >> and another had closer ties to stolen election claims. >> lyndon johnson, his first run for the senate was a very tiny margin. the questions has always been, how many votes were stolen. >> johnson rose to senate majority leader and became kennedy's running made. >> another presidential election tainted by questionable voting. it started in the west virginia primary where kennedy was running against hubert humphrey. >> kennedy was younger, more energetic candidate, but kennedy's father, joe kennedy didn't want to count on that. so money was spread around in west virginia. >> kennedy joked that his father vision had him, quote, don't buy a single vote more than is necessary. i'll be damn if i going to pay for landslide.

he defeated richard nixon but some say j.f.k. seemed to be the one with something up his sleeve. >> the word went out, illinois needed to go to kennedy. ballots were manufactured. other ballots disappeared. >> do you think that president kennedy stole the election? >> many people have said yes. >> eric: some republican leaders said that nixon should challenge the result. >> my congratulations to senator kennedy for his fine race in this cane. >> 40 years later, another finished second but he did not go away so quietly. it was 2000, bush versus gore, what looked like a late night victory for bush, ended up with govern re reretracting. voter fraud and intimidation and suppression. multiple legal cases and state

and federal courts and supreme court ruling that effectively ended the election. >> people are still grumbling about that election. and the george w. bush presidency on the wrong foot. in the way it never recovered from that. nobody ever likes to lose but if you feel like you've been cheated that is much worse. >> eric: coming up the acorn that gre your vote.

i'll see you at 6:00 p.m. right here on the fox news channel. >> eric: voter registration fraud. few groups were more associated with that than acorn. it was the stuff of legend in more ways than one. >> again and again. >> in 2008 the association of community organizations for reform now, or acorn made national headlines for allegations of filing countless voter registrations with fraudulent names. >> how many times did you sign

up? >> 73 times. >> 73 times. >> eric: he signed up by acorn. >> i could help other people. >> eric: mickey mouse appeared on application in florida. tony romo on one in nevada. hundreds of thousands of registrations were rejected by election officials across the country. criminal cases were filed in 15 states. some 50 people were arrested in acorn voter registration fraud. in las vegas, acorn itself pled guilty to felony compensation for registration of voters. >> eric: scandals help kill the organization. >> voter registration officials hated acorn. they felt the group was conducting illegal activity with all these fake names. >> too bad they weren't able to prove that. >> eric: he ran the organization

for 38 years starting in 1970 and claims it got a bad rap for voter registration drives. >> you are talking to me about things after i left in 2008. oh we were required to turn in everything. eric you gave me voter registration form and mickey mouse. i know you don't live in orlando but by obligation we were to required to turn that in. >> eric: what do we do about the fake voter registration names thousands of them handed in by acorn? >> they are huge problem if somebody tried to vote. we're pretty sure they didn't. >> politicians complained about voter fraud. have a different agenda to keep eligible voters away from the polls. barack obama voiced that concern during the campaign. >> what i want to make sure of this is not used as an excuse

for the kind of voter suppression strategies and tactics that we've seen in the past. >> when it got to the white house, president obama's justice department turned that concern into a crusade, a crusade against voter i.d. >> next, voter i.d. laws the push for them and push back. later, they are all felons and they all voted illegally. would we have obamacare if they

.... >> eric: the civil war ended slavery. powerful whites still made it hard for black people to vote. civil rights movement helped change that. we're hearing charges of voter suppression and it's leveled at people who favor voter i.d. >> let everybody here applaud for the bill that was signed. >> nikki haley put her signature on a bill in a ceremony laden with history and symbolism. she was first woman and first minority elected governor of south carolina, a state with sad history of keeping blacks from voting and whites in power. new law would require every person in south carolina to show a picture i.d. before entering the voting booth. the law has sparked charges to steal elections in her state.

but haley thinks south carolina's real problem today is that votes of law abinding citizens are being cancelled out by illegally cast ballots. >> this protects elderly and people from absentee ballots. we want to make sure we are saying who they say they are. >> without photo i.d.? >> without voter i.d. i don't want dead people voting in the state of south carolina. >> there is evidence that dead people voting is a real problem according to a statewide investigation. in january, it found that 953 ballots were cast by voters who were deceased. the state elections commission director disputes those findings. the report came out after haley signed the voter i.d. law but hasn't stopped the criticism of it. >> eric: were you surprised by the reang? >> very surprised. protecting the voting process is

most important things we can do. >> eric: and 13 other states like south carolina's including indiana which was ruled constitutional by the u.s. supreme court. she says she was stunned when president obama's attorney general eric holder quickly blocked her from enforcing the law. hold every acted under the voting rights act of 1965 which gives the department of justice extraordinary power in states with history of voter suppression. >> democracy demands that we remove all barriers to voting. >> he declined a request for an interview but he made his views clear elsewhere. to stop texas voter i.d. laws, the justice department claims there is significant evidence that the texas state legislature actually intended to suppress minority votes. naacp senior vice president says holder is right.

>> jim crow is dead and buried but one more is well and tricky as ever before. >> jim crow was the area of segregation from reconstruction total mid 1960s. in which many southern states prevented blacks from voting using everything from taxes and literacy tests to murders and lynchings. >> 50 years later, america now has a black president. shelton charges that supporters of voter i.d. laws want to turn back the clock. >> the only way is to is suppress votes altogether. that is unamerican. >> and voter i.d. laws aren't the only tactic that he points to. take maryland governor's race in which one faced off a democratic challenger, republicans sent out a robo call to more than 100,000 voters predominantly

african-americans. >> i wanted everybody know that president obama has been successful. >> prosecutors say the goal it was convinces anyone that answered there was no need to go to the polls which were still open. >> we're okay. everything is fine -- >> it didn't work. the republican lost and his campaign aide was later arrested. they found him guilty of four counts of voter fraud. >> in rye violation of the law was in fact a personal failure. >> i have paid and continue to pay for that failure. >> eric: the new wave of voter i.d. laws is voter suppression of a higher order. they filed a complaint in geneva, a body that includes china, cuba and saudi arabia calling the laws most vicious and sinister attacks to narrow

our participation in democracy. >> we've been going at this for 130 years. its sleight of hand. >> you talk about jim crow. is voter i.d. similar? >> absolutely. even to murder and lynching. it's the same thing. we can argue it's not as violent it's not as bloody. that was in alabama not too long ago. i met a guy that was about 75 years old. it took him four days in alabama to get that free photo i.d. we know people will be turned off and forgo voting at all. >> eric: but arthur davis doesn't buy it? >> i never heard a single voter, by 68% african-american district complain to me about i.d. being something that was on russ or burdensome or, did difficult. >> you never heard one that i

don't have a an i.d. and i can't vote? >> not a single one. they are by there are intimidated or burdened by attaching just a few responsibilities to their all important right of voting, it's a condescending idea. if the law works with respect to everybody, it's free and clear of whatever history of bigotry or racial animus exists in a state like south carolina. >> we are denying people. tell me who has been denied. i said anybody can't get to the department of motor vehicles, le we will take you there. >> how many without an i.d. called for a lift? >> after three weeks, 23 rides. >> out of five million? >> out of five million people. that is all we got. fine, we'll give them a ride. >> eric: do you think the administration has been trying to do it for political purposes?

>> it's oddly ironic we have an election coming up and we're trying to get it passed before this election and they are stopping us. >> eric: it's not new to the obama justice department. >> with the doj voting rights section chief when helder first took office. >> i'm here to talk about the final disposition of new black panther party case. >> eric: it was sparked by this, 2008 video. it shows members outside a philadelphia polling place. the one with a billy club called voters white devils and you are about to be ruled by a black man. they charged the new black panther party with voter intimidation. after holder became attorney general, the department of justice dismissed the charges against the party and two of its members but did obtain an injunction against the one holding the club. holder vehemently denied race

had any role in the decision and there was no evidence of political interference but obama justice department officials took the position that the voting rights laws did not protect whites, only minorities. >> white voters have an interest of being able to go to the polls without having race haters standing at the entrance of a polling place with a billy club in his hand hurling racial slurs at voters. >> he no longer works with the justice department. he is in private practice. the state of south carolina recently to defend the state against his old boss. >> there is nothing i want more to make sure everybody that wants to vote can. >> eric: coming up, did illegal votes by felons give democrats what they needed to ultimately make the obama agenda long.

an eye-opening investigation after the break.

>> eric: many of cases we told you about involve local races but it doesn't take many votes to steal an election. it's a different story on the state or national level. illegal votes do decide one of those elections, the stakes for all of us are huge. >> did illegal ballots cast by people like these, convicted felons lost their voting rights decide an election that changed america. >> do you think your vote helped al franken into office? >> i hope it did. >> the story was after 2000 election.

norm cole man thought he defeated his democratic opponent al franken and won by 725 votes. >> where we are being humbled and grateful that the voters' victory gave us last night. >> eric: barack obama had defeated mccain for the white house. coleman's tiny margin of victory triggered an automatic recount. and also alarmed a director of minnesota majority a conservative watchdog group. >> do you think there was voter fraud in the senate race? >> i know there was voter fraud. >> eric: so the official recount battle unfolded. they ran their own investigation. they found a smoking gun. >> convicted felons who were still on paper, still serving

probation ineligible to vote, voted in large numbers in the 2008 election. >> eric: how did he reach that conclusion? the majority compared to computer databases, first listed people that voted in election and second people charged with felonies. that search turned up hundreds of names. machines majority suspected were felons who had voted illegally but the state supreme court declared franken the winner by a razor thin margin of 312 votes. but the story wasn't over for dan mcgrath for long list of people that voted illegally. >> you handle the evidence, who did you go to. >> we brought it to the county attorney, upon receiving affidavits is compelled to investigate and upon finding probable cause is to prosecute. >> the state evidence indicates there has been roughly 175

convictions of felons voting illegally and another 60 cases pending. you think he would be pleased. >> the number of felons is not the number that were supposed to. it's much higher than that. >> eric: how many? >> thousand felons participated in the election. >> if that number is right, that is triple the vote margin of victory. the actual number offelons that illegally voted is larger because you have to do it. in charge of voter fraud for the washington county's attorney office. he convicted 16 people based on part on the list. >> is it possible for a felon to vote illegally and confess to it and because he didn't intend to it he can get away with it? >> yes, it is. that is why some of our counties in minnesota received hundreds

of referrals and yet a prosecuted a relatively small number of cases. >> that is hundreds of votes that should not have been counted. >> if they weren't in the mix. what potentially could have happened? >> potentially the election could have gone the other. >> so al franken benefited from the illegal votes? >> it looks like it. >> from the research we've seen it appears that it was likely to benefit al franken. >> the race is 312 votes between franken and coleman. do you think someone is voting illegally? >> i have no way of knowing who the felons who are they voted for. >> the ramsey county attorney and convicted 27 felons for voting illegally? >> i am highly skeptical that felons voted for one candidate or another en mass.

>> working out a list we went odor door to door. >> did, al franken. >> al franken. >> we talked to ten of the felons convicted of voting illegally. nine of them voted for franken. it wasn't a scientific sample but academic studies overwhelmingly vote democratic. in an election so close other factors could have tilted it one way or the other. we wanted what the candidates in the 2009 election think about this. senator franken declined our request for an interview. >> felons voted illegally. that could have turned the election. it could have turned the election but in the end, it is what it is. i really don't spend time. >> he acknowledges the difference of handful of votes could make for all americans.

>> $850 billion stimulus package cast on a partisan vote doesn't pass if the minnesota race is not legitimate. >> and other consequences of fraud that it can shake citizens' faith in the system. >> i predict it will happen in the future. democracy flourishes because of citizens confidence in those who represent them. if you undermine that confidence it really hurts the democratic process. >> eric: many of the most corrupt dictatorships, amazing they always win. even in america, the overwhelming majority of voters remain confident that their ballots count. they should feel that way. but election fraud can only undermine that belief that the leaders act with the consent of

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