Opinion: Auditor Greg Kimsey Ignores 8,000 Clark County Citizens

Rick Vermeers believes the Clark County auditor should be required to report every case of suspected fraud to the County Council and follow that case through the system

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com

The fact that 8,000 people want more accountability should be of concern to Greg Kimsey.

He would have you assume that there is no fraud in any election. The facts don’t support this. There are several suspicious cases of fraud reported to the sheriff after each election. They range from family members signing the ballots of other family members, to people signing ballots of deceased voters, to non-citizens voting in elections. There is a clear record of non-citizens voting and even a clearer record of non-citizens who have unintentionally registered to vote through the Motor Voter Registration System, where there is NO requirement to prove citizenship when the applicant checks the voter registration box on the driver’s license form. To compound this, all a voter has to do to avoid prosecution is to say that they checked the box by mistake. That makes the act unintentional and, therefore, there is no fraud.

Auditor Kimsey will tell you that non-citizens will not vote because it endangers their ability to become citizens. How does he know that they won’t vote? Has he done any detailed statistical analysis to prove this? The investigative records of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office will show that non-citizens vote and that non-citizens are illegally registered to vote through Motor Voter Registration. Do they vote in droves? Perhaps not, but any voter knows that one vote may make the difference.

I have done investigations based on numerous Public Record Requests. The truth is that the auditor turns suspected fraud over the Sheriff’s Office and washes his hands of the case. The sheriff investigates “as time permits.” Many investigation timelines approach the statute of limitations. The prosecuting attorney, similarly, puts a low priority on these cases. In a recent case the PA declined to prosecute a non-citizen who voted 28 times in Clark County. Another case, where a person voted her deceased mother’s ballot, was the first case brought to court since 1999. This person was allowed a plea deal where she was sentenced to 30 days community service. The sentence could have been as much as 5 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.

Why are there not other prosecutions? It is because Federal and State laws have made the information necessary to prosecute, off limits to citizens. Immigration and Naturalization records are not available for the “people” to inspect. Anonymous Cast Voter Records, which would highlight anomalies, have been put off limits by the states at the request of auditors. They don’t really want transparency!

The auditor should be required to report every case of suspected fraud to the County Council and follow that case through the system, reporting the status of each historical case through to its natural conclusion.

Of course, the auditor won’t do that because that would be an admission that there is voter fraud in Clark County. The auditor opposed the REC petition so vehemently to avoid such embarrassment.

Rick Vermeers
Camas