True The Vote, a national voter fraud watchdog group, announced Tuesday that preliminary research findings show evidence of 31 cases of absentee ballot fraud in New York and Florida. The organization's president says it is just the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to voter fraud in the United States.
The group has formally notified the Office of the Florida Secretary of State, the New York State Board of Elections and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that ballots were cast in both states by 31 people during federal elections, according to a press release.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg," True The Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said in a statement. "This is further evidence of just how susceptible our election system is to voter fraud. Earlier this year, Pew Research found more than 2.75 million people nationwide are registered to vote in more than one state."
The organization is also calling on federal officials in both states to investigate.
True The Vote was able to identify possible absentee voter fraud by accessing Florida's complete voter registration roll and cross-checking it against 10 percent of New York's database.
After finding that over 1,700 people were registered to vote in both states, True The Vote turned over 31 voters to state and federal election authorities after evidence indicated that they voted in New York and Florida.
"In each case federal and state laws were potentially violated as a result of these activities. Both New York and Florida require voters to cast ballots corresponding with their permanent residential address," the press release states. Further, federal law clearly states that voters are prohibited from casting more than one ballot in the same election.
"This should serve as a warning to any individual considering committing fraud in this year's election," Engelbrecht added. "True the Vote enjoys cooperative relationships with these states and am nay more. These findings are only the beginning of our effort."
