"I want to maintain the integrity of the voting process by giving states a tool to keep clean and accurate voter rolls," Grassley said. "Unfortunately, stories of voter fraud are all too common. Such cases erode public confidence in the electoral process and are an affront to all those who cast votes legally."
Grassley's amendment to the election reform bill allows states to confirm the accuracy of their voter registration lists by coordinating with Social Security records to check for deaths and individuals registered under false identities. Under the provision, the Social Security Administration would be required to provide states with relevant information for the purpose of determining voter eligibility. The information would include whether the name and Social Security number on the state's voter list match Social Security records and whether an individual is listed as deceased.
Grassley said states could use the information to verify questionable provisional votes, check on specific allegations about an individual's eligibility or examine precincts that have more registered voters than population of voting age adults. The amendment would not affect state laws governing eligibility of individuals to vote and individuals' private information would not be released.
According to reviews of election records by the Miami Herald, thousands of illegal ballots were cast in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. An investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that 5,412 of the ballots cast in Georgia over the past 20 years belonged to people who were dead at the time of the election.