The dog who's registered to vote as a Democrat
Buddy the Labrador can now legally vote in New Mexico. OK, maybe not legally
It's official: the 2012 election has gone to the dogs. A New Mexico man has registered his 3-year-old black Labrador, Buddy, to vote. Here, five burning questions:
How, exactly, did Buddy register to vote?
It was easy. Buddy's owner told KOB Eyewitness News 4 in Albuquerque that he was walking past a booth registering voters at the University of New Mexico, and decided to see how hard it would be to use phony information to register. "I made up a birth date [for Buddy], and I made up a social security number," the man, who requested anonymity, told the TV station, "and I had a voter registration card in my hand for Buddy two weeks later."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Perhaps a better question is, why?
The man, a registered Republican, said he wanted to demonstrate how easy it is to commit voter fraud: "Somebody should have verified this information" and taken a look at exactly who (or what) was registering.
So who will get Buddy's vote?
Nobody. The man says he has no intention to cast a ballot posing as Buddy (who, unlike his owner, is registered as a Democrat). Good thing: The Bernalillo County Clerk's Office has found Buddy's card, and alerted the local sheriff of the bogus registration.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Has this kind of thing happened before?
Yes. Another New Mexico man, Don Pizzolato, registered his black Lab mix, Tuckup, to vote in 2010, as an independent. Pizzolato was charged with voter fraud, a 4th-degree felony, although the case has since been dropped. The Sheriff's Office has opened another voter fraud case against the man they believe to be Buddy's owner, Thomas Tolbert, a 45-year-old career Army veteran. Buddy was registered as "Buddy W. Tolbert."
How can these cases slip through?
The Clerk's Office said the state doesn't require counties to verify social security numbers, dates of birth, or even names, although they do screen applications submitted by third-party groups before sending out voter registration cards. "With a system like that in place," cracks Howard Portnoy at Hot Air, "what could possibly go wrong?"
Sources: Daily Mail, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, The Smoking Gun
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Duchess of Gloucester: the hard-working royal you've never heard of
Under The Radar Outer royal 'never expected' to do duties but has stepped up to the plate
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Are 'judge shopping' rules a blow to Republicans?
Today's Big Question How the abortion pill case got to the Supreme Court
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Climate change is driving Indian women to choose sterilization
under the radar Faced with losing their jobs, they are making a life-altering decision
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published