PolitiFact Slaps Priebus For Voter Fraud Claim, But Walker Said It First

PolitiFact rates as "false" on Friday an assertion by Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus that voter fraud is so rampant in Wisconsin by Democrats that statewide GOP candidates have to roll up an extra votes to win.

Priebus said that because of voter fraud, Republican candidates "need to do a point or two better" to win statewide elections in Wisconsin.

Past reports have highlighted flaws in the city of Milwaukee, including cases of fraudulent votes. But Priebus made a specific numerical claim -- that a Republican candidate, to compensate for fraudulent votes, would need to get 1 to 2 percentage points worth of additional votes in order to win a statewide election.

Priebus did not provide information that supports the claim. We rate his statement False.

The PolitiFact posting notes that Walker made the same point two days earlier, and offers a link to the publication in which Walker made his obnoxious claim, but assesses the "false" rating to Priebus, letting Walker off the hook.

I had posted the Walker links and context Wednesday - - noting that The Tomah Journal had begin calling Walker out about the voting fraud allegation on Monday when that newspaper saw a Walker statement about it in The Weekly Standard, a conservative publication.

Said The Tomah Journal:

Gov. Scott Walker has made a spectacular assertion [in The Weekly Standard] in advance of next week’s gubernatorial recall election.

“I’ve always thought in this state, close elections, presidential elections, it means you probably have to win with at least 53 percent of the vote to account for fraud. One or two points, potentially ... I mean there’s no question why they went to court and fought (to undo) voter ID.”

This is a monumental claim. Consider this: There were 2.2 million votes cast in the 2010 election for governor, and it’s reasonable to assume that turnout on June 5 will be close to 2.2 million again. Each percentage point represents 22,000 votes. Since Walker believes he needs 53 percent, he is alleging 66,000 fraudulent votes will be cast next week.

Alright, governor, where’s your proof?...

What's even more outrageous about Walker's role in this lie-to-win strategy is that after making the claim in a May 14th interview that was contained in the The Weekly Standard piece on Wednesday - - “I’ve always thought in this state, close elections, presidential elections, it means you probably have to win with at least 53 percent of the vote to account for fraud. One or two points, potentially.” - - Walker also got away with saying to the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday, after Priebus made his remark:

At a Manitowoc campaign stop later Wednesday, Gov. Scott Walker said..."I don't know what percentage to predict on that."

Yes he did. And had.

53%.

The "false" rating - - maybe a first-ever ' doubly-false' label - - should have gone on Walker's record, which, as I have noted often on this blog, is heavily laden with "false" findings. His current scorecard:

Walker's statements by ruling

• True6 (11%)(6)
• Mostly True5 (9%)(5)
• Half True10 (19%)(10)
• Mostly False10 (19%)(10)
• False19 (35%)(19)
• Pants on Fire4 (7%