Cooping

 Voter fraud was not invented during our own time. 

In American elections of the 19th century, fraud took the form of "cooping," a clumsy but effective way to cheat with paper ballots. In fact, it seems that a famous writer and poet of the time was involved.

Then, as now, the goal was to multiply votes for the favored candidate. Intoxicated people in bars were held in a central location (a "coop") and forced, in their drunken condition, to repeatedly vote. After each trip to the ballot box, they would be dressed in different clothes or otherwise disguised--to obscure their identity--and sent back to vote again.

Edgar Allen Poe, sadly, suffered from alcoholism and depression. Four days before his death, he was found distressed and disoriented near a voting site in Baltimore. He was not wearing his own clothes. He seems to have been a "cooping" victim (image).

Bad actors will do whatever unjust or illegal scheme they can devise to win elections, whether the election is decided by paper ballots or modern computer technology. 

Human corruption continues in our own time. Many oppose a precaution as simple and wholesome as showing identification (ID) when voting. Even people of good will can be deceived into voting against common sense.

from Mind Matters