THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?
SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).
- A New York Times report said documented illegal votes haven’t approached numbers needed to decide major elections.
- Drew Holden singled out the phrase “major races,” questioning why that qualification was necessary.
- X commenters argued that election violations matter even when they do not change the winner.
LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).
Apparently, the internet has discovered a new category of election: the ones important enough for illegal votes to count.
That was the sarcastic reaction after conservative commentator Drew Holden spotted two words in New York Times reporting about voter fraud: “major races.”
The newspaper said investigations have uncovered small numbers of illegal votes, but not quantities approaching those necessary to determine winners of major elections.
Holden posted: “New ridiculous media standard for raising concerns about voter fraud just dropped.”
He highlighted the Times’ wording, and the replies arrived immediately.
“‘Major races’ is the giveaway here,” wrote Jim Moore.
Jason Fischer suggested the phrasing made small amounts of illegal voting sound acceptable. Other commenters asked why the size of an election should determine whether an illegal vote matters.
To be precise, the Times did not say illegal voting is permissible. Its point was about the scale of documented violations and whether they support claims of widespread, outcome-changing fraud.
But Holden’s objection addresses a different issue: An illegal ballot doesn’t become legal simply because the margin of victory was larger.
Those two questions — whether an offense occurred and whether it changed an election — deserve separate answers.
The whole controversy is a reminder that a qualifier can be technically important and politically explosive at the same time.
Thousands of words of election reporting, and everybody’s arguing over two. Welcome to modern journalism.
DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).
- Twitchy — Drew Holden and X reactions to voter-fraud wording
- Justice Department — Related California voter-list lawsuit
- Fox News — Related voter-data controversy
- U.S. Election Assistance Commission — Election administration and voter-roll resources
