After blaming voter fraud on Democrats, ex-GOP chairman convicted of voter fraud

“It seems to be, and correct me if I’m wrong here, but virtually every case of voter fraud I can remember in my lifetime was committed by Democrats,” said Curtis on his KLZ 560 show, “Wake Up!” a month before the 2016 presidential election.

One year later, according to the Denver Post, a case of voter fraud has been discovered in Colorado — and it isn’t a Democrat:

Steve Curtis, a former chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, faces up to three years in prison after being convicted Thursday of voter fraud and forgery for signing his ex-wife’s ballot during the 2016 election, prosecutors say.

The 58-year-old, who also was a KLZ radio host, was charged in February after authorities say DNA evidence and handwriting analysis linked him to the ballot of his ex, Kelly Curtis.

The Weld County District Attorney’s Office says court testimony during Curtis’ trial revealed that Kelly Curtis had moved to Charleston, S.C., in December 2015. When she called the county’s clerk and recorder to get her mail-in ballot, she was told she had already voted.

Incredibly, when Curtis took the stand this week, he tried to blame the criminal act on a medical incident caused by diabetes.

“When it’s really erratic, it’s just ridiculous how stupid I sound and now forgetful I am. I think I kind of appear like a moron really,” Curtis said.

Perhaps the only thing more ridiculous is the voter fraud myth that he was peddling last year.

There remains zero evidence that widespread in-person voter fraud is being used to manipulate the outcome of elections — a talking point repeatedly used by the GOP to pass laws restricting minority access to the ballot. An extensive study by a Loyola University Law School professor found only 31 instances of possible voter fraud amidst one billion ballots cast between 2000 and 2014.

But the lie has staying power, and ironically, it has actually motivated Republicans to commit voter fraud. One woman in Iowa pleaded guilty to voting for Trump twice, because she had been convinced a shifty Democrat was going to cancel out her “real” vote.

It is time for Republicans to stop playing around with people’s participation in the democratic process — including their own.