To the Editor:

There has been a lot of talk over the last few years about the issue of voter fraud in Wisconsin. Most of that talk has centered on the issue of voter I.D. That in itself shows how out of touch both those who brought about the changes and those who oppose the changes are.

Basically, the brouhaha is all about election fraud on a personal level. It is the old 19th Century belief that someone bothers to buy drunks to vote or registers folks who are in the cemetery. I believe these new laws essentially restrict the rights of folks who don’t take the time to register in the first place or who are unwilling to vote in advance.

What is ignored in the voter fraud issue is suddenly coming to the surface, with Russian hackers using technology to mess with the voting process. Going after fraud by individual voters is just about as useful these days as enacting laws to prevent fraud at the telephone booth. It is a waste of taxpayer money and totally ignores the potential for fraud on a massive scale.

What computer hackers can do with a few lines of program is change the outcome of an election by thousands of votes in an instant. Fairly sophisticated programs are out there that can corrupt computerized votes massively and then effectively self-destruct leaving no trace of mischief having been done. If you don’t believe me, there are a lot of technology experts in this town, ask one yourself.

Wisconsin has done nothing to prevent voter fraud in the real world. Wisconsin has instead taken a buggy whip approach to a minuscule problem and inconvenienced some people who are not inclined to be highly motivated voters in the first place. Shame on the folks in Madison for micromanaging the wrong problem!

Gregg Warren

Stevens Point