How To Get Elected
This column was written by CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.
Did you see the item in USA Today about voters in Shelby County, Tennessee?
It seems about 24,000 former Shelby County residents are still registered to vote there and a lot of those former residents are not only registered, but surprise, they vote — nearly 1700 of them in fact in a recent election. And of course, a number of those voters are, in fact, dead.
The Commercial Appeal of Memphis unearthed this information after an election scandal there resulted in some poll workers getting fired and a state senate election being overturned. Which brings me, of course, to Chicago.
Back in the 1970s I worked on a voter registration project on the South Side. There were addresses for homes where there were none, and of course people registered to vote from the phantom address. Under those circumstances even I could get elected.
Harry's daily commentary can be heard on manyCBS Radio News affiliates across the country.