How to cheat in a Pennsylvania election

Yesterday Trump said that it was “shocking” that Pennsylvania did not require photo ID to vote, he was worried that he would lose the Pennsylvania election because of cheating, and he urged his supporters to check on polling places to see that no one was cheating.

So, here’s how you cheat.

I go into my polling place, which is “Towamensing North.”  There are four poll workers there, three of whom know me.  (If I am a first time voter, I do have to show ID, but I’m not, so I just sign my name.)  They give me a book, and I sign my name.  I sign and vote.  

Obviously, I can’t come back to my own polling place to vote again.  So I go to Lower Towamensing.  Now, I have to know a voter listed on the rolls.  I have to know he isn’t planning to vote.  If he voted already, I’m caught.  If he votes later, I’m caught.  And IF ANY OF THE FOUR POLL WORKERS KNOW THAT PERSON AND KNOW THAT I AM NOT THAT PERSON, or I MESS UP THE SIGNATURE, I AM CAUGHT.  But let’s say they don’t know the voter, the voter doesn’t vote, and I fake the signature, and I get away with my deception.  Great.  I have successfully cheated and cast one extra vote.

Now I go to the polling place in Palmerton East to cheat again.  I have to know someone listed on the rolls who hasn’t voted, doesn’t plan to vote, isn’t known by any of the poll workers, and pull off the signature again.  

Really.  How likely is that?  How realistic is that?  And how stupid is Trump to even suggest that? 

None of this matters to Trump supporters, of course.  They do not live in the real world, do not respond to rational arguments, and believe in conspiracies (“born in Kenya”), fantasies (“Build the Wall”), and fairy tales (“voter fraud is commonplace”).  

Let’s hope reality triumphs over fantasy.  I am not optimistic.

If you know someone worried about voter fraud, please explain how the polling places in Pennsylvania really work.  Chances are, of course, that the person who is worried about voter fraud has either never voted or is a Trump supporter living in fantasy land, in which case your explanation won’t matter.