In this year of endless talk about voter fraud, there is not all
that much talk about one area of fraud that has actually been proven
to exist, and to make a difference:  absentee ballot fraud. This kind of fraud even comes
with its own profession, the absentee ballot broker (boletera in
southern Florida).<br>
<br>
Boleteras are hired by local campaigns to go into nursing homes,
assisted living facilities, and sometimes homes to help people fill
out absentee ballots. The question is, how much help do they give? A

<br>The fourth essay in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corruption-American-Politics-Michael-Genovese/dp/…; target="”_blank”"><i>Corruption and American Politics</i></a>, an essay collection edited by Michael
A. Genovese and Victoria A. Farrar-Meyers (Cambria, 2011), is by
Wayne S. Le Cheminant. The title of the essay – "Bending
the Frame to Corrupt the Lenses" – provides a good

<b>Update:</b> Counsel for the Housing Authority informed me that it was the Authority board, through him, that originally notified HUD of problems, and that another counsel was involved in some of the relevant transactions. Therefore, I have made some changes to the original post.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/08/24/opinion/doc5036b9651ddb484388…; target="”_blank”">An

The third essay in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corruption-American-Politics-Michael-Genovese/dp/…; target="”_blank”"><i>Corruption and American Politics</i></a>, a collection edited by Michael
A. Genovese and Victoria A. Farrar-Meyers (Cambria, 2011), is by John M. Parrish, a professor at Loyola Marymount University. The essay, which has the intriguing title

<br>The second essay in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corruption-American-Politics-Michael-Genovese/dp/…; target="”_blank”"><i>Corruption and American Politics</i></a>, a collection edited by Michael
A. Genovese and Victoria A. Farrar-Meyers (Cambria, 2011), is by
Mark E. Warren, a professor at the University of British Columbia.
It asks the question, Is low trust in democratic institutions a

<b>A New Use of a Nonprofit as a Conduit</b><br>
Pay to play appears to be as creative a field as cellphone apps. <a href="http://washingtonexaminer.com/d.c.-investigators-had-early-shot-at-thom…; target="”_blank”">An
article in the Washington <i>Examiner</i> on Sunday</a> points to a new
way to get developer money into an official's

<br><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corruption-American-Politics-Michael-Genovese/dp/…; target="”_blank”"><i>Corruption and American Politics</i></a>, an essay collection edited by Michael
A. Genovese and Victoria A. Farrar-Myers (Cambria, 2011), has some
excellent essays, especially those that deal with institutional
corruption. The only serious criticism I have of the book is its

An interesting issue has arisen in Louisiana. It involves an
important distinction in government ethics, between law and
function.<br>
<br>
According to <a href="http://theadvocate.com/home/3663529-125/ethics-board-bese-member-may&qu…; target="”_blank”">an
AP article this weekend</a>, the Louisiana Board of Ethics found
that a state board of education member may keep both this position

In <a href="http://www.fwweekly.com/2012/08/15/chipping-away/&quot; target="”_blank”">a
long cover story in last week's Fort Worth <i>Weekly</i></a>, Peter
Gorman looked at the state of government ethics in Fort Worth and,
most important, some proposed changes to its ethics program that
take it in the wrong direction. Since it was the only article on the proposals, and Gorman

<b>Update:</b> August 18, 2012 (see below)<br>
<br>
There is a longstanding pattern of scandals in the cities that the
Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) chooses for its annual meeting. COGEL was in Chicago when Rod Blagojevich was
arrested, and in New Orleans when Rep. Jefferson was re-elected despite the bribery
charges against him (they held). COGEL stayed in the D.C. hotel where then
mayor Marion Barry had just been arrested.<br>
<br>