'Looking for payback'

Interview | Journalist John Fund on voter fraud and next week's election | Marvin Olasky

John Fund, a member of the Wall Street Journal's editorial board, has followed election fraud over the past decade—and he suggests that, with the advent of "provisional voting," the potential for election crisis is greater than ever. He outlines the dangers in Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy (Encounter Books, 2004).

WORLD: Some journalists make it seem as if protecting against voter fraud is merely a matter of mechanics and ballot engineering. Your first chapter, "A Conflict of Visions," explains far better than anything I've seen why the current mess stems from dueling ideologies. Could you briefly describe the battle for our readers?

JF: A conflict of visions and values exists between those who believe that having as many people as possible vote is the highest value in our democracy and those for whom the rule of law is paramount. The latter believe voting involves both rights and responsibilities, including the need for security measures that must be followed before a cast ballot becomes a legal vote.