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112-563: In 1972, the Bureau of Indian Affairs building was seized by Native Americans. In 1973, the town of Wounded Knee was occupied by Native Americans. In light of this unrest, Senator James G. Abourezk of South Dakota attributed the issue to inconsistency in Native American policy due to laws being passed without regard for previous laws. Different administrations had taken different approaches to Native Americans over centuries which led to

224-417: A "none of the above" or "against all" voting option; civil disobedience where voting is mandatory; and attempts at discrediting or invalidating an election. An unusually large share of invalidated ballots may be attributed to loyal supporters of candidates that lost in primaries or previous rounds, did not run or did not qualify to do so, or some manner of protest movement or organized boycott. In 2016, during

336-545: A blind or illiterate person may be told that they have voted for one party when in fact they have been led to vote for another. Proxy voting is particularly vulnerable to election fraud, due to the amount of trust placed in the person who casts the vote. In several countries, there have been allegations of retirement home residents being asked to fill out 'absentee voter' forms. When the forms are signed and gathered, they are secretly rewritten as applications for proxy votes, naming party activists or their friends and relatives as

448-677: A coalition of local Oglala, grouped loosely around the "traditionalist", the OSCRO, and tribal members of AIM. Wilson opponents were angered that he had evaded impeachment. U.S. Marshals offered him and his family protection at a time of heightened tensions and protected the BIA headquarters at the reservation. Wilson added more fortification to the facility. After AIM's confrontation at the Custer courthouse, OSCRO leaders asked AIM for help in dealing with Wilson. The traditional chiefs and AIM leaders met with

560-467: A democratic system without actively manipulating votes or coercing the electorate. Under the right conditions, the democratic system is maneuvered into an equilibrium in which divided opposition parties act as unwitting accomplices to single-party rule. This permits the ruling regime to abstain from illegal electoral fraud. Preferential voting systems such as score voting and single transferable vote , and in some cases, instant-runoff voting , can reduce

672-401: A journalist and a white activist. He disappeared during the siege and his body was never found. One AIM leader, Carter Camp , said years later that Robinson had walked away under his own power, seeking aid for a wounded leg. Others have recalled open conflict between Robinson and activists over FBI claims. His widow Cheryl Robinson believes he was murdered during the incident. In 2004, after

784-428: A machine, such as a Diebold Accuvote TS, can install inexpensive, readily available electronic components to manipulate its functions. Other approaches include: In 1994, the election which brought majority rule and put Nelson Mandela in office, South Africa's election compilation system was hacked, so they re-tabulated by hand. In 2014, Ukraine's central election system was hacked. Officials found and removed

896-648: A major victory for their movement. Although Angela Davis was turned away by federal forces as an "undesirable person" when she attempted to enter Wounded Knee in March 1973, AIM participants believed that the attention garnered by such public figures forestalled U.S. military intervention. Following the end of the 1973 stand-off, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation had a higher rate of internal violence. Residents complained of physical attacks and intimidation by President Richard Wilson's followers,

1008-412: A mandated meeting at Chief Fools Crow's land to discuss reinstating the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. With the decision made, many Oglala Lakota began to leave Wounded Knee at night, walking out through the federal lines. Three days later, the siege ended and the town was evacuated after 71 days of occupation; the government took control of the town. Public opinion polls revealed widespread sympathy for

1120-462: A meeting at the courthouse in Custer, South Dakota , where they expected to discuss civil rights issues and wanted charges against the suspect raised to murder from second-degree manslaughter . They were met by riot police, who allowed only five people to enter the courthouse, despite blizzard conditions outside. Reinhardt notes that the confrontation became violent, during which protesters burned down

1232-601: A million dollars. The data gathered by the historians Record and Hocker supports this: "barricades of paramilitary personnel armed with automatic weapons, snipers, helicopters, armored personnel carriers equipped with .50-caliber machine guns, and more than 130,000 rounds of ammunition". The statistics on the U.S. government force at Wounded Knee vary, but all accounts agree that it was a significant military force including "federal marshals, FBI agents, and armored vehicles". One eyewitness and journalist described "sniper fire from ... federal helicopters", "bullets dancing around in

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1344-409: A particular party make it known that if a particular village or neighborhood is found to have voted the 'wrong' way, reprisals will be made against that community. Another method is to make a general threat of violence, for example, a bomb threat which has the effect of closing a particular polling place, thus making it difficult for people in that area to vote. One notable example of outright violence

1456-571: A particular party, then they can either be concentrated into one area, thus making their votes count for less, or moved into marginal seats , where they may tip the balance towards their preferred party. One example of this was the 1986–1990 Homes for votes scandal in the City of Westminster in England under Shirley Porter . Immigration law may also be used to manipulate electoral demography. For instance, Malaysia gave citizenship to immigrants from

1568-475: A particular way. Voters who are not confident about their entitlement to vote may also be intimidated by real or implied authority figures who suggest that those who vote when they are not entitled to will be imprisoned, deported or otherwise punished. For example, in 2004, in Wisconsin and elsewhere voters allegedly received flyers that said, "If you already voted in any election this year, you can't vote in

1680-646: A range of forms including verbal, physical, or coercion. This was so common that in 1887, a Kansas Supreme Court in New Perspectives on Election Fraud in The Gilded Age said "[...] physical retaliation constituted only a slight disturbance and would not vitiate an election." In its simplest form, voters from a particular demographic or known to support a particular party or candidate are directly threatened by supporters of another party or candidate or by those hired by them. In other cases, supporters of

1792-450: A rate, reducing income to the tribe, whose members held the land communally. They also complained about his land-use decision to lease nearly one-eighth of the reservation's mineral-rich lands to private companies. Some full-blood Lakota complained of having been marginalized since the start of the reservation system. Most did not bother to participate in tribal elections, which led to tensions on all sides. There had been increasing violence on

1904-495: A religious or ethnic group, they may so distort the political process that the political order becomes grossly unrepresentative, as in the post- Reconstruction or Jim Crow era until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . Felons have been disenfranchised in many states as a strategy to prevent African Americans from voting. Groups may also be disenfranchised by rules which make it impractical or impossible for them to cast

2016-528: A separate table in the election to the EU parliament in 2009. Ballots from Sweden Democrats have been mixed with ballots from the larger Swedish Social Democratic Party , which used a very similar font for the party name written on the top of the ballot. Another method of confusing people into voting for a different candidate from the one intended is to run candidates or create political parties with similar names or symbols to an existing candidate or party. The goal

2128-790: A series of inconsistent Native American policy. To fix the inconsistency in Native American policy, Senator James G. Abourezk proposed the Senate Joint Solution 133 which would establish an American Indian Policy Review Commission to review these laws. The commission was given a budget of 2.5 million USD to investigate the Native American-Federal government relationship so that policies and programs could be made more beneficial and comprehensive to Native Americans. The American Indian Policy Review Commission established eleven task forces, each consisting of three members. The task forces were assigned to investigate: Of

2240-564: A six-day AIM-led occupation of the BIA offices in Washington, D.C. Three weeks before the Wounded Knee Occupation, the tribal council had charged Wilson with several items for an impeachment hearing. However, Wilson was able to avoid a trial, as the prosecution was not ready to proceed immediately, the presiding official would not accept new charges, and the council voted to close the hearings. Charges had been brought by

2352-497: A small number of ballot papers without detection, thereby changing the overall result. Blatant destruction of ballot papers can render an election invalid and force it to be re-run. If a party can improve its vote on the re-run election, it can benefit from such destruction as long as it is not linked to it. During the Bourbon Restoration in late 19th century Spain, the organized “loss” of voting slips ( pucherazo )

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2464-892: A sufficient scale can have the effect of a coup d'état , protest or corruption of democracy. In a narrow election , a small amount of fraud may suffice to change the result. Even if the outcome is not affected, the revelation of fraud can reduce voters' confidence in democracy. Because U.S. states have primary responsibility for conducting elections, including federal elections, many forms of electoral fraud are prosecuted as state crimes. State election offenses include voter impersonation, double voting, ballot stuffing, tampering with voting machines, and fraudulent registration. Penalties vary widely by state and can include fines, imprisonment, loss of voting rights, and disqualification from holding public office. The U.S. federal government prosecutes electoral crimes including voter intimidation, conspiracy to commit election fraud, bribery, interference with

2576-556: A system of "indirect colonialism". Oglala Sioux opposition to such elected governments was long-standing on the reservation; at the same time, the limited two-year tenure of the president's position made it difficult for leaders to achieve much. Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, administrators, and police still had much influence at Pine Ridge and other American Indian reservations, which many tribal members opposed. Specifically, opponents of Wilson protested his sale of grazing rights on tribal lands to local white ranchers at too low

2688-414: A vision to do this. The vision told me to revive this ceremony at the place where Chief Big Foot's ghost dancers, three hundred men, women, and children, had been massacred by the army, shot to pieces by cannons, old people, babies." With the help of Wallace Black Elk they got together as many people as possible to participate in the dance that had not been done in 83 years. Before dancing they first had to do

2800-478: A voice. Wounded Knee is now an important symbol of American Indian activism, fittingly building on its initial symbolic meaning of the atrocities committed by the US government against American Indian people. Electoral fraud Electoral fraud , sometimes referred to as election manipulation , voter fraud , or vote rigging , involves illegal interference with the process of an election , either by increasing

2912-468: A vote. For example, requiring people to vote within their electorate may disenfranchise serving military personnel, prison inmates, students, hospital patients or anyone else who cannot return to their homes. Polling can be set for inconvenient days, such as midweek or on holy days of religious groups: for example on the Sabbath or other holy days of a religious group whose teachings determine that voting

3024-475: A voter disinformation scheme they undertook in the months prior to the 2020 United States presidential election . The pair hired a firm to make nearly 85,000 robocalls that targeted minority neighborhoods in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Michigan, and Illinois. Like Democratic constituencies in general that year, minorities voted overwhelmingly by absentee ballot , many judging it a safer option during

3136-545: A voter must have lived in an electoral district for a minimum period (for example, six months) in order to be eligible to vote there. However, such laws can also be used for demographic manipulation as they tend to disenfranchise those with no fixed address, such as the homeless, travelers, Roma , students (studying full-time away from home), and some casual workers. Another strategy is to permanently move people into an electoral district, usually through public housing . If people eligible for public housing are likely to vote for

3248-1035: A weak candidate for that party's leadership. The goal ultimately is to defeat the weak candidate in the general election by the leader of the party that the voter truly supports. There were claims that this method was being utilised in the UK Labour Party leadership election in 2015 , where Conservative-leaning Toby Young encouraged Conservatives to join Labour and vote for Jeremy Corbyn in order to "consign Labour to electoral oblivion". Shortly after, #ToriesForCorbyn trended on Twitter . The composition of an electorate may also be altered by disenfranchising some classes of people, rendering them unable to vote. In some cases, states had passed provisions that raised general barriers to voter registration, such as poll taxes , literacy and comprehension tests, and record-keeping requirements, which in practice were applied against minority populations to discriminatory effect. From

3360-411: Is prohibited on such a day. Communities may also be effectively disenfranchised if polling places are situated in areas perceived by voters as unsafe, or are not provided within reasonable proximity (rural communities are especially vulnerable to this). In some cases, voters may be invalidly disenfranchised, which is true electoral fraud. For example, a legitimate voter may be "accidentally" removed from

3472-424: Is recorded for another, or electronic results are duplicated or lost, and there is rarely evidence whether the cause was fraud or error. Many elections feature multiple opportunities for unscrupulous officials or 'helpers' to record an elector's vote differently from their intentions. Voters who require assistance to cast their votes are particularly vulnerable to having their votes stolen in this way. For example,

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3584-757: Is to give voters incorrect information about the time or place of polling, thus causing them to miss their chance to vote. As part of the 2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal , Elections Canada traced fraudulent phone calls, telling voters that their polling stations had been moved, to a telecommunications company that worked with the Conservative Party . Similarly in the United States, right-wing political operatives Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman were indicted on several counts of bribery and election fraud in October 2020 regarding

3696-454: Is to mislead voters into voting for the false candidate or party. Such tactics may be particularly effective when many voters have limited literacy in the language used on the ballot. Again, such tactics are usually not illegal but they often work against the principles of democracy. Another possible source of electoral confusion is multiple variations of voting by different electoral systems . This may cause ballots to be counted as invalid if

3808-447: Is widely considered a violation of the principles of democracy. In many cases, it is possible for authorities to artificially control the composition of an electorate in order to produce a foregone result. One way of doing this is to move a large number of voters into the electorate prior to an election, for example by temporarily assigning them land or lodging them in flophouses . Many countries prevent this with rules stipulating that

3920-599: The COVID-19 pandemic than in-person voting. Baselessly, the call warned potential voters if they submitted their votes by mail that authorities could use their personal information against them, including threats of police arrest for outstanding warrants and forced debt collection by creditors. On October 24, 2022, Wohl and Burkman pleaded guilty in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Common Pleas Court to one count each of felony telecommunications fraud. Commenting on

4032-521: The EU membership referendum , Leave-supporting voters in the UK alleged without evidence that the pencils supplied by voting stations would allow votes to be erased their votes from the ballot. All voting systems face threats of some form of electoral fraud. The types of threats that affect voting machines vary. Research at Argonne National Laboratories revealed that a single individual with physical access to

4144-486: The National Institute of Standards and Technology . Ballot papers may be used to discourage votes for a particular party or candidate, using the design or other features which confuse voters into voting for a different candidate. For example, in the 2000 U.S. presidential election , Florida's butterfly ballot paper was criticized as poorly designed, leading some voters to vote for the wrong candidate. While

4256-647: The Republican National Committee created the Ballot Security Task Force to discourage voting among Latino and African-American citizens of New Jersey. The task force identified voters from an old registration list and challenged their credentials. It also paid off-duty police officers to patrol polling sites in Newark and Trenton, and posted signs saying that falsifying a ballot is a crime. Another use of disinformation

4368-516: The U.S. Department of Justice sent out 50 U.S. Marshals to the Pine Ridge Reservation to be available in the case of a civil disturbance." This followed the failed impeachment attempt and meetings of opponents of Wilson. The American Indian Movement says that its organization went to Wounded Knee for an open meeting and "within hours police had set up roadblocks, cordoned off the area and began arresting people leaving town ...

4480-469: The U.S. Secretary of State , William P. Rogers . The nation granted citizenship to those who wanted it, including non-Indians. A small delegation, including Frank Fools Crow , the senior elder, and his interpreter, flew to New York to attempt to address and be recognized by the United Nations . While they received international coverage, they did not receive recognition as a sovereign nation by

4592-414: The additional member system ; and UK Parliamentary elections by first-past-the-post . Ballot stuffing , or "ballot-box stuffing", is the illegal practice of one person submitting multiple ballots during a vote in which only one ballot per person is permitted. Votes may be misrecorded at source, on a ballot paper or voting machine, or later in misrecording totals. The 2019 Malawian general election

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4704-904: The electoral roll , making it difficult or impossible for the person to vote. In the Canadian federal election of 1917, during the Great War , the Canadian government, led by the Union Party, passed the Military Voters Act and the Wartime Elections Act . The Military Voters Act permitted any active military personnel to vote by party only and allowed that party to decide in which electoral district to place that vote. It also enfranchised those women who were directly related or married to an active soldier. These groups were believed to be disproportionately in favor of

4816-480: The sweat lodge , a purification ritual, then Leonard ran the ghost dance with around 30 dancers, the way his father and uncle ( Henry Crow Dog and Dick Fool Bull) had described it to him. On March 1, Senators James Abourezek and George McGovern came to talk with AIM . Abourezk was sympathetic for his son's house in Pine Ridge was fire-bombed, however McGovern had no liking for what AIM was doing. On March 3,

4928-407: The 33 task force members, 31 members were of Native American descent while two were non-native Americans. By design, a majority of the task force members were of Native American descent. The American Indian Policy Review Commission ultimately published a report as a set of volumes in 1976 and 1977. The American Indian Policy Review Commission sought to expand Native American social services. However,

5040-466: The American Indian people. Trimbach and others have also suggested that AIM members murdered Anna Mae Aquash because they thought she was a spy. Even individuals within the movement, such as Mary Crow Dog, have been critical of AIM. In her autobiography, Mary Crow Dog says, "There were a lot of things wrong with AIM. We did not see these things, or did not want to see them." On June 30, 1980,

5152-570: The FBI and the federal government in general were too focused on Watergate at the time to give the situation at Wounded Knee the attention it deserved. If the federal government were more focused on Wounded Knee, it might not have lasted as long as it did. AIM's handling of Wounded Knee has also met its fair share of critics. Special Agent in Charge at the time, Joseph H. Trimbach, has argued that AIM used federal funds to purchase weaponry, rather than aid

5264-425: The FBI issued a report disputing this. According to Ward Churchill , despite the FBI's claims, there were many suspicious events surrounding murders of AIM activists and their subsequent investigations or lack thereof. Churchill states that the deaths of AIM activists went uninvestigated, even though there was an abundance of FBI agents on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation at the time. For instance, Annie Mae Aquash

5376-410: The FBI released a report regarding these alleged unsolved violent deaths during this time on Pine Ridge Reservation and accounted for most of the deaths, and disputed the claims of unsolved and political murders. The report stated that only four deaths were unsolved and that some deaths were not murders. In 1974, Russell Means ran against Wilson. Wilson won the election, even though he lost to Means in

5488-587: The Great Sioux Reservation won a legal case in the Supreme Court that acknowledges the illegality of U.S. acquisition of reservation land in 1876. The Sioux claim had perpetually been tossed out by the courts since the 1920s, and the case reached the Supreme Court through no coincidence. Following a decade of media exposure and fights for Tribal Sovereignty, the American Indian narrative became known, as opposed to being brushed away. During

5600-697: The National Native American Affirmative Image Committee, to speak at the 45th Academy Awards on his behalf, as he had been nominated for his performance in The Godfather . She appeared at the March 27 ceremony in traditional Apache clothing. When his name was announced as the winner, she said that he declined the award due to "the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry ... and on television and movie reruns and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee" in an improvised speech, as she

5712-598: The Native Americans at Wounded Knee. They also received support from the Congressional Black Caucus as well as various actors, activists, and prominent public figures, including Marlon Brando , Johnny Cash , Angela Davis , Jane Fonda , William Kunstler , and Tom Wicker . After DOJ prohibited the media from the site, press attention decreased. However, actor Marlon Brando , an AIM supporter, asked Sacheen Littlefeather , President of

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5824-508: The Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO), but this is disputed, with an FBI report in 2000 concluding that there were only four unsolved murders and that many of the deaths listed were not homicides or political. The Indian Relocation Act of 1956 was one law among others through the 1940s and 1950s that are referred to as Indian Termination . It was an effort by the U.S. government to hasten

5936-536: The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, including children and the elderly, occupied the town of Wounded Knee to protest Oglala tribal chairman Richard Wilson 's administration, as well as against the federal government's persistent failures to honor its treaties with Native American nations. U.S. government law enforcement, including FBI agents, surrounded Wounded Knee the same day with armed reinforcements. They gradually gained more arms. According to former US Senator for South Dakota James Abourezk , "on February 25, 1973,

6048-621: The Presidential Election", implying that those who had voted in earlier primary elections were ineligible to vote. Also, "If anybody in your family has ever been found guilty of anything you can't vote in the Presidential Election." Finally, "If you violate any of these laws, you can get 10 years in prison and your children will be taken away from you." Employers can coerce the voters' decision, through strategies such as explicit or implicit threats of job loss. People may distribute false or misleading information in order to affect

6160-534: The UN. John Sayer, a Wounded Knee chronicler, wrote that: The equipment maintained by the military while in use during the siege included fifteen armored personnel carriers , clothing, rifles, grenade launchers , flares, and 133,000 rounds of ammunition, for a total cost, including the use of maintenance personnel from the National Guard of five states and pilot and planes for aerial photographs, of over half

6272-475: The Union government, as that party was campaigning in favor of conscription. The Wartime Elections Act , conversely, disenfranchised particular ethnic groups assumed to be disproportionately in favour of the opposition Liberal Party. Stanford University professor Beatriz Magaloni described a model governing the behaviour of autocratic regimes. She proposed that ruling parties can maintain political control under

6384-554: The assimilation of American Indians. Some scholars have characterized the law as an attempt to encourage people to leave Indian reservations for urban areas, which resulted in poverty, joblessness, homelessness for many in the new urban environment. By 1968, the American Indian Movement (AIM) was founded in urban Minneapolis, Minnesota, and other activist groups were established in cities after termination. For years, internal tribal tensions had been growing over

6496-604: The ballot itself was designed by a Democrat, it was the Democratic candidate, Al Gore , who was most harmed by voter errors because of this design. Poor or misleading design is usually not illegal and therefore not technically election fraud, but it can nevertheless subvert the principles of democracy. Sweden has a system with separate ballots used for each party, to reduce confusion among candidates. However, ballots from small parties such as Piratpartiet , Junilistan and Feministiskt initiativ have been omitted or placed on

6608-501: The chamber of commerce building, damaged the courthouse and destroyed two police cars, and vandalized other buildings. Native American protests had only recently been receiving media attention regarding their civil rights. Preceding the Wounded Knee Occupation was the Occupation of Alcatraz that started November 20, 1969, lasted for two years, and inspired more indigenous activism. The 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties march ended with

6720-408: The charges against Banks and Means for conspiracy and assault (both Banks and Means were defended by William Kunstler and Mark Lane ). The jury had voted 12–0 to acquit both defendants of the conspiracy charge, but before the second vote one juror suffered a stroke and could not continue deliberations. The government refused to accept a verdict of eleven jurors and sought a mistrial; in the meantime,

6832-482: The community to discuss how to deal with the deteriorating situation on the reservation. Women elders such as OSCRO founder Ellen Moves Camp , Gladys Bissonette , and Agnes Lamont urged the men to take action. They decided to make a stand at the hamlet of Wounded Knee, the renowned site of the last large-scale massacre of the American Indian Wars . They occupied the town and announced their demand for

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6944-408: The conviction of a man for the murder of Anna Mae Aquash , Robinson renewed her calls for an investigation into her husband's death. Paul DeMain, editor of News From Indian Country , has said that based on interviews, he believes "Robinson was killed because, based on a misinformation campaign, some thought he was an FBI spy." In 2014, the FBI confirmed that Robinson had been killed and buried on

7056-650: The defense team filed a motion for judgment of acquittal. The judge ruled to dismiss, citing prosecutorial misconduct , stating: "It is my belief, however, that the misconduct by the government in this case is so aggravated that a dismissal must be entered in the interests of justice." In 1975 the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the government's appeal was barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause and dismissed it, "despite Government's argument that jurisdiction should be assumed due to

7168-430: The difficult conditions on the Pine Ridge Reservation, which has been one of the poorest areas in the United States since it was set up. Many of the tribe believed that Wilson, just elected tribal chairman in 1972, had rapidly become autocratic and corrupt, controlling too much of the employment and other limited opportunities on the reservation. They believed that Wilson favored his family and friends in patronage awards of

7280-490: The dirt", and "sounds of shooting all over town" from both sides. On March 13, Harlington Wood Jr. , the assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ), became the first government official to enter Wounded Knee without a military escort. Determined to resolve the deadlock without further bloodshed, he met with AIM leaders for days. While exhaustion made him too ill to conclude

7392-429: The elected government recognized by the United States. The Traditionalists tended to be Oglala who held onto their language and customs, and who did not desire to participate in US federal programs administered by the tribal government. In his 2007 book on the twentieth-century political history of the Pine Ridge Reservation, historian Akim Reinhardt notes the decades-long ethnic and cultural differences among residents at

7504-506: The globe. The legacy of the Siege of Wounded Knee is rife with disagreements, due to the controversial approaches of AIM and the FBI. The FBI has faced criticism for their speculated underhanded attempts to undermine AIM through COINTELPRO -like methods, such as releasing false information and having undercover individuals sow disorder within AIM and Wounded Knee. It has also been suggested that

7616-626: The government sent Colonel Volney Warner, chief of staff of the 82nd Airborne, to see whether or not the army would need to use force to take back Wounded Knee. Warner was also sympathetic to AIM, changing the FBI order from "shoot to kill" to "shoot to wound" and finally to "do not shoot at all", reporting that AIM would not harm anyone. On March 6, the federal spokesman, Erikson, told AIM to "surrender, or else" and to "send all women and children out of Wounded Knee before darkness fell on March 8th" but nothing resulted from this threat. On March 11, four postal inspectors, thought to be spies by AIM, drove into

7728-399: The impact of systemic electoral manipulation and political duopoly . Voter intimidation involves putting undue pressure on a voter or group of voters so that they will vote a particular way, or not at all. Absentee and other remote voting can be more open to some forms of intimidation as the voter does not have the protection and privacy of the polling location. Intimidation can take

7840-407: The limited number of jobs and benefits. Some criticism addressed the mixed-race ancestry of Wilson and his favorites, and suggested they worked too closely with Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officials who still had a hand in reservation affairs. Some full-blood Oglala believed they were not getting fair opportunities. "Traditionalists" had their own leaders and influence in a parallel stream to

7952-520: The negotiation, he is credited as the "icebreaker" between the government and AIM. After 30 days, the government's tactics became harsher when Kent Frizell was appointed from the DOJ to manage the government's response. He cut off electricity, water, and food supplies to Wounded Knee, when it was still winter in South Dakota, and prohibited the entry of the media. The US government tried starving out

8064-423: The neighboring Philippines and Indonesia , together with suffrage, in order for a political party to "dominate" the state of Sabah ; this controversial process was known as Project IC . A method of manipulating primary contests and other elections of party leaders are related to this. People who support one party may temporarily join another party (or vote in a crossover way, when permitted) in order to elect

8176-582: The occupants , and AIM activists smuggled food and medical supplies in past roadblocks "set up by Dick Wilson and tacitly supported by the US government". Keefer, a Deputy U.S. Marshal at the scene, said there were no persons between federal agents and the town, and that the federal marshals' firepower could have killed anyone in the open landscape. The Marshals Service decided to wait out the AIM followers in order to reduce casualties on both sides. Some activists organized an airlift of food supplies to Wounded Knee. Carter Camp, an AIM spokesperson and organizer of

8288-577: The occupation is quoted saying, "We have 10 or 12", referring to hostages that were allies of Tribal President Richard Wilson. On April 1, the FBI began to hint at division within AIM leadership and other occupiers, but this was refuted by Means and Banks the next day. Sometime during March, Leonard Crow Dog , the spiritual leader of The American Indian Movement , brought back the Ghost Dance . He claims in his book Crow Dog: Four Generations Sioux of Medicine Men , "My great-grandfather's spirit gave me

8400-482: The occupation, "If something happens to me I want to stay at Wounded Knee. Don't make any fuss over me. Just bury me in my bunker." He was then buried in his bunker (close to the long trench where the 300 were buried) in a Sioux ceremony by Leonard Crow Dog and Wallace Black Elk. Ray Robinson , a black civil rights activist, went to South Dakota to join the Wounded Knee occupation. He was seen there by both

8512-476: The occupation, the federal government lifted the roadblocks and forced Wilson's people away as well. When the cordon was briefly lifted, many new supporters and activists joined the Oglala at Wounded Knee. Publicity had made the site and action an inspiration to American Indians nationally. On March 8, the leaders declared the territory of Wounded Knee to be the independent Oglala Nation and demanded negotiations with

8624-520: The one-hundred-year anniversary of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, in 1990, Russell Means barred South Dakota Governor George S. Mickelson from taking part in commemorating the dead there. Means argued, "It would be an insult because we live in the racist state of South Dakota, and he is the Governor." Despite disputes about the handling of Wounded Knee, the incident shed a light on the problems facing American Indians and showed them that they could have

8736-643: The outcome of an election. For example, in the Chilean presidential election of 1970 , the U.S. government's Central Intelligence Agency used "black propaganda"—materials purporting to be from various political parties—to sow discord between members of a coalition between socialists and communists. Another method, allegedly used in Cook County, Illinois , in 2004, is to falsely tell particular people that they are not eligible to vote In 1981 in New Jersey,

8848-399: The people prepared to defend themselves against the government's aggressions." By the morning of February 28, both sides began to be entrenched. The federal government established roadblocks around the community for 15 miles in every direction. In some areas, Wilson stationed his GOONs outside the federal boundary and required even federal officials to stop for passage. About ten days into

8960-454: The primary. At AIM's behest, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights investigated the election and found that it had been "permeated with fraud". The fraudulent actions included voter fraud, a lack of poll watchers, and a lack of oversight. However, no formal action was taken to rectify this, and Wilson remained in charge. After an eight-and-a-half-month trial the U.S. District Court of South Dakota ( Fred Joseph Nichol , presiding judge) dismissed

9072-446: The protest. At the time there was widespread public sympathy for the goals of the occupation, as Americans were becoming more aware of longstanding issues of injustice related to Natives. Afterward AIM leaders Dennis Banks and Russell Means were indicted on charges related to the events, but their 1974 case was dismissed by the federal court for prosecutorial misconduct, a decision upheld on appeal. Wilson stayed in office and in 1974

9184-463: The proxies. These people, unknown to the voter, cast the vote for the party of their choice. In the United Kingdom , this is known as 'granny farming.' One of methods of electoral fraud is to destroy ballots for an opposing candidate or party. While mass destruction of ballots can be difficult to achieve without drawing attention to it, in a very close election it may be possible to destroy

9296-640: The public interest in fair trials designed to end in just judgements". On September 5, 1975, FBI agents came into Leonard Crow Dog 's home (Crow Dog's Paradise) and arrested him for preventing federal officers from performing their assignment. His trial was held in January 1976 in Rapid City, South Dakota, where he was found guilty in under an hour. He was later released in September 1976 after his legal team brought in thousands of support letters from around

9408-649: The removal of Wilson from office and for immediate revival of treaty talks with the U.S. government. Dennis Banks and Russell Means were prominent spokesmen during the occupation; they often addressed the press, knowing they were making their cause known directly to the American public. The brothers Clyde and Vernon Bellecourt were also AIM leaders at the time, who operated in Minneapolis . On February 28, 1973, AIM leaders Russell Means (Oglala) and Carter Camp ( Ponca ), together with 200 activists and Oglala of

9520-508: The reopening of treaty negotiations with the goal of fair and equitable treatment of Native Americans. Oglala and AIM activists controlled the town for 71 days while the United States Marshals Service , FBI agents, and other law enforcement agencies cordoned off the area. The activists chose the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre for its symbolic value. In March, a U.S. Marshal was shot by gunfire coming from

9632-492: The reservation after allegedly being killed during a confrontation with AIM members. Following Lamont's death the two sides agreed to a truce, which led to the end of the occupation. Remedial steps were part of the negotiated resolution. The occupation attracted wide media coverage, especially after the press accompanied two U.S. Senators from South Dakota to Wounded Knee. The events electrified Native Americans, and many Native American supporters traveled to Wounded Knee to join

9744-474: The reservation in April 1973. Robinson was allegedly killed by AIM members during a confrontation. Robinson's remains have not been found. The FBI said it had closed his case. After Lamont's death, tribal elders called for an end to the occupation. Knowing the young man and his mother from the reservation, many Oglala grieved after his death. Both sides reached an agreement on May 5 to disarm. The terms included

9856-508: The reservation, which many attributed to Wilson's private militia, Guardians of the Oglala Nation, attacking political opponents to suppress opposition. The so-called "GOONs" were initially funded with $ 62,000 from the BIA to be "an auxiliary police force". Another concern was the failure of the justice systems in border towns to prosecute white attacks against Lakota men who went to the towns for their numerous saloons and bars. Alcohol

9968-488: The reservation. He attributes the Wounded Knee Occupation more to the rising of such internal tensions than to the arrival of AIM, who had been invited to the reservation by OSCRO. He also believes that the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 did not do enough to reduce U.S. federal government intervention into Sioux and other tribal affairs; he describes the elected tribal governments since the 1930s as

10080-421: The resulting report did not provide the extensive legal and historical analysis that was expected and was quickly passed from view. Wounded Knee Occupation The Wounded Knee Occupation , also known as Second Wounded Knee , began on February 27, 1973, when approximately 200 Oglala Lakota (sometimes referred to as Oglala Sioux) and followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupied

10192-516: The results. President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro also made numerous claims of electoral fraud without evidence during and after the 2022 Brazilian presidential election . Vote buying occurs when a political party or candidate seeks to buy the vote of a voter in an upcoming election. Vote buying can take various forms such as a monetary exchange, as well as an exchange for necessary goods or services. A list of threats to voting systems, or electoral fraud methods considered as sabotage are kept by

10304-431: The right to vote, and fraud related to absentee ballots in federal elections. In France, someone guilty may be fined and/or imprisoned for not more than one year, or two years if the person is a public official. Electoral fraud can occur in advance of voting if the composition of the electorate is altered. The legality of this type of manipulation varies across jurisdictions. Deliberate manipulation of election outcomes

10416-562: The so-called GOONS or Guardians of the Oglala Nation . The murder rate between March 1, 1973, and March 1, 1976, averaged 56.7 per 100,000 per annum (170 per 100,000 over the whole period). Detroit had a rate of 20.2 per 100,000 in 1974 and at the time was considered "the murder capital of the US". The national average was 9.7 per 100,000. More than 60 opponents of the tribal government allegedly died violently during this period, including Pedro Bissonette, executive director of OSCRO. AIM representatives said many were unsolved murders, but in 2002

10528-602: The tactic of using disinformation to suppress voter turnout, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley said the two men had "infringed upon the right to vote", and that "by pleading guilty, they were held accountable for their un-American actions.” False claims of electoral fraud can be used as a basis for attempting to overturn an election. During and after the 2020 presidential election , incumbent President Donald Trump made numerous baseless allegations of electoral fraud by supporters of Democratic candidate Joe Biden . The Trump campaign lost numerous legal challenges to

10640-492: The term "electoral fraud" covers only those acts which are illegal, the term is sometimes used to describe acts which are legal , but considered morally unacceptable, outside the spirit of an election or in violation of the principles of democracy . Show elections , featuring only one candidate, are sometimes classified as electoral fraud, although they may comply with the law and are presented more as referendums/plebiscites. In national elections, successful electoral fraud on

10752-433: The town and said they were there to inspect the post office and trading post. AIM's security stopped and disarmed them, finding handguns, handcuffs, and badges. Security took them to the museum and Leonard Crow Dog gave them food and an approximately 30-minute lecture on Indian history and why they were occupying Wounded Knee, afterwards escorting them to the federal lines. Both AIM and federal government documents show that

10864-531: The town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota , United States, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation . The protest followed the failure of an effort of the Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization (OSCRO) to use impeachment to remove tribal president Richard Wilson , whom they accused of corruption and abuse of opponents. Protesters also criticized the United States government's failure to fulfill treaties with Native American people , and demanded

10976-407: The town, which ultimately resulted in paralysis . Frank Clearwater (of Cherokee and Apache nations) was shot and wounded on April 17, dying 8 days later on April 25, 1973, and Lawrence "Buddy" Lamont ( Oglala ) was shot and killed on April 26, 1973. Ray Robinson , a civil rights activist who joined the protesters, disappeared during the events. It was later determined that he had been buried on

11088-421: The turn of the century into the late 1960s, most African Americans in the southern states comprising the former Confederacy were disenfranchised by such measures. Corrupt election officials may misuse voting regulations such as a literacy test or requirement for proof of identity or address in such a way as to make it difficult or impossible for their targets to cast a vote. If such practices discriminate against

11200-421: The two sides traded fire through much of the three months. U.S. Marshal Lloyd Grimm was shot early in the conflict and suffered paralysis from the waist down. Among the many Indian supporters who joined the protest were Frank Clearwater and his pregnant wife, who were Cherokee from North Carolina . He was shot in the head April 17 within 24 hours of his arrival, while resting in an occupied church, during what

11312-470: The vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of rival candidates, or both. It differs from but often goes hand-in-hand with voter suppression . What exactly constitutes electoral fraud varies from country to country, though the goal is often election subversion . Electoral legislation outlaws many kinds of election fraud, but other practices violate general laws, such as those banning assault , harassment or libel . Although technically

11424-411: The voter has voted for more candidates than entitled, for instance. It would be difficult to do this to a large number of paper ballots without detection in some locales, but altogether too simple in others, especially jurisdictions where legitimate ballot spoiling by voter would serve a clear and reasonable aim: for example emulating protest votes in jurisdictions that have recently had and since abolished

11536-568: The wrong system is used. For instance, if a voter puts a first-past-the-post cross in a numbered single transferable vote ballot paper, it is invalidated. For example, in Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom, up to three different voting systems and types of ballots may be used, based on the jurisdictional level of the election. Local elections are determined by single transferable votes ; Scottish parliamentary elections by

11648-405: Was an activist who had been present at Wounded Knee and was later suspected of being a spy for the government. It was later revealed that most of this campaign to discredit her can be traced to Douglass Durham, an FBI informant. Aquash was found dead near Highway 73 on February 24, 1976. Her cause of death was initially ruled as exposure, suggesting that alcohol had been involved, even though there

11760-422: Was described by both sides as a vicious firefight with federal forces. AIM supporters evacuated Clearwater from the village but he died in a hospital on April 25. Lawrence "Buddy" Lamont, a local Oglala, was killed by a shot from a federal agent's sniper bullet that went through the heart on April 26 during the biggest shoot-out of the siege, and the next day on April 27 it was reported he had died. He said during

11872-411: Was none in her bloodstream. Dissatisfied with this finding, an exhumation was requested by OSCRO, which found that Aquash had been shot in the back of her head at close range. AIM members Arlo Looking Cloud and John Graham were convicted of Aquash's murder in 2004 and 2010; both received life sentences. Additionally, AIM activist Thelma Rios pled guilty as an accessory to the kidnapping. In 2000,

11984-495: Was nullified by the Constitutional Court in 2020 because many results were changed by use of correction fluid, as well as duplicate, unverified and unsigned results forms. California allows correction fluid and tape, so changes can be made after the ballot leaves the voter. Where votes are recorded through electronic or mechanical means, the voting machinery may be altered so that a vote intended for one candidate

12096-533: Was prohibited on the reservation. Local police seldom prosecuted crimes against the Lakota or charged assailants at lesser levels. Recent murders in border towns heightened concerns on the reservation. An example was the January 27, 1973, murder of 20-year-old Wesley Bad Heart Bull in a bar in Buffalo Gap, South Dakota , which the tribe believed was due to his race. On February 6, AIM led about 200 supporters to

12208-456: Was re-elected amid charges of intimidation, voter fraud , and other abuses. The rate of violence climbed on the reservation as conflict opened between political factions in the following three years; residents accused Wilson's private militia, Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs), of much of it. According to AIM, there were 64 unsolved murders during these years, including opponents of the tribal government, such as Pedro Bissonette, director of

12320-770: Was the 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack , where followers of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh deliberately contaminated salad bars in The Dalles, Oregon , in an attempt to weaken political opposition during county elections. Historically, this tactic included Lynching in the United States to terrorize potential African American voters in some areas. Polling places in an area known to support a particular party or candidate may be targeted for vandalism, destruction or threats, thus making it difficult or impossible for people in that area to vote. In this case, voters will be made to believe, accurately or otherwise, that they are not legally entitled to vote, or that they are legally obliged to vote

12432-421: Was told she could not give the original speech given to her by Brando and was warned that she would be physically taken off and arrested if she was on stage for more than a minute. Afterwards, she read his original words about Wounded Knee backstage to many of the press. This recaptured the attention of millions in the United States and world media. AIM supporters and participants thought Littlefeather's speech to be

12544-529: Was used to maintain the agreed alternation between the Liberals and the Conservatives. This system of local political domination, especially rooted in rural areas and small cities, was known as caciquismo . Another method is to make it appear that the voter has spoiled his or her ballot, thus rendering it invalid. Typically this would be done by adding another mark to the paper, making it appear that

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