A new study shows voter fraud has been virtually non-existent since 2000.

A News21 analysis of 2,068 alleged election-fraud cases since 2000 shows that while fraud has occurred, the rate is infinitesimal, and in-person voter impersonation on Election Day, which prompted 37 state legislatures to enact or consider tough voter ID laws, is virtually non-existent.

In an exhaustive public records search, News21 reporters sent thousands of requests to elections officers in all 50 states, asking for every case of fraudulent activity including registration fraud, absentee ballot fraud, vote buying, false election counts, campaign fraud, casting an ineligible vote, voting twice, voter impersonation fraud and intimidation.

Analysis of the resulting comprehensive News21 election fraud database turned up 10 cases of voter impersonation. With 146 million registered voters in the United States during that time, those 10 cases represent one out of about every 15 million prospective voters.

I know, I know. Whose study is this? Well, it’s a project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Those are both pretty reputable organizations.

I’d say all these voter ID laws are a solution in search of a problem, and in the Republican Party’s eyes the problem is that there are too damned many people who want to vote for Democrats.