Federal and state authorities last week confirmed that at least 19 dead people were recently re-registered to vote in the key swing state of Virginia. Reports indicate that the alleged fraud was committed by a James Madison University student and that federal and local investigations are already underway.

But one of Virginia’s top lawmakers said registering dead people to vote does not constitute voter fraud.  

“First of all, there was no voter fraud — they caught him,” Virginia House Minority Leader David J. Toscano (D-Charlottesville) told the Washington Post. “Nobody cast a vote. .?.?. There’s still no evidence of that going on in the state. But there is evidence every time you turn around that the Republicans are trying to make it more difficult for citizens to vote in elections.”

The response might sound outrageous. Authorities have confirmed that deceased people were re-registered to vote, and a suspect reportedly already has been identified. What would you call registering dead people to vote if not voter fraud?

But as we’ve already documented, such denials and accusations are not uncommon despite America’s long history of voter fraud.

Reasonable people can disagree about the extent to which voter fraud exists in the U.S.

But claims that it “never” happens and the inability to call registering dead people “voter fraud” are odd, to say the least.

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Jon Miltimore is senior editor of Intellectual Takeout. Follow him on Facebook.