Friday, February 7, 2014

Voter ID Laws And Minority Vote Suppression

I found an interesting article in the September 3, 2012 Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the effects of Georgia's voter ID law.  You know, one of those laws that everyone just knows is there to suppress minority voting:
Turnout among black and Hispanic voters increased from 2006 to 2010, dramatically outpacing population growth for those groups over the same period.
Of course, being the Journal-Constitution, they had to stick in this curious claim:
 On the other hand, Georgia’s top elections official could not point to a single case of ballot fraud the voter ID law had prevented.
Duh.  The goal of voter ID was to prevent fraud.  How stupid do you have to be to vote twice, knowing that you are likely to get caught?

And then, a bit later on, we get this tidbit:
Still, the law has had real and measurable effect for some voters: Since November 2008, the ballots of 1,586 Georgians didn’t count because of the law. (They arrived at the polls without a photo ID, cast provisional ballots, and did not return later with the required ID.)  
They cared enough to vote...until they had to return with a photo ID.

2 comments:

  1. Lets say you were a voter who just forgot for whatever reason to have ID with you on the day. After the election, you will see the announced results of the races and questions that you voted on.

    At that point, unless it is an Obenshain/Herring or Franken/Coleman close call, why would you bother to go back and seal your votes?

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  2. You raise an important point. I just can't imagine how you could not have ID on you, but then again, I have to drive to my polling place, which is about five miles away.

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