I think my favorite argument against voter id laws is “there have only been X% voter fraud convictions and therefore voter fraud is very rare.” That’s like saying “people are only ticketed for speeding 1% of the time and therefore they are only speeding 1% of the time.” Do you see the logical hole in that argument? Convictions only represent the fraction of offenders that are actually caught and prosecuted. It’s hard to catch someone when you don’t even check id at the door. You’ve have to have someone interested and suspicious enough to flag a particular voter, persuade a prosecutor to investigate, and prove that the person is who voted is not who they say they are. I seriously doubt that happens in more than a tiny fraction of cases where voter fraud actually occurs. The advantage of voter id laws is to deter people from committing the fraud we don’t know about.
- dilbert firestorm
- 09-11-2012, 05:00 AM
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/08/15/.../tab/comments/
- i'va biggen
- 09-11-2012, 06:51 AM
Don't know how it is there here election staff are half dem and half rep before elections you have had to have your name on a list now a photo ID to blame only one party for a fraud is stupid when they are both to blame..
- I B Hankering
- 09-11-2012, 10:14 AM
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/08/15/judge-refuses-to-block-pennsylvania-voter-id-law/tab/comments/+1
I think my favorite argument against voter id laws is “there have only been X% voter fraud convictions and therefore voter fraud is very rare.” That’s like saying “people are only ticketed for speeding 1% of the time and therefore they are only speeding 1% of the time.” Do you see the logical hole in that argument? Convictions only represent the fraction of offenders that are actually caught and prosecuted. It’s hard to catch someone when you don’t even check id at the door. You’ve have to have someone interested and suspicious enough to flag a particular voter, persuade a prosecutor to investigate, and prove that the person is who voted is not who they say they are. I seriously doubt that happens in more than a tiny fraction of cases where voter fraud actually occurs. The advantage of voter id laws is to deter people from committing the fraud we don’t know about.Originally Posted by dilbert firestorm
Don't know how it is there here election staff are half dem and half rep before elections you have had to have your name on a list now a photo ID to blame only one party for a fraud is stupid when they are both to blame. Originally Posted by ekim008You had better watch it, Ekim! Somebody might actually accuse you of thinking!