Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The Myth About Democrat Voter Suppression In the 2012 Elections

The Supreme Court’s hearing of challenges to the Voting Rights Act may result in a tightening of voting requirements. In anticipation, Democrats are preemptively pushing to make voting and voter registration easier in the court of public opinion. They complain that long lines on Election Day cost “Democrats hundreds of thousands of voters in November.” President Obama is expected to call for further loosening of voter requirements in his State of the Union address.

Democratic media and talking points do not disclose that 2012 wait times were slightly shorter than in 2008, there were no significant differences in wait times by party identification, voters were satisfied with the voting process, and expressed considerable support for voter IDs. The 2012 election was much the same as 2008 but without the same Democrat gnashing of teeth over voter suppression.

go to forbes.com

1 comment:

  1. Paul, it is interesting that anyone would find the results of the MIT study "interesting" (at least the portion on wait times by party vote). Not only are any differences in average wait time statistically insignificant, but at best they reflect the only (and small) negative side effect of urban density when it comes to delivering votes. I would have loved to see the survey ask a more relevant question: "How long did it take you to go vote today?" I bet when you account for the propinquity of polling stations in urban areas versus suburban and exurban areas, the Rep vs Dem gap will blow out. Of course, the survey could also seek to tease the advantages in time/certainty of voting conferred by early voting (in my county, Mecklenburg NC, it is much easier to find you early voting station the closer you are to the inner city). Finally, I would have also loved to see this question asked: "Did you get any assistance getting to and from voting?"

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