research assignment
"A STRUCTURAL MODEL OF TURNOUT AND VOTING IN MULTIPLE ELECTIONS." Degan, Arianna ... Merlo, Antonio Journal of the European Economic Association. Apr2011, Vol. 9 Issue 2, p209. 37p. 9 Charts. "In the United States, there is considerable variation in voter turnout both within and across types of elections (for example, Blais 2000). Also, participation and abstention rates are in general not uniform in the population of eligible voters, but are correlated with several demographic characteristics such as age, education, gender, and race (for example, Matsusaka and Palda 1999)." WTH
AFF
"A STRUCTURAL MODEL OF TURNOUT AND VOTING IN MULTIPLE ELECTIONS." Degan, Arianna ... Merlo, Antonio Journal of the European Economic Association. Apr2011, Vol. 9 Issue 2, p210. 37p. 9 Charts. In particular, often people vote in some elections but abstain in others (selective abstention), or vote for candidates of different parties in different elections (split-ticket voting). In national elections, for example, it is typically the case that more people vote for President than for Congress, and a sizeable fraction of voters vote for the Republican Presidential candidate and the Democratic Congressional candidate or the other way around (for example, Burden and Kimball 2002) WTH
AFF
"A STRUCTURAL MODEL OF TURNOUT AND VOTING IN MULTIPLE ELECTIONS." Degan, Arianna ... Merlo, Antonio Journal of the European Economic Association. Apr2011, Vol. 9 Issue 2, p211. 37p. 9 Charts. "Our empirical results highlight the potentially large impact of informing voters on electoral outcomes. This is an important finding which provides evidence that elections do not necessarily aggregate all the available information. For example, we show that informational asymmetries among citizens disadvantaged Democratic candidates in the 2000 US national elections." WTH
AFF
"A STRUCTURAL MODEL OF TURNOUT AND VOTING IN MULTIPLE ELECTIONS." Degan, Arianna ... Merlo, Antonio Journal of the European Economic Association. Apr2011, Vol. 9 Issue 2, p211. 37p. 9 Charts. "Our estimates imply that ceteris paribus: the more educated citizens are, the more liberal and the better informed they tend to be, and the higher their sense of civic duty; and individuals who are either catholic or protestant tend to be more conservative, more informed, and have a higher sense of civic duty than those who are not Christians" WTH
AFF
"A STRUCTURAL MODEL OF TURNOUT AND VOTING IN MULTIPLE ELECTIONS." Degan, Arianna ... Merlo, Antonio Journal of the European Economic Association. Apr2011, Vol. 9 Issue 2, p211. 37p. 9 Charts. "We find that a considerable part of the incumbency advantage in Congressional elections (that is, the observation that incumbents on average obtain a larger vote share than challengers) can be explained by the fact that more information is typically available on incumbents than challengers." WTH
AFF
"A comprehensive investigation of voter impersonation finds 31 credible incidents out of one billion ballots cast" Justin Levitt of Loyola Law School for Washington Post (2014) "First, the court cited the idea that ID laws could enhance public confidence--that is, in theory, the laws might make us feel better about elections in that they might provide some security theater. It turns out, though, that this effect is hard to spot. People in states with more restrictive ID laws don't generally feel better about their elections than people in more permissive states. People who think elections are being stolen, and people who think they're not, each hold on to that opinion no matter what the governing ID rules in their area. The factor that really influences whether people think the elections are fair? Whether their preferred candidates win." WTH
AFF
"A comprehensive investigation of voter impersonation finds 31 credible incidents out of one billion ballots cast" Justin Levitt of Loyola Law School for Washington Post (2014) "So far, I've found about 31 different incidents (some of which involve multiple ballots) since 2000, anywhere in the country. If you want to check my work, you can read a comprehensive list of the incidents below. To put this in perspective, the 31 incidents below come in the context of general, primary, special, and municipal elections from 2000 through 2014. In general and primary elections alone, more than 1 billion ballots were cast in that period." WTH
AFF
"A comprehensive investigation of voter impersonation finds 31 credible incidents out of one billion ballots cast" Justin Levitt of Loyola Law School for Washington Post (2014) "This sort of misdirection is pretty common, actually. Election fraud happens. But ID laws are not aimed at the fraud you'll actually hear about. Most current ID laws (Wisconsin is a rare exception) aren't designed to stop fraud with absentee ballots (indeed, laws requiring ID at the polls push more people into the absentee system, where there are plenty of real dangers). Or vote buying. Or coercion. Or fake registration forms. Or voting from the wrong address. Or ballot box stuffing by officials in on the scam." WTH
AFF
"A comprehensive investigation of voter impersonation finds 31 credible incidents out of one billion ballots cast" Justin Levitt of Loyola Law School for Washington Post (2014) "Second, the court said that ID laws can help stop fraud. It then cited an example of recent fraud ... that ID laws aren't designed to stop. Specifically, it mentioned a case in which a supporter of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was charged with 13 counts of election fraud, including "registering to vote in more than one place, voting where he didn't live, voting more than once in the same election, and providing false information to election officials," according to an account by Talking Points Memo. Wisconsin's ID law would not likely have prevented any of the alleged violations." WTH
AFF
"Automatic Voter Registration Will Make America a Real Democracy" Katrina Gamble, Newsweek (2015) In a 2008 Current Population Survey, blacks and Latinos cited "difficulties with the registration process" as their reason for not registering to vote, while whites disproportionately reported not registering because they were "not interested in elections or politics." WTH
AFF
"Automatic Voter Registration Will Make America a Real Democracy" Katrina Gamble, Newsweek (2015) "A strong democracy with easy access to voter registration would give power to communities frequently marginalized by the system. Universal automatic voter registration would provide power to push for causes such as affordable high-quality child care, better wages, job security and quality public education. A truly democratic America doesn't make its citizens jump through hoops to gain access to a basic entitlement: the right to vote. It's time for automatic voter registration." WTH
AFF
"Automatic Voter Registration Will Make America a Real Democracy" Katrina Gamble, Newsweek (2015) "Imagine if all 50 states implemented automatic voter registration. The Center for Popular Democracy did, crunched the numbers and found that a voter registration system collecting data from not just the DMV but also revenue agencies, the Postal Service and others could result in the registration of 56 million more voters. This is assuming that automatic voter registration systems would capture approximately 90 percent of the total electorate." WTH
AFF
"Automatic Voter Registration Will Make America a Real Democracy" Katrina Gamble, Newsweek (2015) "Right now, our state of democracy is far from what it should be. In the 2012 presidential election, a mere 133 million out of 215 million Americans eligible to vote exercised their right to do so. The U.S. ranks 120 out of 162 countries in electoral participation. Our current outmoded paper-based voter registration system makes the process of registering to vote unnecessarily cumbersome, disproportionately disenfranchising low-income communities, blacks, Latinos and young people." WTH
AFF
"How Automatic Voter Registration Can Transform American Politics" Ari Berman, The Nation (2015) "Automatic voter registration in California would lead to "the single largest voter registration drive in American history," says California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. Not every unregistered Californian will be instantly signed up, but "it will only be a few years before a big majority of that group is captured," Padilla says." WTH
AFF
"How Automatic Voter Registration Can Transform American Politics" Ari Berman, The Nation (2015) "During the 2012 election, the United States ranked 31st of 34 developed countries in voter turnout. Yet 84 percent of registered voters cast ballots. The US doesn't have a voter turnout problem; we have a voter registration problem. Our turnout is abysmal because so many eligible voters are not even registered to vote." WTH
AFF
"How Automatic Voter Registration Can Transform American Politics" Ari Berman, The Nation (2015) "The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and National Voter Registration Act of 1993 enfranchised millions of new voters. After passage of the VRA, for example, the number of black registered voters in the South increased from 31 percent to 73 percent. Despite these landmark laws, 51 million Americans—1 in 4 eligible voters—are still not registered to vote. "Among eligible voters, some 30 percent of African Americans, 40 percent of Hispanics, 45 percent of Asian Americans, and 41 percent of young adults (age 18-24), were not registered to vote in the historic 2008 election," according to Demos." WTH
AFF
"How Automatic Voter Registration Can Transform American Politics" Ari Berman, The Nation (2015) "Voter registration laws have historically been used to exclude people from the democratic process. "There's a lot of other rights that we don't have to opt into—freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom from discrimination," Padilla says. The right to vote should have the same universal protection." WTH
AFF
"Issue Brief: Inaccurate, Costly, and Inefficient: Evidence That America's Voter Registration System Needs an Upgrade" 2012, p. 2 Pew Center on the States "One reason for these problems is that many of us are unlikely to live in one voting precinct all our lives: 1) About one in eight Americans moved during the 2008 and 2010 election years. 2) Some Americans—including those serving in the military, young people, and those living in communities affected by the economic downturn— are even more transient. For example, census and other data indicate that as many as one in four young Americans moves in a given year" WTH
AFF
"Issue Brief: Inaccurate, Costly, and Inefficient: Evidence That America's Voter Registration System Needs an Upgrade" 2012, p. 5 Pew Center on the States These findings are consistent with other research. In the 2008 general election, 2.2 million votes were lost because of registration problems, according to a survey by researchers at the California Institute of Technology/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Voting Technology Project. Additionally, 5.7 million people faced a registration related problem that needed to be resolved before voting, according to the Cooperative Congressional Election Study. Two recent studies also found that 8 percent to 12 percent of registration records contain errors. WTH
AFF
"Issue Brief: Inaccurate, Costly, and Inefficient: Evidence That America's Voter Registration System Needs an Upgrade" 2012, p. 6 Pew Center on the States "The costs of maintaining a voter list in then United States are high when compared with our neighboring democracy, Canada, which spends only 35 cents per active voter to create and maintain its lists in a federal election year—one-twelfth the cost in the U.S. " WTH
AFF
"Issue Brief: Inaccurate, Costly, and Inefficient: Evidence That America's Voter Registration System Needs an Upgrade" 2012, p. 8 Pew Center on the States "Third-party organizations are most active close to an election, and thus submit millions of paper applications just before registration deadlines. Voter lists rely upon the information solicited by these groups, but if a voter moves, election officials are unlikely to learn of it, if at all, until immediately before the next registration deadline, when paper forms again flood election offices." WTH
AFF
"Left turn: Expect more Democratic states to adopt a system that favours Democrats" The Economist (2015) "The new laws should save money, too. Centralising registration in one place and tapping into pre-existing databases at motor-vehicle offices should save a great deal of paperwork. Alex Padilla, California's secretary of state, says the new law is the most cost-conscious and effective way to reach the roughly 6.6m Californians who are eligible, but not registered, to vote, because 90% of them visit a motor-vehicle office at some stage." WTH
AFF
"Left turn: Expect more Democratic states to adopt a system that favours Democrats" The Economist (2015) "Under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, states have to offer citizens the option to register when they apply for such documents. Now, instead of "opting in" to vote, residents in California and Oregon will have to "opt out" of registration." WTH
AFF
"The evidence is overwhelming: Americans should be automatically registered to vote" Sean McElwee, Salon (2015) "There's another deep bias in the electorate: this one by class. People in families earning less than $50,000 made up 38 percent of the electorate in 2014 — in an equal turnout scenario, they would have made up 46 percent of the electorate." WTH
AFF
"Make It Easy: The Case for Automatic Registration" Heather K. Gerken Democracy Journal, Issue #28, Spring 2013 "Keep in mind what you are doing when you register to vote. You are simply asking the state to acknowledge something it already knows—that you are eligible to cast a ballot. Would we ever ask American citizens to fill out paperwork before they exercised another right to which they are automatically entitled—the right to free speech? Even setting aside concerns about prior restraints, it would be unthinkable. Would we ever be satisfied with a paperwork process that barred citizens from exercising their First Amendment rights because of bureaucratic errors that were eminently preventable? No." WTH
AFF
"Make It Easy: The Case for Automatic Registration" Heather K. Gerken Democracy Journal, Issue #28, Spring 2013 "Lost votes are the most obvious consequence of our registration system. The indirect consequences are almost as troubling. Precious poll-worker time is wasted every time a voter shows up at the polls and discovers he's not registered or is listed with the wrong name, address, or birthday. Poll workers have to double check the list, explain the problem to the voter, listen to his inevitably frustrated response, and help him fill out a provisional ballot. All the while, the line gets longer and longer." WTH
AFF
"Make It Easy: The Case for Automatic Registration" Heather K. Gerken Democracy Journal, Issue #28, Spring 2013 "Our registration system isn't just inconsistent with our country's deep commitment to the right to vote. It's also made us a global outlier. The Brennan Center recently ranked countries based on how much responsibility the state took for registering its voters. On one side of the scale were the usual suspects—European democracies, Australia—and places like Argentina, Peru, and Indonesia. On the other? The Bahamas, Belize, Burundi...and the United States. In its very first election, Iraq created an automatic voter-registration system for its people. Too bad we haven't caught up yet." WTH
AFF
"Make It Easy: The Case for Automatic Registration" Heather K. Gerken Democracy Journal, Issue #28, Spring 2013 "What makes this all so frustrating is that there is an obvious solution. We could do what other democracies do—register everyone automatically. State officials have plenty of information on us. They know who we are and where we live. Using data-matching technology widely deployed in the private sector, creating a universal voter-registration list would be a relatively simple matter." WTH
AFF
"Mobilization, cost of voting and turnout: a natural randomized experiment with double elections" Fauvelle-Aymar, Christine; François, Abel Public Choice, 01/2015, Volume 162, Issue 1 p. 184 "By comparing the turnout rate of the two groups of voters, those voting in concurrent elections and those voting in a single election, at different levels of geographic aggregation, our analysis provides a robust assessment of the impact of mobilization efforts and of the cost of voting on turnout." WTH
AFF
"Mobilization, cost of voting and turnout: a natural randomized experiment with double elections" Fauvelle-Aymar, Christine; François, Abel Public Choice, 01/2015, Volume 162, Issue 1 p. 186 "The measure of voter turnout that we use is the proportion of voters who actually vote compared to the number of registered voters. This is the usual measure of turnout. It includes, in addition to valid ballots, blank and invalid votes. As a consequence, this turnout measurement includes all voters who came to the voting station, whatever the type of their ballot." WTH
AFF
"Mobilization, cost of voting and turnout: a natural randomized experiment with double elections" Fauvelle-Aymar, Christine; François, Abel Public Choice, 01/2015, Volume 162, Issue 1 p. 198 "Beyond its academic interest, it is worth noting that these findings have practical implications for public policy. Organizing elections on the same day contributes to increasing the turnout." WTH
AFF
"Mobilization, cost of voting and turnout: a natural randomized experiment with double elections" Fauvelle-Aymar, Christine; François, Abel Public Choice, 01/2015, Volume 162, Issue 1 p. 198 "In our analysis, we estimated the effect when the number of ballots presented to a voter goes from one to two. It is highly probable that this effect is not linear and that its marginal value decreases with the number of elections. In other words, the effect on turnout of organizing concurrent elections would certainly be less and less important as the number of ballots increases." WTH
AFF
"Mobilization, cost of voting and turnout: a natural randomized experiment with double elections" Fauvelle-Aymar, Christine; François, Abel Public Choice, 01/2015, Volume 162, Issue 1 p. 199 "For instance, the practice in the Southern states in the USA of holding off-year state elections could be questioned as a means for limiting voter mobilization" WTH
AFF
"Oregon pioneers automatic voter registration" Kendall Breitman, Politico (2015) "A new bill signed into law by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown "puts the burden of registration on the state instead of voters," according to the Associated Press." WTH
AFF
"Oregon pioneers automatic voter registration" Kendall Breitman, Politico (2015) "To implement the new law, Oregon's DMV will share the information it has stored — such as age, address and citizenship — with the state's secretary of state to automatically register those eligible to vote. The new law passed the Oregon Senate last week 18-12, with all Republicans and one Democrat voting against it." WTH
AFF
"Quick Takes: Automatic Voter Registration" Ayat Amin/Hailey Sanden, UCSD Guardian (2015) "Although automatic voter registration won't force any individual to vote, there's a lot of data that suggests it will increase voting rates. In California, this largely means Latinos, Asian Americans, the poor (citizens earning less than $30,000) and young adults (ages 18 to 34). These communities already have very low voting turnout. Huffington Post reported that in 2014, only 17 percent of eligible Latinos and 18 percent of eligible Asian Americans actually voted. In California, young adults make up 32 percent of the population, but only 13 percent voted, according to the Public Policy Institute of California." WTH
AFF
"Quick Takes: Automatic Voter Registration" Ayat Amin/Hailey Sanden, UCSD Guardian (2015) "There is a paranoid cry of: "We will get voter fraud!" However, as California Secretary of State Alex Padilla told Huffington Post, having voters registered through the DMV is a safe method because voters have to prove their age while also providing either a birth certificate or a passport." WTH
AFF
"Republicans Panic As Democrats Launch Automatic Voter Registration Campaign" Jesse Rappaport, Occupy Democrats • 2015 "According to a 2012 study, eleven percent of eligible voters lack the necessary form of identification, and "free [photo] IDs are not equally accessible to all voters." Low-income voters may not have access to a vehicle and would have to travel to obtain the ID; and, many ID-issuing offices have limited business hours: "For example, the office in Sauk City, Wisconsin is open only on the fifth Wednesday of any month." Voting laws which require citizens to jump through hurdles in order to exercise a fundamental democratic right disenfranchise voters who cannot afford to jump such hurdles because of lack of access, or, if someone is working multiple jobs, lack of time." WTH
AFF
"Republicans Panic As Democrats Launch Automatic Voter Registration Campaign" Jesse Rappaport, Occupy Democrats • 2015 "According to election law expert Rick Hasen, there are "very few documented cases" of fraud. "When you do see election fraud, it invariably involves election officials taking steps to change election results or it involves absentee ballots which voter ID laws can't prevent." WTH
AFF
"Republicans Panic As Democrats Launch Automatic Voter Registration Campaign" Jesse Rappaport, Occupy Democrats • 2015 "Conservatives attempt to conceal this blatant attempt to rewind the civil rights movement by invoking the threat of voter fraud. However, although there is reason to worry about fraud when it comes to Republican election officials, individual voter fraud is a practically non-existent problem. A 2007 analysis by the New York Times found only 120 cases of fraud over five years, many involving mistaken registration forms." WTH
AFF
"Republicans Panic As Democrats Launch Automatic Voter Registration Campaign" Jesse Rappaport, Occupy Democrats • 2015 "In 2013, the Supreme Court "effectively struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act," by allowing states to change their voting laws without advance federal approval. Recently, many states have adopted restrictive voter ID laws that require government-issued photo identification to be shown at the polls. Why do Republicans support such laws? Because they disproportionately affect minority and low-income voters, who tend to support the Democratic Party." WTH
AFF
"The Case for Automatic, Permanent Voter Registration" 2015, p. 11 Wendy Weiser, Myrna Pérez, Nicole Austin-Hillery, Tomas Lopez, Jonathan Brater, Adam Gitlin Brennan Center at NYU School of Law "Modernization also cuts costs. Virtually every state to have adopted these registration reforms reports savings by spending less on staff time, paper processing, or mailing, among other expenses. In its first year of electronic registration, Delaware's State Election Commission documented $200,000 in reduced labor costs. Maricopa County, cited above for its increased accuracy, also found that processing a paper registration form costs 83 cents, compared to an average of 3 cents for applications received electronically through the DMV or online." WTH
AFF
"The Case for Automatic, Permanent Voter Registration" 2015, p. 13 Wendy Weiser, Myrna Pérez, Nicole Austin-Hillery, Tomas Lopez, Jonathan Brater, Adam Gitlin Brennan Center at NYU School of Law "The biggest reason for opposition to a proposal like this, if unstated, is the notion that maybe we don't really want everyone to be able to vote. But that idea runs afoul of our most fundamental precepts. Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence, wrote that government is legitimate only if it rests on the "consent of the governed." That consent relies on robust voter participation but is greatly hindered when voters are thwarted by hurdles, errors, and long lines." WTH
AFF
"The Case for Automatic, Permanent Voter Registration" 2015, p. 4 Wendy Weiser, Myrna Pérez, Nicole Austin-Hillery, Tomas Lopez, Jonathan Brater, Adam Gitlin Brennan Center at NYU School of Law "Election experts and observers of all political stripes note that inaccurate voter rolls lead to confusion, delays at the polls, and wrongful exclusion of eligible citizens on Election Day. Others worry that bloated, outdated lists create the potential for fraud and manipulation, compromising the integrity of our election system. For example, more than 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state." WTH
AFF
"The Case for Automatic, Permanent Voter Registration" 2015, p. 1 Wendy Weiser, Myrna Pérez, Nicole Austin-Hillery, Tomas Lopez, Jonathan Brater, Adam Gitlin Brennan Center at NYU School of Law "Every citizen should have a fair and equal opportunity to get, and stay, registered to vote. Citizens must take the responsibility to vote, but government should do its part by clearing bureaucratic obstacles to the ballot box. Automatic, permanent voter registration would vastly improve American democracy." WTH
AFF
"The evidence is overwhelming: Americans should be automatically registered to vote" Sean McElwee, Salon (2015) "Brian Schaffner, Professor of Political Science at UMass-Amherst tells me that his Cooperative Congressional Election Study data show that the median age of voters in 2012 was 51, while the median age of nonvoters was 42. In another dataset, the American National Election Studies 2012 survey, only 5.8 percent of those between 17-34 donated to a campaign, compared to 20.6 percent of those over the age of 65, suggesting that both voters and donors are older than the population at large." WTH
AFF
"The evidence is overwhelming: Americans should be automatically registered to vote" Sean McElwee, Salon (2015) "Some commentators argue that those who currently don't vote are too ignorant to exercise their right — but studies show that when people are encouraged to vote, they are more likely to pay attention to elections. By boosting low-income turnout we could make politicians would have to begin addressing issues that are important for low-income, young and non-white Americans, particularly economic issues. Automatic registration at the DMV could bring millions of new Americans onto the voting rolls, making it easier for them to vote but also making them targets for get-out-the-vote operations." WTH
AFF
"The evidence is overwhelming: Americans should be automatically registered to vote" Sean McElwee, Salon (2015) "The effect of an even more powerful reform like AVR would likely be even stronger. In the status quo, politicians are overwhelmingly responsive to donors. But with higher turnout, catering only to the donor class could threaten their seat. Automatic registration could serve to alleviate the power of the donor class, and is the first step towards bringing America closer to its democratic ideal. It could release a democratic revolution." WTH
AFF
"What will Oregon's automatic voter registration do for voter turnout?: Comparing percentage of eligible voters to voter turnout" Hunter Schwartz, Washington Post Blogs 2015 "And while Alabama has a higher percentage of eligible voters registered than Oregon, its turnout drops in comparison. Turns out more people vote if you mail them their ballot than if they have to go to a polling place and bring IDs." WTH
AFF
"What will Oregon's automatic voter registration do for voter turnout?: Comparing percentage of eligible voters to voter turnout" Hunter Schwartz, Washington Post Blogs 2015 "One thing that's for sure is threatening to fine people for not voting, as in Australia, ups your numbers. Still, Maine has a higher percentage of registered voters than Australia. Out of the 1,041,475 people who could be registered there, 989,330 are, according to the Maine secretary of state's office, and 58 percent of them showed up at the polls in November." WTH
AFF
"What will Oregon's automatic voter registration do for voter turnout?: Comparing percentage of eligible voters to voter turnout" Hunter Schwartz, Washington Post Blogs 2015 "Oregon estimates the bill will add 300,000 new voters to its rolls. According to the state DMV, there are 876,086 more drivers with licenses in the state than registered voters, however, not all of those drivers may be eligible and some may opt out of being registered. Adding 300,000 voters to its rolls would increase the percentage of eligible voters who are registered to 83 percent, higher than Alabama." WTH
AFF
"With Automatic Voter Registration, Illinois Poised to Reduce Recidivism" Chandra Bozelko, Huffington Post (2015) "If the Illinois General Assembly passes Senate Bill 2134 - automatic voter registration - it may not increase voter participation as much as anticipated but it could be one of the most effective anti-crime laws in the state." WTH
AFF
"With Automatic Voter Registration, Illinois Poised to Reduce Recidivism" Chandra Bozelko, Huffington Post (2015) "Illinois is unique in that it is one of two states with a program that allows people released from prison to exchange a prison ID/discharge papers for a state identification card for free. If the automatic voter registration bill passes, then an Illinois prisoner could leave confinement and be registered to vote - and have identification to apply for jobs - the very same day, even if he has no money. This is important because many released offenders in Illinois don't know that they are eligible to register to vote." WTH
AFF
"With Automatic Voter Registration, Illinois Poised to Reduce Recidivism" Chandra Bozelko, Huffington Post (2015) "Recidivism rates in the eleven states that permanently bar convicted felons from voting aren't good. In 2010, Florida had the highest recidivism rate in the country and the largest population of disenfranchised citizens. I take that as a sign. Automatic voter registration in Illinois has the potential to keep returning citizens from going back to prison and that alone makes it worth passing, even if it's just a start in maximizing voter participation." WTH
AFF
"With Automatic Voter Registration, Illinois Poised to Reduce Recidivism" Chandra Bozelko, Huffington Post (2015) "Whether the restoration comes hard-fought or not, reinstatement of voting rights represents formalized redemption and a re-acceptance in society, a rare feeling when you're wearing the Scarlet "F" as you exit prison. And if that feeling of redemption is delivered to someone early enough, it can affect how a released offender approaches the challenges that remain ahead of him." WTH
AFF
"With Universal Voter Registration Bill, Oregon Dems Seek To Emulate Canada" Samantha Lachman, Huffington Post (2015) "They also say it should be incumbent upon voters, rather than the government, to initiate the registration process, and that the DMV data sharing the bill requires could endanger voter privacy. Several of our caucus members have expressed concern that any bill allowing automatic voter registration at the DMV must protect the privacy of teen drivers, especially in light of recent government IT security breaches," Caitie Osborne, the Oregon Senate Republicans communications director, told HuffPost in an email. "We don't want to put young drivers in danger of having personal information accessible to those who might abuse it." WTH
AFF
"With Universal Voter Registration Bill, Oregon Dems Seek To Emulate Canada" Samantha Lachman, Huffington Post (2015) "[The Bill] dictates that prospective voters would receive a letter from the secretary of state's office notifying them of their pending registration and giving them at least three weeks to decide whether they want to opt out or register with a particular party. Those who receive the letter can go online to opt out or select their party, and anyone who does not reply to the letter will be registered as "unaffiliated." Unaffiliated voters cannot participate in state primary elections, but they will still be able to vote in the general elections." WTH
AFF
A Powerful Argument for Voter ID Laws ALANA GOODMAN / Commentary Magazine (2012) "Voter fraud, by the way, is notoriously difficult to prosecute. Unless the fraudster sparks the suspicion of a polling official, the incident is unlikely to be reported or investigated." WTH
NEG
"3 views on whether US states should require voter ID" Jonathan Tobin, Richard Hasen Christian Science Monitor (2013) "Acquiring a voter ID is not complicated. In states that have passed such laws, one may be obtained from the government free of charge, though costs such as for transportation are incurred." WTH
NEG
"3 views on whether US states should require voter ID" Jonathan Tobin, Richard Hasen Christian Science Monitor (2013) "As for liberal assertions that there is no voter fraud in the United States, most Americans respond with a snicker. To believe that the parties and their supporters don't try to cheat requires us to ignore American political history - as well as just about everything we know about human nature." WTH
NEG
"3 views on whether US states should require voter ID" Jonathan Tobin, Richard Hasen Christian Science Monitor (2013) "Assuring the integrity of the voting process is something that most citizens instinctively understand is the right thing to do. In the America of 2012, you need a picture ID to get on a plane, ride Amtrak, open a bank account, perform any transaction with most businesses and government, as well as buy alcohol or tobacco." WTH
NEG
"3 views on whether US states should require voter ID" Jonathan Tobin, Richard Hasen Christian Science Monitor (2013) And Democrats exaggerate the number of people likely disenfranchised by state ID requirements." WTH
NEG
"5 things that have happened since Obamacare launched" Elizabeth Landau and Caleb Hellerman, CNN October 19, 2013 "Technical problems with the federal website made signing up online difficult for some users. The high volume of traffic to the insurance exchange portal contributed to these problems." WTH
NEG
"Left turn: Expect more Democratic states to adopt a system that favours Democrats" The Economist (2015) "The movement is gaining momentum nationwide, with legislators in 16 more states pushing similar bills. But it also reflects a partisan conflict. On the whole, Democrats want voting made easier because they believe many newly registered voters would be young, poor and/or minorities—all groups that favour their candidates. For just the same reasons, Republicans think automatic registration is pernicious. No Republican lawmakers voted for the bill in Oregon. " WTH
NEG
"Don't Think Voter Fraud Happens? Here Are 5 Cases From 2015 That Will Make You Think Again" Hans Von Spakovsky, The Daily Signal (2015) "During the November 2014 election for county judge-executive, Larry Perkins of Magoffin County, Kentucky, saw fellow resident Simon Marshall with a crisp, new $50 bill. When Perkins asked Marshall—who had limited intellectual ability—where the money came from, Marshall replied, "It is Election Day." A judge threw out the results of the election, which was decided by only 28 votes, citing evidence that "people sold their votes" as well as numerous other violations of election rules, including a lack of required information on applications for absentee ballots, precinct officers failing to document how they identified voters and improperly helping people vote, and residents casting early ballots when there was no Republican election commissioner present as required. The judge ruled the election was the result of fraud and bribery." WTH
NEG
"Don't Think Voter Fraud Happens? Here Are 5 Cases From 2015 That Will Make You Think Again" Hans Von Spakovsky, The Daily Signal (2015) "Hazel Woodard, a Democratic precinct chairwoman candidate in Fort Worth, Texas, was concerned that her husband would not make it to the polls to vote for her. So, she simply had her teenage son vote in his place in an election in 2011 before the state's new voter ID law was in place. The impersonation at the poll went unnoticed until the husband showed up at the same polling place later that day and tried to cast a second ballot in his name." WTH
NEG
"Don't Think Voter Fraud Happens? Here Are 5 Cases From 2015 That Will Make You Think Again" Hans Von Spakovsky, The Daily Signal (2015) "In a close election, Mayor Heather Cloud of Turkey Creek, Louisiana, was voted out of office by a margin of only four votes. It was later revealed, however, that a campaign employee working for challenger Bert Campbell had paid $15 each to four mentally impaired individuals in exchange for their promise to vote for Campbell." WTH
NEG
"Don't Think Voter Fraud Happens? Here Are 5 Cases From 2015 That Will Make You Think Again" Hans Von Spakovsky, The Daily Signal (2015) "One prosecution resulted from a voter trying to show how easy it is to commit voter fraud. To prove his point, Eugene Victor of Sandoval County, New Mexico, voted twice. Victor first voted at the polls under his own name, and then waited until the next day to do the same thing under his son's name. After getting away with impersonation fraud without being detected, he turned himself into the authorities." WTH
NEG
"If I Can Shop and Bank Online, Why Can't I Vote Online?" David Jefferson, Computer Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, member, Verified Voting Foundation Board, Board of Directors, California Voter Foundation Verified Voting (nd) "Anyone from a disaffected misfit individual to a national intelligence agency can remotely attack an online election, modifying or filtering ballots in ways that are undetectable and uncorrectable, or just disrupting the election and creating havoc. There are a host of such attacks that can be used singly or in combination. In the cyber security world today almost all of the advantages are with attackers, and any of these attacks can result in the wrong persons being elected, or initiatives wrongly passed or rejected." WTH
NEG
"If I Can Shop and Bank Online, Why Can't I Vote Online?" David Jefferson, Computer Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, member, Verified Voting Foundation Board, Board of Directors, California Voter Foundation Verified Voting (nd) "E-Commerce transactions may be relatively safe for consumers, but they certainly are not safe for financial institutions or merchants.2 Banks, credit card companies, and online merchants lose billions of dollars a year in online transaction fraud despite huge investments in fraud prevention and recovery. People have the illusion that ecommerce transactions are safe because merchants and banks don't hold consumers financially responsible for fraudulent transactions that they are the innocent victims of. Instead the businesses absorb and redistribute the losses silently, passing them on in the invisible forms of higher prices, fees, and interest rates." WTH
NEG
"If I Can Shop and Bank Online, Why Can't I Vote Online?" David Jefferson, Computer Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, member, Verified Voting Foundation Board, Board of Directors, California Voter Foundation Verified Voting (nd) "Elections outcomes are thus very sensitive to small errors or frauds in a way that ecommerce systems simply are not. Election security is thus a matter of national security, and the security standards have to be designed to reliably prevent, detect, and correct even very small problems and attacks. That level of security and reliability is neither needed nor cost effective for ecommerce systems." WTH
NEG
"If I Can Shop and Bank Online, Why Can't I Vote Online?" David Jefferson, Computer Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, member, Verified Voting Foundation Board, Board of Directors, California Voter Foundation Verified Voting (nd) "However, computer and network security experts are virtually unanimous in pointing out that online voting is an exceedingly dangerous threat to the integrity of U.S. elections. There is no way to guarantee that the security, privacy, and transparency requirements for elections can all be met with any practical technology in the foreseeable future." WTH
NEG
"If I Can Shop and Bank Online, Why Can't I Vote Online?" David Jefferson, Computer Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, member, Verified Voting Foundation Board, Board of Directors, California Voter Foundation Verified Voting (nd) "The technical security, privacy, and transparency requirements for voting are structurally different from, and actually much more stringent than, those for ecommerce transactions. Even if ecommerce transactions were safe, the security technology underpinning them would not suffice for voting. In particular, the voting security and privacy requirements are unique and in tension in a way that has no analog in the ecommerce world." WTH
NEG
"Left turn: Expect more Democratic states to adopt a system that favours Democrats" The Economist (2015) "Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, vetoed an automatic-registration bill passed by the state legislature, dismissing it as "thinly veiled political gamesmanship." Over the past couple of years, Republicans across the country have launched a campaign to tighten voting laws, requiring extra ID at the polls and purging voter rolls." WTH
NEG
"Oregon pioneers automatic voter registration" Kendall Breitman, Politico (2015) "Higher turnout in Oregon will likely benefit Democrats — and Republicans worry it will increase voter fraud and costs. ''Simply because it makes us unique or makes us first does not necessarily mean that it actually improves on what we're doing,'' State Senator Jackie Winters (R) told the AP." WTH
NEG
"Over half of new California driver's licenses go to undocumented immigrants" Jeremy B. White, Sacramento Bee (2015) "Immigrant advocates and Democratic allies pushed the new law, which passed in 2013 and took effect this year, as a way to ensure that undocumented immigrants already on the roads undergo DMV training and buy auto insurance." WTH
NEG
"Over half of new California driver's licenses go to undocumented immigrants" Jeremy B. White, Sacramento Bee (2015) "More than half of the driver's licenses California has issued in 2015 have gone to residents living in the country illegally, reflecting the success of a new law extending licenses to people regardless of residency status." WTH
NEG
"Over half of new California driver's licenses go to undocumented immigrants" Jeremy B. White, Sacramento Bee (2015) "The number of applications from undocumented immigrants ballooned to 687,000 as of June, and immigrants in California illegally have outpaced other recipients. Of the 759,000 total licenses the DMV has issued, 397,000 - or 52 percent - have gone to the undocumented. More than 1.1 million undocumented immigrants have taken the written test, and another 436,000 have taken the driving test." WTH
NEG
"Over half of new California driver's licenses go to undocumented immigrants" Jeremy B. White, Sacramento Bee (2015) Advocates sought immigrant license cards that were only subtly different from other licenses, arguing that overly distinct licenses would expose immigrants to discrimination. The federal government rejected the DMV's initial license design for being too similar to the traditional license design. WTH
NEG
"Quick Takes: Automatic Voter Registration" Ayat Amin/Hailey Sanden, UCSD Guardian (2015) "To begin with, the bill fails to take into account individuals who don't have access to obtaining a driver's license. In counties with unequal income and traditionally marginalized groups, fewer citizens actually acquire licenses. Data released by the California DMV show that only about 33 percent of eligible Los Angeles residents have driver's licenses, while more affluent areas such as El Dorado (71 percent) and Santa Clara (73 percent) have much larger portions of their population obtaining licenses through the DMV." WTH
NEG
"Quick Takes: Automatic Voter Registration" Hailey Sanden, UCSD Guardian (2015) "If the goal is to increase the number of citizens who can and will vote, the incentive ought to be more personal, palatable and appealing than a trip to the DMV. Encouraging young people and otherwise underrepresented individuals to exercise their substantial voting power can only be achieved by convincing these potential voters of their own agency — by educating, informing and mobilizing." WTH
NEG
"The U.S. Postal Service's existential problem" Kevin R Kosar, Brookings Institute (2015) "How the agency will escape its debt and return to financial sustainability is anything but certain. The service's existential crisis, however, goes far deeper than finances. Its very raison d'etre has disintegrated." WTH
NEG
"The U.S. Postal Service's existential problem" Kevin R Kosar, Brookings Institute (2015) "The U.S. Postal Service has an existential problem. For five years, the agency has flirted with insolvency. It has $15 billion in debt, its statutory maximum." WTH
NEG
"The U.S. Postal Service's existential problem" Kevin R Kosar, Brookings Institute (2015) "To conserve cash, the agency has put off many capital investments. The service's 140,000-vehicle fleet is more than two decades old and needs to be replaced. The Postal Service has not made any payments into its Retiree Health Benefits Fund since 2008, meaning its $50 billion in unfunded health care obligations are not getting any smaller" WTH
NEG
"The U.S. Postal Service's existential problem" Kevin R Kosar, Brookings Institute (2015) "[C]ontinues to suffer from a lack of liquidity. Cash balances remain insufficient to support an organization with approximately $73 billion in annual operating expenses. The Postal Service's average daily cash and cash equivalents balances during the three months ended December 31, 2014 were $5.7 billion, which represents only 21 days of operating cash." WTH
NEG
"There Are Nearly 300 Cases of Voter Fraud in America" Jason Snead, The Daily Signal (2015) "A local judge found "direct, competent, and convincing evidence" that supporters of the election's apparent victor, incumbent Mayor Robert Pastrick, orchestrated an elaborate scheme of absentee ballot fraud." WTH
NEG
"There Are Nearly 300 Cases of Voter Fraud in America" Jason Snead, The Daily Signal (2015) "It goes without saying that elections should be won by those who win through a fair democratic process, rather than by those with the most unethical supporters. That is why efforts to crack down on voter fraud are critical." WTH
NEG
"There Are Nearly 300 Cases of Voter Fraud in America" Jason Snead, The Daily Signal (2015) "Moreover, they suggest that a culture of voter fraud pervades communities like East Chicago across America, to the point that voter fraud is no longer seen as an insidious and illegal activity but rather an accepted way of life. East Chicago is certainly not the only home of systematic attempts to steal elections; another new addition to Heritage's ever-growing list of documented voter fraud convictions is a collection of cases from Benton County, Miss., stemming from a 2007 election in which 16 individuals orchestrated an elaborate vote-buying scheme." WTH
NEG
"There Are Nearly 300 Cases of Voter Fraud in America" Jason Snead, The Daily Signal (2015) "Recent additions reveal that voter fraud is not just an individual or isolated crime; in some counties and communities, election fraud is almost a way of life." WTH
NEG
"Thumbs-down to universal voter registration" James McCulla/Hank Romberg Letter to the Editor, Washington Post (2015) "The June 7 editorial "Voting made easy" stated in its secondary headline that "Hillary Clinton's push for automatic voter registration makes total sense." That is nonsense. Perhaps we should consider Winston Churchill's declaration that the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." WTH
NEG
"Thumbs-down to universal voter registration" James McCulla/Hank Romberg Letters to the Editor, Washington Post (2015) "In a mobile society such as ours, universal registration would require the federal government to keep a registry of all voters and their residences. Universal identification cards and registries have been proposed many times but never approved. Given the historic level of distrust of Big Brother government, Ms. Clinton's proposal is half-baked." WTH
NEG
"Thumbs-down to universal voter registration" James McCulla/Hank Romberg Letters to the Editor, Washington Post (2015) "The right course is to require voters to make the effort to register. It is the best universal test we have to determine whether people are paying attention to issues and candidates. These are the kind of voters we want.: WTH
NEG
"Uncomfortable reality of licensing undocumented immigrants" Editorial Board, Sacramento Bee (2015) "Alejo, Brown and Democrats sought to make a point to the nation by recognizing a fact of California life - that undocumented immigrants drive. Righteous though the policy is, there must be follow-through. Otherwise, this will be just one more well-intentioned but half-baked attempt to do good." WTH
NEG
"Uncomfortable reality of licensing undocumented immigrants" Editorial Board, Sacramento Bee (2015) "Assemblyman Luis Alejo was understandably excited that 500,000-plus undocumented immigrants received California driver's licenses this year, thanks to his 2013 legislation. In his exuberance, however, the Salinas-area Democrat got ahead of himself by proclaiming that because of his Assembly Bill 60, there no longer were uninsured motorists on this state's roads." WTH
NEG
"Uncomfortable reality of licensing undocumented immigrants" Editorial Board, Sacramento Bee (2015) "The fact-checking watchdog PolitiFact California stepped in. Citing multiple facts, including California Highway Patrol statistics showing that chippies had issued 66,000 citations for driving without insurance in the first eight months of 2015, the organization issued a report that rightly chastised Alejo. "This statement is clearly a dream, with no basis in fact," the organization concluded, in collaboration with Capital Public Radio." WTH
NEG
"Voter ID Would Protect Voter's Rights, Not Inhibit Them" Matthew Rousu, Susquehanna Univ. Forbes (2014) "Opponents of voter ID laws to prevent fraud would quickly note that less than six-dozen cases in a state as big as Texas is almost nothing. But how often could we reasonably expect somebody who votes illegally to get caught when no identification is required? Shoplifters only get caught about one in fifty times and that's with firms who have a huge incentive to catch them. Without voter ID, does anybody really think that illegal voters would be caught more than one in a hundred times? I don't." WTH
NEG
"Voter ID Would Protect Voter's Rights, Not Inhibit Them" Matthew Rousu, Susquehanna Univ. Forbes (2014) "Showing ID when voting should be required, but that doesn't mean proponents shouldn't be more sympathetic to the argument that some people may not have a valid identification. The government should offer free photo identification cards to anybody who needs one." WTH
NEG
"Voter ID Would Protect Voter's Rights, Not Inhibit Them" Matthew Rousu, Susquehanna Univ. Forbes (2014) "The second argument is that voter ID laws inhibit the right to vote. This is also incorrect. A voter ID requirement strengthens voters' rights by protecting the votes of all who vote legally. When voter fraud occurs, it dilutes and weakens the votes of all law-biding voters. One could make a reasonable argument that by not forcing identification and encouraging fraud, you're violating the promise of one person, one vote. Law-abiding voters are having their votes diluted by fraudulent votes." WTH
NEG
"Voter ID Would Protect Voter's Rights, Not Inhibit Them" Matthew Rousu, Susquehanna Univ. Forbes (2014) "There are two key arguments against the voter ID requirement. The first is that voter fraud doesn't exist, which would mean the law has no benefits. This argument is laughable. Just ask Melowese Richardson, who was sentenced to five-years in prison for voting for Obama multiple times in Ohio. That state has been the focus of several reports of non-citizens and the deceased casting votes. In Texas, officials have pursued 66 people on charges of voter fraud since 2004. We don't even need to discuss John F. Kennedy and Chicago." WTH
NEG
"Would Automatic Voter Registration Increase Turnout?" Domenico Montanaro, NPR (2015) "But he cautioned that "the effect might not be as dramatic in presidentials" when there is "no need for the reminder" to vote. The real impact might be on state and local elections, when voters previously were receiving little to no information. What's more, McDonald said, when Canada implemented a similar system in the 1990s, only 1 to 2 percent of people opted out, but voter turnout didn't increase." WTH
NEG
"Would Automatic Voter Registration Increase Turnout?" Domenico Montanaro, NPR (2015) "Canada moved to universal voter registration, and turnout dropped," McDonald noted. "Maybe it would have dropped further, but this [laws like Oregon's] is no guarantee." WTH
NEG
"Would Automatic Voter Registration Increase Turnout?" Domenico Montanaro, NPR (2015) "Conservatives, however, argue that states need to be concerned about preventing voter fraud. They also make the case that the Oregon law makes it easier for the government to track people. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported, for example: "The bill passed along party lines earlier this month, with Democrats largely supporting it. Republicans who voted against the law say they're worried about data privacy when the [Department of Motor Vehicles] sends information to elections officials." WTH
NEG
A Powerful Argument for Voter ID Laws ALANA GOODMAN / Commentary Magazine (2012) "And yes, voting fraud is a big deal, even if, as New York Magazine stipulates, the fraud doesn't sway the election one way or another. Every false ballot cast for Candidate A undermines the democratic process by canceling out a legitimate ballot cast for Candidate B. Is it an epidemic? Maybe not. But the whole blasé "what's a little bit of voter fraud anyway?" attitude seems to be the exact opposite of what the media should be espousing." WTH
NEG
A Powerful Argument for Voter ID Laws ALANA GOODMAN / Commentary Magazine (2012) "Often a fake name and/or address are used, which means there's little chance of tracking this person down once he's left the premises. And even if the suspect is reported and somehow located, it's difficult to prove intentional fraud - can anyone demonstrate that this was the same individual at the polling location? Was the fraud intentional, or could it have been done in error?" WTH
NEG
A Powerful Argument for Voter ID Laws ALANA GOODMAN / Commentary Magazine (2012) "That's like the government saying it's pointless for bars to check IDs, because underage drinkers will face a hefty fine if they're caught. The punishment becomes less of a deterrent if there's a very high probability of getting away with the crime." WTH
NEG
The Case Against Early Voting Eugene Kontorovich, Eugene McGinnis Politico (2014) "But early voting run amok is bad for democracy. The costs to collective self-governance — which the report refers to only in passing, in a single sentence — substantially outweigh the benefits. Instead of expanding the practice, we should use this moment as an opportunity to establish clear limits on it before it becomes the norm." WTH
NEG
The Case Against Early Voting Eugene Kontorovich, Eugene McGinnis Politico (2014) "Early voting not only limits the set of information available to voters; to the extent that it decreases the importance of debates, it might also systematically help incumbents and quasi-incumbents like vice presidents, who generally have the advantage of having been in the public eye longer." WTH
NEG
The Case Against Early Voting Eugene Kontorovich, Eugene McGinnis Politico (2014) "For all its conveniences, early voting threatens the basic nature of citizen choice in democratic, republican government. In elections, candidates make competing appeals to the people and provide them with the information necessary to be able to make a choice. Citizens also engage with one another, debating and deliberating about the best options for the country. Especially in an age of so many nonpolitical distractions, it is important to preserve the space of a general election campaign — from the early kickoff rallies to the last debates in October — to allow voters to think through, together, the serious issues that face the nation." WTH
NEG
The Case Against Early Voting Eugene Kontorovich, Eugene McGinnis Politico (2014) "The integrity of that space is broken when some citizens cast their ballots as early as 46 days before the election, as some states allow. A lot can happen in those 46 days. Early voters are, in essence, asked a different set of questions from later ones; they are voting with a different set of facts. They may cast their ballots without the knowledge that comes from later candidate debates (think of the all-important Kennedy-Nixon debates, which ran from late September 1960 until late October); without further media scrutiny of candidates; or without seeing how they respond to unexpected national or international news events — the proverbial "October surprise."" WTH
NEG
Why Can't America Be Sweden? THOMAS B. EDSALL , New York Times (2013) "Perhaps more importantly, poverty and inequality are much higher in the United States ... Inequality at the top of the distribution has also been exploding in the United States, with the top percent of earners capturing almost 25 percent of total national income, while the same number is around 5 percent in Finland and Sweden." WTH
NEG
Why Can't America Be Sweden? THOMAS B. EDSALL , New York Times (2013) "The United States does not have the kind of welfare state that many European countries, including Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have developed ... Americans do not enjoy the type of high-quality health care that their counterparts in these other countries do. They also receive much shorter vacations and more limited maternity leave, and do not have access to a variety of other public services that are more broadly provided in many continental European countries." WTH
NEG
