Two Indiana University School of Law Professors, Michael J. Pitts and Matthew D. Newmann, have tentatively published a research paper that finds that in November 2008, 1,039 Indiana voters showed up at the polls but were not permitted to cast a normal ballot because they lacked government photo-ID. These 1,039 voters did cast a provisional ballot, but only 137 of those provisional ballots were counted. The other 902 provisional ballots were never counted because the voter never returned to the county seat during the next few days after the election with adequate ID.
The 26-page paper can be read most easily by using the link from the September 16 posting in ElectionLawBlog.com. The paper is on the Social Science Research Network (http://papers.ssrn.com) but one must register to read papers there, so it is less work to use the ElectionLawBlog link.
The paper is important, because when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s government-photo ID law on April 28, 2008, the Court only upheld it on its face. No plaintiffs in the case lacked adequate ID. The Court left open the possibility of an “as-applied” challenge if such plaintiffs ever surfaced. The paper is easy to read and understand and is enjoyable to read. The authors were required to get data from each of Indiana’s 92 counties, because the state does not make such data available. Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for the link.
Oregon survives with ALL snail MAIL ballots.
How many of the 902 got jail/fines for wasting the time of the bureaucrats when they were NOT qualified to register / vote ???
How many of the 902 were illegal aliens — human or from outer space ???
The paper discusses the possibility that any of the 902 might have been ineligible to vote, but it says this is unlikely. By filling out a provisional ballot, and signing the application, they left a paper trail showing intent to vote. Why would someone who was impersonating another voter do that, when they didn’t even get the benefit of being able to vote, plus they would be easily identified by all the documentation they left on the provisional ballot application. Anyway, it’s a good paper and it discusses these points and similar points.
This is the New Age of low grade MORON felons — boldly doing their EVIL stuff 24/7 — and thinking they can get away with their stuff. See any COPS show on TV.
How many of the folks gave out FALSE names and addresses — a standard means of ballot box stuffing in 2 or more precincts ??? — since such folks are likely unaware of statewide computerized voter databases.