[EL] studying voter fraud/recommendations for publication outlets

[David A. Schultz]

Happy Holidays all:


This is an odd request but let me try it.


I have been playing around with a short (16 pp) article/research note that looks at the methodology and metaphors surrounding the debates over voter fraud. I have floated a few of these ideas on the listserv.  I am trying to find a good outlet or outlets to send the piece that could do a quick turnaround on the piece so that it could come out in 2012 before the elections.  Any recommendations would be appreciated.


For your review, I am enclosing the title and abstract below.


Thank you.


Is Voter Fraud Like Littering?:
Empirical and Methodological Considerations


Abstract:  The debate over voter fraud and voter identification is certain to affect to the 2012 elections  But this debate is muddled in a methodological and evidentiary mess, conducted with little or no reliable data. This article examines the methodological issues in studying voter fraud. The basic argument is that arguments about fraud are often made without reference to a methodology dictated by good social science research.  In effect, assertions of voter fraud often invoke untestable claims.  Second, inference that the few reported instances of fraud are proof of more extensive occurrences is baseless to the extent that parallels are drawn to speeding or littering.  The latter do not provide an analogy to voter fraud.  Thus, assertions about voter fraud have generally failed to provide serious social science evidence or testable propositions to test claims.



David Schultz, Professor
Editor, Journal of Public Affairs Education (JPAE)
Hamline University
School of Business
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