[EL] News21 analysis of voter fraud
Douglas R. Hess
douglasrhess at gmail.com
Tue Aug 14 20:31:11 PDT 2012
Dare I comment on this bizarre thread? I guess my post-vacation giddiness
will get the better of me. Three comments:
1) Sean's analysis of the impact of election policy on the management of
elections is rather odd given his firm's title. I.e., his firm's name
suggests he specializes in analytically weighing policies based on their
impacts. However, as discussed on here so frequently that it's irksome to
have to repeat, the cost of voter ID outweighs its benefits by a wide
margin. Recall that the margin against the voter ID policy is soooooo large
because (1) it fails to address the problem it identifies and (2) oh yes, by
the way, wouldn't you know, it is being proscribed for a problem that is so
rare (presumably because other policies ARE EFFECTIVE at preventing it) that
this problem does not exist for any remotely practical purpose related to ID
laws.
2) I have no idea what Brad or what Larry are going on about, and I'm
guessing they are talking past one another, but one of the first lines of
defense against any tyranny of the majority is ensuring the right to
participate of those in the minority. Or so the traditional argument goes.
Thus, given the solidity of the analysis against voter IDs, any political
stripe fearing some of the inherent dangers of government should be against
policies that have consequences for participation worse than the ill that
the policy purports to address.
3) Finally, regarding "what characterizes homo sapiens and is responsible
for its dominance in the universe." Wait, we conquered the universe? Did we
get warp speed, laser guns, and photon torpedoes and nobody announced it on
the Today Show?
-Doug
From: Richard C. Bozian [mailto:rcbozian at hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 2:28 PM
To: law-election at uci.edu
Subject: [EL] News21 analysis of voter fraud
Those comments about politics, war and society are indeed cynical and
worrisome. I would suggest that they turn to Edward Wilson's magnificent
book on the "Social Conquest of the Earth". In it, he details convincingly
that what characterizes homo sapiens and is responsible for its dominance
in the universe has been its "eusociality". Eusociality is many things, but
its foremost feature is altruism-the willingness to collaborate.
Selfishnesss is in our genes but for survival in the long-term for
individual and the larger community altruism the altruist win out. .
When cynics boast and gloat that the outcome should go to the guys with the
most votes (assets or guns), I cringe. It fails to appreciate that We're In
It Together. That is why homo sapiens has thrived and flourished in spite of
the innate and inherited proneness to aggression. Wilson characterizes homo
sapiens as a chimera of highest intellectualism and thought but when it
comes to emotions and feelings we harbor within us that from our
evolutionary ancestors millions of years ago. Interestingly and in passing,
he characterizes the current "prostituted or pseudo-capitalism" as a more
palatable form of warfare than guns and tanks-even though it is equally
destructive of society.
Richard C. Bozian M.D. F.A.C.P.
Professor Emeritus
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
_____
From: larrylevine at earthlink.net
To: BSmith at law.capital.edu; sean at impactpolicymanagement.com;
dschultz at gw.hamline.edu; law-election at uci.edu
Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2012 09:57:33 -0700
Subject: Re: [EL] News21 analysis of voter fraud
I understand. It also is a dose of reality about politics and war. Both side
call upon the deity to bless their efforts and justify their actions. In the
face of such bi-partisan invocation it is reasonable to conclude that
ultimately God will have more important things to do and leave the outcome
to the guy with the most votes, or the biggest guns.
Larry
From: Smith, Brad [mailto:BSmith at law.capital.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 9:53 AM
To: 'larrylevine at earthlink.net'; 'Sean Parnell'; 'David A. Schultz';
law-election at UCI.EDU
Subject: RE: [EL] News21 analysis of voter fraud
Larry, I'm just saying to hear any political consultant/lawyer etc. make
that statement will make people on the other side worry. That's a
non-partisan net about how people view partisanship!
Bradley A. Smith
Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault
Professor of Law
Capital University Law School
303 East Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 236-6317
bsmith at law.capital.edu
http://www.law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.asp
From: Larry Levine [mailto:larrylevine at earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 12:51 PM
To: Smith, Brad; 'Sean Parnell'; 'David A. Schultz'; law-election at UCI.EDU
Subject: RE: [EL] News21 analysis of voter fraud
Ahh. You cast a partisan net. In homily #2 I didn't assign any partisan
identification to the God of Majority Rule. In the case of voter ID, God
seems to be on the side of Republican controlled legislatures and governors'
mansions. I trust my Republican colleagues and friends can cite ample
examples of instances in which God was on the other side. The homily, of
course, was borne of the frequency with which the deity in evoked to justify
the position or action of both sides of a debate.
Larry
From: Smith, Brad [mailto:BSmith at law.capital.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 9:12 AM
To: 'Sean Parnell'; larrylevine at earthlink.net; 'David A. Schultz';
law-election at UCI.EDU
Subject: RE: [EL] News21 analysis of voter fraud
In my experience, it's the expression of ideas such as Larry's Homily #2
(below) by Democrats such as Larry that send Republicans rushing to sign on
to Voter ID laws. If you wanted to make any citizen worry about vote fraud
by the other side, it would be hard to think of a better way than hearing a
skilled operative of the opposite party say something like "God is on the
side of the guy with the most votes. If you control the legislature and the
governor's office you can do whatever you damned well please."
But Larry's Homily seems meant to channel his inner Madison: he shares the
Great Little Madison's concern that "parchment barriers against the
encroaching spirit of power" will not stop the growth of government:
"experience assures us, that the efficacy of the provision has been greatly
overrated; and that some more adequate defense is indispensably necessary
for the more feeble, against the more powerful, members of the government.
The legislative department is everywhere extending the sphere of its
activity, and drawing all power into its impetuous vortex.
". An elective despotism was not the government we fought for.
". a mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits of the
several departments, is not a sufficient guard against those encroachments
which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the powers of government in
the same hands."
Bradley A. Smith
Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault
Professor of Law
Capital University Law School
303 East Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 236-6317
bsmith at law.capital.edu
http://www.law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.asp
From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Sean
Parnell
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 11:43 AM
To: larrylevine at earthlink.net; 'David A. Schultz'; law-election at UCI.EDU
Subject: Re: [EL] News21 analysis of voter fraud
Alternately, while to 'objective' observers on the left it's nothing more
than an attempt to disenfranchise certain groups of voters, to this
'objective' observer it's a reasonable effort to address a fairly minor
concern, and hardly represents the first time elected officials and their
ideological/partisan allies have chosen to spend a great deal of effort and
time addressing fairly minor concerns. Choose your metaphor - gnats and
sledgehammers, molehills and mountains, etc.
Best,
Sean Parnell
President
Impact Policy Management, LLC
6411 Caleb Court
Alexandria, VA 22315
571-289-1374 (c)
sean at impactpolicymanagement.com
From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Larry
Levine
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 11:30 AM
To: 'David A. Schultz'; law-election at uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] News21 analysis of voter fraud
Several homilies pop to mind regarding the Republican push for voter ID,
which to objective observers has been nothing more than an attempt to
disenfranchise certain groups of voters right from the start.
Homily 1 - You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to
your own facts.
Homily 2 - God is on the side of the guy with the most votes. If you control
the legislature and the governor's office you can do whatever you damned
well please and you can make up whatever facts you want to justify it.
Larry
From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of David A.
Schultz
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 7:30 AM
To: law-election at uci.edu
Subject: [EL] News21 analysis of voter fraud
Hi all
An interesting analysis and study on voter fraud as well as a national
database. Several of us on this listserv are featured in the commentary and
story.
http://votingrights.news21.com/article/election-fraud/
David Schultz, Professor
Editor, Journal of Public Affairs Education (JPAE)
Hamline University
School of Business
570 Asbury Street
Suite 308
St. Paul, Minnesota 55104
651.523.2858 (voice)
651.523.3098 (fax)
http://davidschultz.efoliomn.com/
http://works.bepress.com/david_schultz/
http://schultzstake.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @ProfDSchultz
Named one of the inaugural 2012 FacultyRow SuperProfessors
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