[EL] Billboards on penalties

[Jack Cushman]

If you want more about the billboards, here's a Google News search for
"voter fraud is a
felony"<https://www.google.com/search?q=%22voter+fraud+is+a+felony%22#q=%22voter+fraud+is+a+felony%22&hl=en&prmd=imvnsu&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ei=LKh9UNX7F4mQ0QGqqYFA&ved=0CA0Q_AUoBA&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=216492dad0ebe91c&bpcl=35277026&biw=1206&bih=864>
which
brings up a bunch of articles and pictures. (Just go to news.google.com and
search for that phrase if my link doesn't work.)

The comment that struck
me<http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/10/washington_group_asks_for_clea.html>was
in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, from the chair of the Cuyahoga County
Republican Party: "It appears ... that someone wants to get the word out
about voter fraud. ... Raising awareness about voter fraud and keeping this
election fair helps us all have confidence in the results."

The suggestion that these billboards help us all have confidence in the
result of the Presidential election really crystallized something for me.
There's a 41% chance (per 538) that Ohio will tip the balance in the
election. Ohio in turn will be decided by (on the order of) 100,000 swing
voters and marginal voters going one way or the other. So voter suppression
tactics like this, with a few dozen billboards that might shift a few
hundred or a few thousand voters, could meaningfully affect the chances
that one candidate or another is elected President of 300 million people.
It's a characteristic of our system that I find pretty unsettling, rather
than confidence-inspiring.

-Jack

On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 1:50 PM, Doug Hess <douglasrhess at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks. Interesting if it backfires (but now way to tell).
>  On Oct 16, 2012 1:46 PM, "Eric Marshall" <emarshall at lawyerscommittee.org>
> wrote:
>
>> All that is disclosed is that they’re paid for by a private family
>> foundation.  Confirmed sightings in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Columbus and
>> Cincinnati.  ****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *From:* law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:
>> law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] *On Behalf Of *Doug Hess
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, October 16, 2012 1:41 PM
>> *To:* law-election at uci.edu
>> *Subject:* [EL] Billboards on penalties****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>>
>> Who is sponsoring the billboards that are springing up about fines for
>> voting & felon status etc. ?****
>>
>> Is this happening in several states? ****
>>
>> Doug****
>>
>
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