Re: [EL] What to attach to ID laws

"One empirical question here is whether someone who is denied the
right to vote because s/he doesn't have an ID is supposed to be
offered a provisional ballot.  If so, we have the beginning of the
type of data Doug Hess is advocating."

Assuming that there are several reasons why you might be given a
provisional ballot (yes?), the issue here is then making sure they
note why the person was given one: ID problem, came to wrong precinct,
other registration problem, etc.

I do worry some people will just leave if told they have to vote a
"special" ballot or take other steps. I recall one newspaper anecdote
where somebody was so ticked off that their ID didn't count that they
refused to vote even thought they did have other ID they could've gone
home for. I can see some people just leaving if told they need to do a
prov. ballot or whatever, so I'd prefer some notation be made along
the lines of how they note if you voted...sort of a "tried to
vote...problem was..."category as Paul notes and the "voted
provisional ballot...because..." category Charles (and John earlier)
notes.

In short, we can then know if this rule trips up 100 or 1,000 or
10,000 people and if means they vote provisionally or not at all.

I think it might also discourage poll workers from incorrectly
applying the law, or identify cases or trends for where it happens,
but that's another issue.

Doug

On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 1:25 PM, Charles Stewart III <cstewart@mit.edu> wrote: