Is a call for election integrity really a disguise for voter suppression? Are American minorities less competent than six hundred million citizens of India who voted after showing government issued identifications? When South Carolina introduced the secret ballot, in 1950, the percentage of people who voted fell by twelve percent; was the secret ballot really voter suppression or did it simply stop voter fraud by eliminating voters getting paid for voting a certain way under the eyes of election judges.
We seem to have in the United States two streams of thought regarding voting; on one hand are those who believe that voting should be made as easy as possible while neglecting the possibility of fraud. On the other side is a party who wants to impose what they see as safeguards to eliminate voter fraud. Is there a middle way?
The article linked below examines some of these questions and puts our voting system in perspective to the Europeans, Mexico, and Canada. Are their cries of voter suppression in the dozens of nations which require voter id? If six hundred million citizens of India can vote and hear the results in a timely manner, what exactly is our problem? As usual, John Lott Jr., has authored an article that may make you a bit more skeptical when politicians make their usual defenses for their solutions.
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