--- Nick Arnett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Gautam Mukunda wrote: > Indeed. Do you know how prosecutors respond to this > sort of > observation? It seems so over the top outrageous > that it couldn't > stand... or am I being too naive?
Too naive, I think :-) I don't believe that anyone in living memory has been criminally convicted for casting multiple ballots in an election. Prosecutors are, quite often, elected officials as well, and districts where this sort of thing happens tend to be one-party districts. My home state of Maryland has elections that are generally considered to be rife with election fraud, but since the Democratic Party controlled every major state office for my entire lifetime (ending only in 2002, with the election of a Republican Governor) who was going to investigate it? > Nor me, except that I see that one could make > slippery slope argument > that this would be a step in the direction of a > national id card. I've > always found a bit bizarre not to have to show id to > vote, given how > important it is. IIRC, around here, at least, you > do have to show id if > it's the first time you've voted. I guess that cuts > down on the number > of voters that can be invented... I would hope so, but I don't think it's a common request across much of the country. Certainly when I registered for my absentee ballot in Maryland it couldn't have been easier to defraud the system. Of course, as a registered independent absentee ballot voter in Maryland, I'm guessing that my odds of actually having my vote counted are, umm, not so high. But you do what you can. > I hope the next few months are truly boring in terms > of voter fraud > discoveries. Probably too much to hope that there > won't be a lot of > allegations. > > Nick I'm hoping for an outbreak of sanity on the part of both parties. This is a spiral dynamic - every time someone makes the accusation, you both make it easier for your opponent to make it the next time, and you devalue winning in the first place for everyone. It's the most toxic of all charges. The best ways to break the cycle I can think of are either a clear victory for either side - with a significant margin in both the popular vote and the EC according - or a convincing Kerry victory in the EC with a Bush margin in the popular vote. ===== Gautam Mukunda [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Freedom is not free" http://www.mukunda.blogspot.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
