A conservative judge. //Posners dissent in the Wisconsin voter ID case is especially telling, because he wrote the so-called Crawford decision in 2007 upholding Indianas voter ID law, in which he was upheld by the Supreme Court. But he has since recanted. In a 2013 book, he accepted the view that such laws are properly regarded as a means of voter suppression rather than fraud prevention. Thats the view that informs his latest opinion. There is only one motivation for imposing burdens on voting that are ostensibly designed to discourage voter-impersonation fraud, he writes, and that is to discourage voting by persons likely to vote against the party responsible for imposing the burdens. More specifically, he observes, photo ID laws are highly correlated with a states having a Republican governor and Republican control of the legislature and appear to be aimed at limiting voting by minorities, particularly blacks. In Wisconsin, according to evidence presented at trial, the voter ID law would disenfranchise 300,000 residents, or 9% of registered voters. Posner systematically demolishes every argument mustered in support of voter ID laws. Combating voter fraud? There is compelling evidence that voter-impersonation fraud is essentially nonexistent in Wisconsin. Assertions about voter fraud are a mere fig leaf for efforts to disenfranchise voters. He adds that some of the evidence of voter-impersonation fraud is downright goofy, if not paranoid, such as the nonexistent buses that according to the True the Vote movement [a voter suppression organization originating in the tea party movement] transport foreigners and reservation Indians to polling places.// latimes/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-why-voter-id-laws-are-evil-20141013-column.html#page=1
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 01:33:33 +0000