Ted Cruz’s Four-Pinocchio claim that ‘the overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats’
This was a startling assertion by the GOP presidential hopeful. He used this “undeniable fact” to explain why Democrats support giving the right to vote to convicted felons — “because the Democrats know convicted felons tend to vote Democrat.” He also added that “the media never reports on any of that, doesn’t want to admit any of that.”
When a politician asserts a fact with such certitude, The Fact Checker is always eager to investigate. What’s the basis for Cruz’s claim?
Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier did not respond to queries, but Cruz’s campaign staff told CNN that he relied on a study that was published in 2014 by the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and written by University of Pennsylvania professor Marc Meredith and assistant Michael Morse.
From the start, one can see something fishy is going on with Cruz’s claim. The study is a survey of party registration of ex-felons, not people in jail. Moreover, while Cruz spoke of “violent criminals,” not all felonies (such as fraud or drug-related convictions) involve violent acts — and the study did not break down the types of crimes committed by the former prisoners.
The study actually examined a relatively narrow question — whether voter registration and turnout are increased when ex-felons are notified that they can regain the right to vote. The research suggested that notification notices did not increase the turnout of ex-felons, at least in the states that were the subject of the study. (In fact, 60 to 75 percent of ex-felons did not even register to vote.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/12/01/ted-cruzs-claim-that-the-overwhelming-majority-of-violent-criminals-are-democrats/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_factchecker-735pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
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