Reply #122: "Free Republic" displays Martha Korpf report from 2000 election [View All]

[KansDem]

"Study Refutes Beliefs about Punch-card Voting"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 12, 2001 #350
Contact: Heather Haas
[phone]

Study Refutes Beliefs about Punch-card Voting

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In the wake of the 2000 presidential election, two widespread perceptions emerged: that punch-card voting equipment was prevalent in counties with a large minority population and that members of lower economic classes are more likely to use punch card and other antiquated balloting equipment.

A study authored by Martha Kropf, assistant professor of political science at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and Stephen Knack, associate fellow with the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector at the University of Maryland, contradicts these beliefs. "Who Uses Inferior Voting Technology?" concludes that there is "little support for the view that resource constraints cause poorer counties with large minority populations to retain antiquated or inferior voting equipment."

The study analyzed county-level Census data combined with voting equipment data from Election Data Services, Inc. In a state-by-state analysis, the authors found that in a majority of states, whites, the non-poor and Republican voters are more likely to reside in punch-card counties than African-Americans, the poor and Democratic voters.

Other key findings of the study include:
(more)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/983149/posts

Comments include:
Counties with punch card systems tend to have higher incomes, higher tax revenues, and larger populations than do counties with more modern voting equipment.

In other words - the whole 'minorities are being disenfranchized' argument is a load of crap.

African-Americans are more likely than whites to live in counties that use electronic voting or lever machines, in which "overvoting" is impossible if the equipment is programmed correctly.

This conclusion bothers me considering the history of voter fraud in the democratic party.

I am so tired of hearing about disenfranchisement. If someone is forced to pay a poll tax or is physically restrained from voting, that's disenfranchisement. If the voter is inconvenienced or is too stupid to follow the directions, that's natural selection.

Today we have a wake up call (I hate that phrase, too) regarding court appointments. We see how dangerous a courtful of judges self-endowed with a legislative mandate can be.

It's unbelievable isn't it. Fox News said today that "the ACLU successfully argued that African-Americans were most likely to make mistakes on punch-card ballots...although the ACLU has no idea why this is."

Anyone besides the ACLU makes that kind of claim and they're called racist.

And my favorite...
I don't remember any problems with punch cards here in Florida until Al Gore & company showed up.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

I don't know anything about this researcher but it seems to me if you want to discredit an issue like exit polls vs. "official tallies," then having someone like Martha Korpf on the team would be an asset...