Voter Supression vs. Voter Fraud

A liberal, industrial democracy is one that has, among other factors, free, fair and competitive elections that follow legitimacy and rule of law.

Having discussed with skeptism the upcoming legitimacy of the Russian presidential election, we turn to a deeper look into whether or not our American 2012 presidential contest will be clean.

 Voter Supression vs. Voter Fraud. They were both among the seven problems that Time Magazine outlined prior to the 2008 election. Both the Democratic and Republican National Committees had teams of lawyers on retainer to fight to protect "democracy" as John McCain said.

A problem is how do we do that. While it is not voter registration procedures that have kept American voting at a lower rate than most industrial democracies over recent history, the case can be made that we do make it more difficult on our citizens than other countries. The top two problems, relating directly to Voter Supression (the GOP playbook) and Voter Fraud (a Democratic necessary evil) was highlighted in 2008 and continues to be an issue in the 2012 election season.

The Database Dilema

Voter registration in the United States largely reflects its 19th-century origins and has not kept pace with advancing technology and a mobile society. States’ systems must be brought into the 21st century to be more accurate, cost-effective, and efficient.

Research commissioned by the Pew Center on the States highlights the extent of the challenge:

• Approximately 24 million—one of every eight—voter registrations in the United States are no longer valid orare significantly inaccurate.
• More than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters.
• Approximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state.

Meanwhile, researchers estimate at least 51 million eligible U.S. citizens are unregistered, or more than 24 percent of the eligible population.

Several other findings are included in the report: Innacurate, Costly and Inefficent .

On of the problems the Pew Center study did not find was a high number of fraudulent voters. However, that seems to be how law makers have tackled the problem since 2008.

Block the Vote Measures
The Brennan Center for Justice (New York University School of Law) issued a report on the new laws that have tighted restrictions on voting across the country, and could have a huge effect on the outcome of who gets counted (or not counted) in the contests:

"Ahead of the 2012 elections, a wave of legislation tightening restrictions on voting has suddenly swept across the country. More than five million Americans could be affected by the new rules already put in place this year -- a number larger than the margin of victory in two of the last three presidential elections.

This report is the first full accounting and analysis of this year's voting cutbacks. It details both the bills that have been proposed and the legislation that has been passed since the beginning of 2011."

Voting Law Changes 2012

New Laws Could Block the Vote for 5 million people

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So what is the bigger problem, Voter Supression or Voter Fraud? Blog here. Are these tactics and institutional trials legit in our government, "of the people, by the people and for the people?"