Quote:
Originally posted by rgr22j
Voter roll purge? If they had this "felon list" with only last names on it, wouldn't some of those voters purged also be white?
-- Alvin
|
Yes, in fact the link provided states:
Quote:
|
10. The majority report?s analysis of errors in the ?purge list? (of convicted felons ineligible to vote) incorrectly finds racial discrimination. The purge list was not used in many counties, although an exact count is unavailable. Moreover, the racial disparity on the list was due to the indisputable fact that blacks are disproportionately represented in any count of convicted felons. Also, the statistics given in the report actually show that blacks were not disproportionately included in the purge list erroneously. Instead the proportion of whites erroneously listed was double that for blacks.
|
This quote argues that the disproportion is occuring as a result of inequalities in the judicial system--not due to willful misconduct on the part of the people purging the list. It doesn't, however, conclude that black voters weren't disproportionately turned away as compared to the entire voter pool in Florida--just that the list purgers didn't do it along racial lines. I'll concede that it's a convaluted argument and I'll merely comment that Dr. John Lott has a questionable reputation in other endeavors.
Both white and black voters were turned away. Are we debating whether black voters would have voted Democrat versus white voters? Or are we debating that voters of all races were illegally excluded from voting?
The question ought to be whether both those white and black voters were registered Democrats.
My understanding was that Democrats were disproportionately purged from the list and that the seperate issue of whether minority voters' ballots were recounted differently than non-minority voters is being mistakenly mixed.