Dartmouth Researcher Implies Democrat Students are Dumber than Republicans - Granite Grok

Dartmouth Researcher Implies Democrat Students are Dumber than Republicans

clean-electionsIf we do away with same-day voter registration in New Hampshire with what do we replace it? That’s a great question and the subject of a report on the front page of today’s Union Leader. But not everyone thinks there is a problem. Or do they?

Dartmouth College researchers studied voting practices in three states and last month concluded there was not rampant voter fraud.

One of its authors said getting rid of same-day voter registration here will not make elections any more honest.

“Efforts to change voter registration procedures offer minimal improvements to election integrity while making it considerably more difficult for the young and the poor to vote,” said Sean Westwood, assistant professor of government. “It is hard to see this as anything more than an effort to use an irrational fear of fraud to pass laws that reduce votes from Democrats.”

Keep in mind that asking Dartmouth to research voting practices for evidence of fraud is like asking the wolf to guard the hen house. So, what has the Wolf taught us?

There is fraud, but it is not rampant, whatever ‘rampant’ means in this context.

Changing voter registration procedure offers minimal improvements, according to researchers, while making it considerably harder for young and poor people to vote?

How? How does it make it more difficult? Are the methods for obtaining absentee ballots more onerous for students regardless of where they choose to matriculate? The “adult” White Tower geniuses haven’t solved that one yet?

What are you doing if not ensuring that each and every student can influence who represents them where they live, pay taxes, serve jury duty or are subject to regulatory force? Or are you concerned that were you to impart such knowledge and tools you’d lose the electoral slaves you’ve been driving to New Hampshire polls to advance your local interests at the expense of theirs?

And what is this business about reform specifically reducing votes from Democrats? Or more to the point how is it that Republican students are unaffected by proposed changes? Are Democrat students dumber? Less capable? How about stupid?

And how are the poor, who are typically plugged-in to any of a handful of taxpayer-backed programs that require photo ID impacted? How does increased contact and correspondence with government officials tasked with ensuring their legitimacy as recipients of other people’s property make it less likely that they will vote should we ask them to provide the same ID used to access those services from the same in-state address to which benefits are approved?

And are they more likely to vote Democrat because of they are poor, in which case are the benefits just a vote-buying scheme? If so, is the government (or party leaders in it) advancing policies that increase this pool of likely Democrat voters, and should there be an investigation?

So many questions and so few answers. Not the least of which is when will the white tower experts in New Hampshire explain how students can be forced to pay them more if they enroll using an address outside the state of New Hampshire (UNH charges significantly more for the same education to non-residents) when they insist that these same non-residents can be herded to New Hampshire polls to advance local Democrat policy that cost significantly more for actual in-state residents?

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