The Myth of Voter Fraud?

Wisconsin got caught in the unfolding Corona Virus shut-downs that have turned the entire country inside out, so wanted to allow people more voting options to adapt to stay at home orders, absentee ballots being late due to government shutdowns from stay at home orders and the other Covid issues that have turned normal routines upside down.  The Republican dominated legislature challenged the idea in court and won, alleging it would create opportunities for voter fraud.  So all the voters in Milwaukee, a city that normally has about 175 polling places, had to vote in 5 polling locations.  That's the stuff of comic satire, not reality.

The studies I find on the internet that are not commissioned by partisan Republican think tanks suggest that voter fraud is vanishingly rare, although clerical errors by bureacrats are more common.  One comprehensive look at voter fraud found that fraud occurs in about .00003 to .00025 percent of the cases.  Another study found 31 cases of confirmed fraud in 1 Billion ballots cast.  Your chances of getting struck by lightening are higher than the chance of voter fraud occuring.

What tips me toward being pretty confident this cure is far worse than the disease is that the Republican leaning think tanks such as the Heritage foundation focus on anecdotal anecdotal instances of fraud, and then suggest that since they only found these few cases there must be way more.  They make no attempt to figure out if fraud actually changes elections, they just raise suspicions.

Also, curiously I couldn't find much of anything on the internet suggesting the bureacrats who handle voting believe fraud is a big problem, even bureacrats in deeply Red States.

Based on the data I have seen it seems to me fraud is so vanishingly rare making it harder to vote benefits no one but a minority party who wants to depress the vote.

Claims of fraud are pretty common after elections - poor losers sure that voters couldn't have picked another candidate over them. Verified fraud is very rare.  But the President of this country and the Republican party see voter fraud as such a big issue that piles of bills the House sent to the Senate sit unvoted on in the Senate while they rail about voter fraud.

I just wish those Republicans who actually value Democracy would step up and object to their parties blatent win at all costs strategy's.  Republicans have a majority on the Supreme Court and probably will have for some time.  They can take run to the Supreme Court if there are real instances of fraud affecting Republicans and be assured of winning.  The don't need to cheat to win.

Trump, Putin and Avoiding Reponsibility

I have been a little baffled about why President Trump seems so determined to make States the primary responsible parties for responding to Covid 19.  All the experts, and common sense, say it makes much more sense to have a coordinated response from the Federal Government that has far more resources that the States. 

Then a news item from the Economist this morning noted that as the cash-starved hospitals across Russia braced for the exponential growth of Covid cases, Mr Putin transferred responsibility for dealing with the epidemic to the regions, which have been starved of resources for much of Putin's presidency.

Of course Trump is pointing the finger the States.  Effectively managing the Covid 19 is not Trump's (or Putin's) top priority.  Top priority is minimizing the damage from their policies that have crippled the response.

Put somebody else in charge so you can blame them.  

It will work for a lot of voters.  It is probably the reason Trump actually experienced a bump in popularity after Covid 19 hit.  He is on TV every single day being comforting because that's what many voters see, not the obscure news stories chronicaling administration bumbling.  

He is seeking to win hearts so folks won't actually look at the facts when it comes time to assess who screwed up.  He will point at the States.  A lot of folks will buy it.  

Maybe not enough to save his Presidency since a lot of Red State governors are those complaining.  But it seems to be his best option for avoiding the fallout from his administrations documented bungling.

You have to give the man his due.  President Trump is an incompetent executive, but he is a master at stroking and reinforcing peoples emotional ideas about what they would like to be true.

Covid and the Sanctity of Life

One can't help but ponder the odd quirks in Conservative Christian views on the sanctity of life.

Many politicians who owe their political success to Conservative Christians, including President Trump and the Governer of Texas, have suggested we should not be allowing Covid 19 to seriously impact our economy.  After all Covid 19 mostly kills the weak and the old.  They should be willing to take the risk for the sake of the young and the healthy (those who make good workers).

These same politicians would usually deny those who are ill and old the right to choose to die comfortably, on the grounds life is sacred.  

They would also deny women the right to chose not to take on the burden of a child they don't feel they could handle, again on the grounds life is sacred, even though data suggests forcing a mother who is overwhelmed by the responsiibility to have the child will often end up with both the mother and child impoverished, prone to substance abuse and early and unpleasant death.

Yet when those Conservative Christian's wealth threatened it is just fine to let those weak and old people die to protect businesses and investments.  Life is not so sacred when it might impact their wealth (or for that matter their ability to enjoy a steak for dinner - only certain human lives are sacred, certainly not a cow).  It seems like life is sacred only when it doesn't affect their life choices.

Rather like the Conservative Christians in the South who convinced themselves for generations they were doing people a favor by enslaving them.

Makes no sense to me, but it clearly does to them.