The Truth About Voter Fraud
The Truth About Voter Fraud
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选民欺诈的真相
DOI：
10.2139/ssrn.1647224
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发表时间：
2007
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Justin Levitt
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Justin Levitt
与选举有关的欺诈指控引起了媒体的关注。尤其是选民欺诈，有一种银行抢劫的感觉：受到严厉谴责，但技术上令人着迷，而且足够耸人听闻，足以占据头条新闻。也许是因为这些故事具有戏剧性，选民欺诈成为了流行的替罪羊。在一场势均力敌的选举之后，落选的候选人往往很快将选举结果归咎于选民欺诈，而立法者则以选民欺诈为由，对选举权的行使施加各种新的限制。然而，对普遍存在的选民欺诈的指控往往被证明是非常夸大的。耸人听闻的主张很容易占据头条新闻。后续行动——如果有的话——通常不被认为具有新闻价值。然而，经过仔细审查，许多选民欺诈的指控根本站不住脚。这些夸大的指控并非无害。当指控未经证实时大喊“狼来了”会分散人们对当前存在的更大问题的注意力。此外，这些选民欺诈的指控经常被用来证明政策的合理性，这些政策不能解决所谓的错误，但很可能会剥夺合法选民的选举权。本文源于对州和联邦法院引用的涉嫌欺诈行为的分析；多党派和两党联邦委员会；政党实体；州和地方选举官员；以及作家、记者和博主。它提炼了该研究的结果：选民欺诈的真相。该文件首先提供了一个定义，以确保既不涉及选民也不涉及欺诈的选举违规行为不会与真正的选民欺诈混为一谈。然后，它逐个场景分析了一些更常见的所谓选民欺诈类型、可观察事实的替代理由以及一系列政策解决方案。最后，本文提出并分析了涉嫌选民欺诈的臭名昭著的个案研究。
Allegations of election-related fraud make for enticing press. Voter fraud, in particular, has the feel of a bank heist caper: roundly condemned but technically fascinating, and sufficiently lurid to grab and hold headlines. Perhaps because these stories are dramatic, voter fraud makes a popular scapegoat. In the aftermath of a close election, losing candidates are often quick to blame voter fraud for the results, and legislators cite voter fraud as justification for various new restrictions on the exercise of the franchise. Allegations of widespread voter fraud, however, often prove greatly exaggerated. It is easy to grab headlines with a lurid claim; the follow-up – when any exists – is not usually deemed newsworthy. Yet on closer examination, many of the claims of voter fraud simply do not pan out.These inflated claims are not harmless. Crying “wolf ” when the allegations are unsubstantiated distracts attention from larger problems that currently exist. Moreover, these claims of voter fraud are frequently used to justify policies that do not solve the alleged wrongs, but that could well disenfranchise legitimate voters. This paper arises out of an analysis of purported fraud cited by state and federal courts; multipartisan and bipartisan federal commissions; political party entities; state and local election officials; and authors, journalists, and bloggers. It distills the findings from that research: the truth about voter fraud. The paper first offers a definition to ensure that election irregularities that involve neither voters nor fraud are not conflated with real voter fraud. It then analyzes, scenario by scenario, some of the more common types of alleged voter fraud, alternative grounds for the observable facts, and a range of policy solutions. Finally, the paper presents and analyzes individual case studies of notorious instances of alleged voter fraud.