Mar. 15 Socrates Cafe: Voting Rights
Join us with facilitator Robert Rubin, former Library Board President and seasoned discussion leader, for our new Socrates Cafe program.
Wednesday, March 15 at 10:30 am in the Friends Learning Lab.
Bob wants to help us give philosophy back to the people with discussions about truth, justice, and moderation.
All political, economic and social points of view are welcomed and encouraged.
The only ground rule is that we will be polite to those opinions that differ from our own.
For March, the question is:
Do Voting Rights and Voter System Integrity Conflict?
Depending on political party affiliation and deep-seated personal belief some of our elected officials, media, and neighbors spend considerable time telling us how innocent people are being denied the right to vote while others of contrasting viewpoint just as strongly explain to us how our voting system is polluted by fraudulent voting.
The two sides differ, for example, on devoting time and funds to purging voter rolls of the deceased, the legally ineligible, and requiring voter ID at the polls, policing against duplicate voting, and actively punishing fraudulent voting.
Both sides can cite examples supporting their claims. We hear stories of the poor minority woman who is turned away from the polls because she cannot find her birth certificate, or the person who is denied the right to vote because he cannot get to the polling place as a result of the curtailment of early voting.
On the other hand, we have statistics of votes being cast by dead people, non-citizens, and students who vote both at college and at their permanent residents. The Wall Street Journal, for example, cites a 2013 investigation by the New York City Department of Investigation that found 63 investigators tried to vote posing as voters who had died, moved, or been convicted of a felony and all were given a ballot and allowed to vote.
- Can you cite examples of where you think miscast ballots affected how we are governed?
- To what extent is a politician’s stance on this issue influenced by party doctrine?
- Are politicians’ stances influenced by perceived impact on their political party?
- What changes, if any would you make in our voting policing?
- What punishment, if any, should be levied for voter fraud?
PDF Version of the March Discussion Question.
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