Which is more destructive: voter intimidation tactics or fake-voter registration tactics?

October 10th, 2008

In Philadelphia this week this flyer was posted around black neighborhoods:

Read the article about this voter intimidation scam at philly.com here. It’s not the first time this tactic has been used — snopes.com has this to say about this scam:

Every presidential election prompts the circulation of misinformation regarding voting procedures. Sometimes the misinformation is merely an expression of political humor,
sometime it’s inaccurate information passed along in good faith by misinformed voters, and sometimes it’s part of deliberate campaigns to keep selected groups of voters away from the polls by misleading or intimidating them. The message quoted above, which began circulating in the form of printed fliers in late September 2008, appears to be an example of the last category.

Then there’s what’s going on with the ACORN voter-registration fraud in several states (Washington, Nevada, Ohio, Missouri, probably others), which all center around stuff like this: “Claims from area residents that they have been hounded by the community activist group ACORN to register to vote multiple times have sparked an investigation by election officials into ACORN, whose political wing has supported Barack Obama.”

So, the question: Which is worse?

Related Posts:

1. A list of ideas for other lists:

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