Al Franken Smacks Down Hans von Spakovsky Over Flawed Voter ID Stats

[cal04]

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/al_franken_smacks_down_hans_von_spakovsky_over_flawed_voter_id_stats.php

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) squared off with voting rights restrictions enthusiast Hans von Spakovsky at at Senate hearing on Thursday, accusing the Heritage Foundation fellow of leaving out a crucial piece of data that undermined his argument that voter ID laws don't suppress minority turnout.

In his written testimony, von Spakovsky said that the fact that Georgia had the highest voter turnout in its history in 2008 when there was a photo ID law on the books was proof that the measure didn't suppress turnout. He compared Georgia's statistics to neighboring Mississippi, a state which also has a significant African-American population.

(snip)
Can I ask you something?" Franken interjected. "Do you know how much Mississippi grew in terms of black population during those years versus Georgia?"

"I don't," said von Spakovsky.

"Wouldn't that have to factor into the significance of that?" Franken said. "Here's my question: you did a study and you put in your testimony that it was 'significant' that the percentage of black voters grew more in Georgia than Mississippi and you just cited it again. I would think that, as someone who writes studies, it would be significant to know that the black population grew at more than four times the rate than the black population in Mississippi, and I'm wondering how you didn't factor that in," he said. (Franken later corrected himself to say that the black population in Georgia grew at more than three times the rate.)

[DirkGently]

1. Al is great.

[Scuba]

2. Al's proving to be a detail man. He put a similar hurt on some anti-gay marriage bozo. n/t

[pennylane100]

3. He was a math major in college.

I am married to one and they love the details.