“Virginia Voter ID House Bill 1377 was filed yesterday. The bill would eliminate the use of utility bills, bank statements, government checks, or paychecks as proof of residence to vote.” Or rather, Lee misquotes – what the Post actually reported: “Preliminary figures indicate that most Virginians came to the polls on Election Day prepared to comply with the state’s new voter identification law. State Board of Elections figures show less than 5 percent of the 11,581 provisional ballots recorded as of Thursday were cast because the voter didn’t have the proper ID.” That’s less than 600 provisional ballots attributed to Voter ID (not 190,000) out of over 3.8 million votes cast, or about .015 percent. A 30,000 percent mistake, or a deliberate dishonest exaggeration? The anti-ID crowd is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own math.
In her November 21 Election Legislation Bill Alert email, Project Vote’s Erin Ferns Lee alerts:
Lee then quotes a startling figure: “About five percent of voters had to vote provisional ballots on November 6 as a result of the new law, according to a November 18 Washington Post report.”