[quote]DISSENTING REPORT ON FLORIDA FINDS NO DISCRIMINATION
Analysis Finds Errors in Majority Report; Better Data Reveals No Bias In Election
Dr. Abigail Thernstrom, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, testified today before the Senate Rules Committee that the Commission’s majority report on the 2000 Florida election used flawed data to justify its preconceived, partisan belief that the election was marred by discrimination and disfranchisement of minority voters. A more rigorous statistical analysis of the Florida voting data found that the race of voters in recent Florida elections was statistically unrelated to the rate of ballot spoilage.
Commissioners Thernstrom and Russell Redenbaugh today released their dissent from the Commission’s majority report, which alleged disfranchisement of “countless” minority voters in Florida.
Their dissent found serious flaws in the methodology and analysis of the Commission’s study of voting patterns and practices. The Commission ignored extensive, unrefuted evidence that the Florida election suffered only from imperfections that were unrelated to race. No evidence supports allegations of disfranchisement or discrimination against minorities.
“The majority report used shoddy statistical analysis, coupled with anecdotal and unsubstantiated allegations—disregarding the preponderance of testimony—to paint a portrait of disfranchisement and intimidation of minorities in the Florida election that bears no resemblance whatsoever to actual fact,” said Dr. Thernstrom.
Thernstrom continued: “The Florida election was, in fact, free of racial bias, and was hampered only by problems that were neither motivated by racial discrimination nor served to disfranchise minority voters. By ignoring this evidence, the Commission has squandered its credibility as a fact-finding agency. We can only conclude that the Commission, as it is presently constituted, is unable to conduct objective research, and hence is no longer able to serve the public interest.”
Among the chief weaknesses of the Commission’s majority report outlined in Thernstrom and Redenbaugh’s dissent:
1. The majority report simply ignored the preponderance of witnesses who appeared before the Commission and testified that there was no evidence of discrimination or any race-based problems in the Florida election. Problems were caused by bureaucratic inefficiencies, inexperienced voters, or other technical problems that were unrelated to http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/dissenting_report_press_releas.htm
One of many reports.
