Political Quotes

“on July 9, 2001, the House Government Reform Committee released the results of a national study that examined the income and racial disparities in the undercount of the 2000 presidential election. At my request, the Committee investigated voting patterns in the First Congressional District of Illinois, which I represent. The investigation also examined the impact of different voting machines on the undercount. This was the first report to examine voter undercounts on both the national and local levels. The report analyzed the voting results in 20 Congressional districts with high poverty rates and majority minority populations. The startling results of the investigation illustrated that voters in my district were almost seven times more likely to have their votes discarded than voters in affluent white districts. This disturbing quantification gives my district the dubious distinction of being one of two Congressional districts with the highest rate of undercounted votes among those surveyed. The first District tied with the 17th District of Florida, with the undercount rate a disturbingly high 7.9 percent! Overall, the report found that voters in low-income predominantly minority districts were significantly more likely to have their votes discarded than were voters in affluent, predominantly white districts.”