V02-27

Question

The state legislature has proposed a law that would require registered voters to bring photo ID with them to polling places. The law is intended to curb potential fraud by preventing anyone else from voting under a registered voter's name. A 2004 survey found that the names of over 1,500 people who had died were still on voter rolls, and another 672 people were still listed as registered voters even though they had either moved out of the state or lost the right to vote due to felony conviction.
 
Which of the following, if true, is the best piece of evidence to support the adoption of the proposed law?

A. A law from a neighboring state requiring citizens to show photo ID before they can register to vote, eliminating the need for them to bring ID to polling places.
B. Data from the latest census showing that only two-thirds of the people in the state are registered voters.
C. Evidence from a survey demonstrating that a percentage of minorities living in cities do not have photo ID.
D. Proof that absentee ballots from the last election had been misplaced.
E. A survey has showed that, over the five years previous to the survey, votes were recorded for a percentage of people who had died or moved out of state.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Solution:

The state legislature has proposed a law that would require registered voters to bring photo ID with them to polling places. The law is intended to curb potential fraud by preventing anyone else from voting under a registered voter's name. A 2004 survey found that the names of over 1,500 people who had died were still on voter rolls, and another 672 people were still listed as registered voters even though they had either moved out of the state or lost the right to vote due to felony conviction.
 
Which of the following, if true, is the best piece of evidence to support the adoption of the proposed law?

A. A law from a neighboring state requiring citizens to show photo ID before they can register to vote, eliminating the need for them to bring ID to polling places.
B. Data from the latest census showing that only two-thirds of the people in the state are registered voters.
C. Evidence from a survey demonstrating that a percentage of minorities living in cities do not have photo ID.
D. Proof that absentee ballots from the last election had been misplaced.
E. A survey has showed that, over the five years previous to the survey, votes were recorded for a percentage of people who had died or moved out of state.

Situation:  A proposed law would require people to bring photo ID to polling places when they vote, in order to curb potential fraud.
 
 Reasoning:    Which point supports the making of a law requiring people to confirm their identities before voting?  Identify carefully that claim the passage is making: that the many names of people no longer eligible to vote remaining on the rolls is an indication that voter fraud is  possible . Evidence that fraud has  already occurred  is the best support for the law's adoption.
 
A. The fact that a neighboring state simply  has  a law to counter a similar problem does not prove that the law presents an adequate solution.
 
B. The fact that  \frac{1}{3}  of the state's population are not registered to vote does not solve a problem with the other two thirds.
 
C. This is evidence  against  the proposed law, because it would demonstrate that some registered voters do not have the required accompanying photo ID.
 
D. This item includes irrelevant information because it does not directly address the question of whether people are voting under other names.
 
 E. CORRECT.  This piece of evidence illustrates that the state has an actual, rather than potential, problem with voter fraud that requires action detailed in the proposed law.

Answer: E

Joc456 · Answer

Isn't statement E just restating information in the premise? If the most recent information states that there is fraud, why do we care if this problem existed 5 years previous to the survey? The explanation states (E) Correct. This piece of evidence illustrates that the state has an actual, rather than potential, problem with voter fraud that requires action detailed in the proposed law

doesn't the premise saying a survey supports this say the exact same thing? I didn't see a clear winner here

doesn't the premise saying a survey supports this say the exact same thing? I didn't see a clear winner here

sayantanc2k · Answer

The paragraph suggests that there exist registrations on the voters list for people who died or moved away. However nothing is mentioned about whether those votes were actually cast fraudulently. If those votes were not cast at all, then adoption of the proposed law may not be required at all. Option E confirms that such fraudulent votes were actually cast, supporting the requirement of adoption of the law in order to protect future (potential) repetition of such frauds.

Raxit85 · Answer

VeritasKarishma  ,

I narrowed down two options i.e. B and E but ultimately chosen the wrong one (as usual). I chose B over E because i thought if 2/3 of population are registered then, remaining 1/3 of population already moved away or died. Rejected option E by thinking that argument states information in numbers and E states information in percentages, which can be the logical gap. Can you please identify and highlight the problem in my reasoning and provide suggestion to improve?

Regards,
Raxit.

KarishmaB · Answer

Fraud: Other people voting under a registered voter's name (who has died/moved/lost right to vote - more than 2k such people) who is still registered.
Law to prevent fraud: Bring your ID so that your photo and name match the registered user's name.

We need evidence to support the adoption of the law - to say that yes, we should adopt this law. 
What evidence will help us support the adoption of the law? If we find out that actually the fraud is being committed, that people are voting against registered names who have died or moved etc, then it makes sense to adopt the law. That is what option (E) does. It tells that votes were recorded against some such people. Hence, it helps support adoption of the law.

A. A law from a neighboring state requiring citizens to show photo ID before they can register to vote, eliminating the need for them to bring ID to polling places.
The laws of the neighbouring state are irrelevant. They will have laws as per their requirement.

B. Data from the latest census showing that only two-thirds of the people in the state are registered voters.

Irrelevant. Only 2/3rd of the people are registered voters. Rest 1/3 might be children (non voting age) or may not have the right to vote etc. We are concerned with only the registered voters. Our concern is that among these 2/3rd, there are some who are not available to vote (because of death, moving out etc) but others vote on their name.

C. Evidence from a survey demonstrating that a percentage of minorities living in cities do not have photo ID.

This jeopardises our plan. If these minorities are registered voters, they may not be able to vote because of no photo ID. It doesn't help our plan.

D. Proof that absentee ballots from the last election had been misplaced.

Misplaced ballots from last election are irrelevant.

Answer (E)

Confusion · Answer

I have the same thinking - can anyone explain - why E is different from info in passage? That also states that of ppl who are registered few names have died or moved from city

miag · Answer

Hi,

You are right that both option E) and the passage are common in the sense that they are talking about the same people - those who died/ moved out of the state. But there is a difference. The passage is talking about their voter records and how they weren't updated - the people who fall in the above categories are still considered registered voters/ entitled to vote when they shouldn't be, in other words their records are not updated. (ineligible people are still in the records)
What E) is showing on the other hand is that there is a misuse/fraud because somehow people who have died/moved out are still voting in the system. This is what we need from the right option - we need it to highlight an issue in the way things currently are which necessitates the need for the law.

V02-27

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