Blog: David Loshin

« This Blog Entry is 50% Bigger, For Just a Small Cost Increase | Main | Anachronisms - “Yellow Pages on the Internet” »

Voter Registration and Data Quality (Or Lack Thereof...)

As a data quality practitioner alsways seeking ways to communicate the value of data integrity, it is always a pleasure when you wake up in the morning and the Washington Post hands you a juicy data quality-related story. This past Saturday, the lead story describes how the process of transitioning voter registration from local governments to state-wide management is surfacing "discrepancies between their registration information and other official records, often because of errors outside voters' control."

In other words, identity information used to qualify voters is being called into question in a number of states, some of whom (such as Ohio) are political battlegrounds that can make or break an election. As the Supreme Court gets involved, and as more discrepancies crop up in the next few days, one can suddenly see that yes, Virginia (and Maryland, Alabama, Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, etc.), poor data quality can actually have worldwide impact.

Share: