As the nation gears up for the 2012 presidential election, Republican officials have launched an unprecedented, centrally coordinated campaign to suppress the elements of the Democratic vote that elected Barack Obama in 2008. Just as Dixiecrats once used poll taxes and literacy tests to bar black Southerners from voting, a new crop of GOP governors and state legislators has passed a series of seemingly disconnected measures that could prevent millions of students, minorities, immigrants, ex-convicts and the elderly from casting ballots.Naturally any good leftist conspiracy theory wouldn't be complete without false accusations of racism. When you read the article you find that the so-called war on voting is entirely imaginary. It consists of, wait for it, requirements that people have proper identification before voting. Isn't that horrifying? The rest of the article rests on the pretense that voter fraud doesn't exist. Since it doesn't exist, we don't need to bother with even the most minimal requirements for identification. Never mind that doing pretty much anything else involving the government requires proof of identity. You have to show an ID just to get into the federal building near where I work. Here in New Jersey, the ID requirements for a drivers license are ridiculously complicated and annoying. But it's just too much to ask that people show an ID before voting. It must be a racist GOP conspiracy to suppress the Democratic vote.
In actuality, the leftists at Rolling Stone want as much voter fraud as possible, because they expect criminals, illegal aliens and anyone else without valid ID to vote Democratic. Since they can't come right out and say that, they have to try and put a new spin on the same tired old propaganda about the GOP suppressing votes.
Maybe they should just require you only be able to register to vote through the church you attend. That wouldn't discriminate against anyone, right?
ReplyDeleteThen there's election fraud charges Alberto Gonzales was unwilling to investigate in Florida and Ohio and Wisconsin and...
ReplyDeleteOur elective system sucks trying to handle a race or measure that splits the vote close to 50:50 for the initial count (e.g. Governor Race in WA State in 2004, or Presidential race in 2000) when a little election fraud or a little voter fraud can impact the outcome.
Is coming up with really bad analogies some sort of requirement for being on the left? First of all, the post/issue has nothing to do with registering to vote, but with ID requirements for voting when you show up to vote. Second, there's no comparison between requiring standard government-issued ID to vote, and some sort of bizarre measure to only register people for voting in churches.
ReplyDeleteThe above comment was directed at Bret, if it wasn't obvious. The anonymous comment must have gotten in between before my reply posted.
ReplyDeleteHow the hell are black people supposed to get IDs in this day and age anyway?
ReplyDeleteIt is in fact all too much to ask someone to show an ID before voting. Voting is a right, and therefore cannot be restricted except in the most dire of circumstances.
ReplyDelete"It is in fact all too much to ask someone to show an ID before voting. Voting is a right, and therefore cannot be restricted except in the most dire of circumstances. "
ReplyDeleteIf people don't have to identify themselves, then people who do not have the right to vote can vote too. Asking for ID isn't a restriction, it's a matter of proving that you possess the right to vote.
Arm bearing is a right, but we allow states to impose conditions on that.
ReplyDeleteThe reason this is discrimination (and it is, though economic) is because there are millions of people who don't have government issued IDs, nor do they have a reason to otherwise have one or get one, and some lack the means or time to get one. Voting should be easy, not a burden.
ReplyDeleteIt makes no sense to discriminate against millions who lack an ID just because of a comparatively minute number of voter fraud cases. You fight voter fraud through investigation and police work, not by imposing unconstitutional barriers at the polls.
"there are millions of people who don't have government issued IDs, nor do they have a reason to otherwise have one or get one, and some lack the means or time to get one. Voting should be easy, not a burden.
ReplyDelete"
It's not discrimination of any kind. Anyone who wants one can get a government ID. You are making the term discrimination meaningless. If asking for an ID is discrimination, then we discriminate in pretty much all government functions involving interaction with the public.
"You fight voter fraud through investigation and police work, not by imposing unconstitutional barriers at the polls. "
Showing proper ID should be a basic requirement for voting. There's nothing unconstitutional about producing proof that you have the right to vote. There are other things we can do to eliminate fraud, but that doesn't mean we should throw out the most obvious, simple requirement.
It's not free to get a voter ID, and it is an unnecessary barrier to voting. It is unconstitutional under the 14th and 24th amendments. It is essentially a poll tax, and it is stupid to think otherwise.
ReplyDeleteAlso, considering there are kids under 21 who can falsify those things, it does absolutely nothing to prevent voter fraud.
ReplyDelete"It's not free to get a voter ID, and it is an unnecessary barrier to voting. It is unconstitutional under the 14th and 24th amendments. It is essentially a poll tax, and it is stupid to think otherwise. "
ReplyDeleteIt's obviously not unconstitutional and it's stupid to think that asking for ID is some sort of tax.
"Also, considering there are kids under 21 who can falsify those things, it does absolutely nothing to prevent voter fraud."
That's a pretty ridiculous argument. Since people can create false IDs, I guess we should just eliminate ID requirements for everything. Why have IDs, they might be fake? Showing an ID won't eliminate all voter fraud but it can eliminate some.
As long as there is absolutely no monetary cost associated with obtaining a Federal ID for voting (including indirect costs to travel such as free bus\taxi fare, parking fees, postage, etc. that would be a barrier for the truly destitute US Citizen), I don’t see an issue in requiring an acceptable ID as proof of being a US citizen in order to vote.
ReplyDeleteHowever, from what I gather, voting fraud is quite rare, despite Alberto Gonzales obsession in rooting it out. So is implementing another bureaucratic system cost effective use of tax payer dollars?
Yes, it is a Republican conspiracy.
ReplyDeleteYou have left out or distorted several vitally important points. The requirement is a *photo* ID. What if you don't have a driver's license? Yes, more poor people don't have a driver's license than middle class people, and a greater percentage of minority voters--who tend to vote for Democrats--are poor.
In MD,voters can use a household bill as ID. But of course that doesn't have a picture. That is the idea of Republican voter suppression laws.
In Wisconsin, the voter ID law was carefully crafted to disqualify student IDs at University of Wisconsin that do have photos in order to prevent qualified students (who tend to vote Democrat) from voting. The University is now changing its IDs so they can be used.
Even when state-issued IDs can be obtained, this is often a difficult process (have you tried going to your local motor vehicle office recently?) and often costs money. Also, you have to know where to get this ID, and have to be able to get there.
Of course you need an ID to get into the federal building where you work, and that ID is issued by your employer.
Please point out the statistics of all the voting fraud by people voting where they were not supposed to, or voting twice, or impersonating another voter.
As the Rolling Stone article clearly articulates, this campaign is aimed at the poor, minorities and the elderly. It is simply an updated version of the old poll tax or literacy test.
Anybody who truly believes in democracy should be outraged by this campaign.