Posted on 06/20/2011 8:06:37 AM PDT by libertarian neocon
Today, E.J. Dionne has the usual nonsense about how voter ID laws are an attempt by the GOP to rig the 2012 elections and also to suppress minority voting (i.e. it's all about racism because all Republicans do is cackle maniacally while smoking cigars and think about ways to discriminate against African Americans). I don't understand what's the big deal about requiring an ID in order to vote, hell you need an ID just to step on a plane. Considering how important voting is, it seems like it is not outlandish to make sure the only people who are voting are those that can legitimately vote. In 2008, the Supreme Court decided the Crawford v. Marion County Election Board case in which an Indiana voter ID law was upheld as constitutional, with the majority opinion written by none other than the liberal scion of the court for a generation, John Paul Stevens. He wrote:
Because Indiana's cards are free, the inconvenience of going to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, gathering required documents, and posing for a photograph does not qualify as a substantial burden on most voters' right to vote, or represent a significant increase over the usual burdens of voting. The severity of the somewhat heavier burden that may be placed on a limited number of persons—e.g., elderly persons born out-of-state, who may have difficulty obtaining a birth certificate—is mitigated by the fact that eligible voters without photo identification may cast provisional ballots that will be counted if they execute the required affidavit at the circuit court clerk's office. Even assuming that the burden may not be justified as to a few voters, that conclusion is by no means sufficient to establish petitioners' right to the relief they seek.
So much for voter ID laws being some sort of right wing conspiracy. But don't let logic stop Dionne, who starts putting on his tin foil hat when he claims "the rank partisanship of these measures is discouraging the media from reporting plainly on what's going on.". Somehow the mainstream media is too afraid to report on the story of voter suppression because they are afraid of being called anti-GOP? Seriously? When has that every stopped them before? Maybe they don't report on these stories because there is little to no evidence of actual voter suppression. Dionne says there is "evidence" but then doesn't name a single study. The only hard evidence he does cite is that Texas accepts concealed handgun licenses at the polls but not student ID's. See it's all a conspiracy as handgun owners tend to vote for the GOP and students tend to vote Democratic. Or it could simply be due to the fact that to get a concealed handgun license in Texas you need to provide:
What does it take to get a student ID? It really depends but at the minimum the requirement is not very high and of course there is no citizenship requirement so even illegal immigrants can have student ID's. Even though it shouldn't, it still amazes me how liberals can cry racism without any evidence and expect the rest of us to take them seriously.
Since passing a voter ID requirement in Michigan we’ve taken the Governor’s mansion, attorney general, secretary of state, several house and senate seats, held one conservative supreme court seat, taken another, and taken two US house seats.
I am always amazed that I can just walk into my local polling place, tell them who I am and then be allowed to vote. They don’t know me form Adam and they accept my word. Try that at the bank. Good luck.
Totally insane that you can vote without ID.
Well it will pretty much eliminate the dead peeps vote, families of 20,000 juan valdezes, and of course the cat and dog vote will be missing as well. All voting D of course. Disenfranchisement!
I fail to see how this can discriminate, as your vote is secret.
All this does, is prevents people from illegally voting in precints that they do not reside, it prevents people from fraudlently voting for a neighbor, or deceased individual. The only change I would like to see, is some database that shows that an individual has already voted at point “A”; so when he shows up at point “B” to fraudlently vote again, he can be charged with Voter Fraud.
There is no difference in an armed overthrow of a Gov’t, or committing voter fraud. The result is the same, an illegitimate goverment is installed against the will of the people.
This is such a grand opportunity for the Democrats to demonstrate their “compassion”.
Aren’t these the same people who brag about driving the elderly and disabled to the polls on election day?
Can’t they drive these same people to get their photo ids?
If they really care about the poor, what’s the problem?
An ID isn’t going to break anybody’s bank. In America they’re anywhere from free to $20 for 5 years or more.
If you are too damn stupid to have proper ID,Then You should NOT Vote!
I agree Hodar. It’s amazing how antiquated our voting systems are. In my district in NJ, the only people who seem to know if you voted are the keepers of the book that they make you sign. There is no way to see if you voted early, and often.
We had voter ID in Indiana in 2008, and the mulatto Messiah still managed to win this traditionally Red state.
Ping!
Time to put an end to early voting and have voting take place in one weekend from Friday till Monday.
Study what happened in Florida Panhandle in 2004.
We can design a 100% accurate election process. No reason we can't have fraud free elections Democracy presupposes fraud free elections. Voter ID is essential.Critics just want to cheat.
Leftists have a vested interest in vote fraud. It’s the easiest way they can guarantee victory.
It’s so simple to figure out. The Democrats can not win without cheating. My guess is Obama didn’t even win in 08. No I don’t have proof. It’s a gut feeling based on the complete lack of morals of the Democratic/Communist Party, it’s members, and it’s operatives, the press, Hollywood, Unions, illegal immigrants, on and on ad nauseam.
It’s only natural that one of those operatives, the press, is screaming racism, of course, because State governments realize the amount of illegal voting that’s taking place and are trying to do something simple to stop it.
The next step should be long prison sentences for those caught cheating. These slaps on the wrist deter no one. Also cleaning up voter data bases would help to stop the amount of voters who manage to reach out from the grave in an act of super natural defiance and vote Democrat/Communist.
I would like to see the formation of citizen watcher teams who keep an eye on some of the more obvious ways the cheaters cheat. I’m sure there are many FReepers, particularly those in the major metropolises, who are more in tune with the ebb and flow of the cities’ ways and know where to concentrate watchers at.
I’d like to hear some responses from FReepers who know some of the tactics the cheating degenerates use. We know they use front groups such as ACORN and other similar groups to ferry people to the various polling places for multiple votes and the infamous trunk loads of fake mail in votes, but they undoubtedly have many other tricks up their sleeves.
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