Posted on 01/14/2008 6:14:15 AM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Indiana's harsh voter ID law, as it seems poised to do, hundreds of thousands of black Americans should march in protest. So should hundreds of thousands of Latino Americans. Native Americans, too. Political activists from across the ethnic spectrum should convene the biggest political demonstration since the historic March on Washington in 1963.
Where is Al Sharpton when a genuinely critical issue comes along? Where's Jesse Jackson?
The GOP-led campaign to pass stringent voter ID laws is a greater injustice than the prosecutions of the Jena Six, more significant than the incarceration of Michael Vick, more damaging than the insulting rants of Don Imus. This is a brazen effort to block the votes of thousands of people of color who might have the temerity to vote for Democrats. And it's un-American.
As happened in several states, including Georgia, the then-GOP-dominated Indiana Legislature pushed through a rigid law in 2005 requiring voters to produce a state-sponsored photo ID at the poll. While the Republican spin machine has worked mightily to portray this as an effort to curb voter fraud, it is no such thing. There has never — never — been a single documented case of "voter impersonation" at the ballot box, with a fake voter using an electric bill or phone bill to pretend to be a valid voter.
Earlier this month, radio journalist Warren Olney pressed Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita about the prosecution of voter impersonation cases in Indiana. "Oh, yeah. We suspect it happens all the time," Rokita said.
"Suspect?" Olney countered.
"Well, are you saying you want to define whether or not there's fraud based on whether or not it's prosecuted?" Rokita answered, adding, "It's a hard type of crime to catch. ... It's hard to catch one in the act."
OK, then. Got that? It's a little like the search for life on other planets. Extra-terrestrials are out there, even if none has actually been spotted.
(If Republicans were interested in actual voter fraud, they would have tightened the rules for absentee ballots, since that's where most voter fraud occurs. But because absentee voters tend to vote Republican, many GOP-dominated legislatures have made absentee balloting rules less stringent.)
But there is evidence aplenty of this: There are thousands of law-abiding registered voters across the land who have no government-sponsored ID — no passport, no driver's license — and who will be banned from the ballot box if the highest court upholds this highly partisan law.
It is difficult for middle-class citizens to believe, I know. If you live in the comfortable economic mainstream, where taking airplane trips and renting DVDs is a routine part of life, you can't imagine voters without a state-sponsored photo ID.
But they're out there. Just ask Mary-Jo Criswell, 71. Her ballot was thrown out when she showed up at her Indiana polling place expecting to use the same forms of ID, including a bank card with a photo, that she had used in the past. She has epilepsy, she says, so she has never had a driver's license.
Citizens like Criswell are Americans, too, and they have every right to vote, just like it says in the Bill of Rights. It is elitism, pure and simple, to suggest that requiring them to obtain a state-sponsored photo ID is a "minor inconvenience." But that's exactly what Justice Anthony Kennedy called it during oral arguments, noting that the law is expected to affect only a small percentage of voters.
That's true. The GOP is aiming at a small pool of voters — mostly poor, often elderly, usually black or brown — who lack driver's licenses. As it happens, they tend to support Democrats. With so many elections decided by a margin of a few hundred votes, Republicans figure they can stay in power by blocking just a few Democratic ballots.
But the Republicans could be in for a jolt. The electorate seems much more excited about Democratic candidates this year. The Democratic presidential candidates have topped the Republicans in fund-raising, and in early primary states, more Democratic ballots have been cast than Republican ones.
The way things are going, Republicans running for national office could lose by a lot of votes — not a few. So they'll need a new scam to win elections.
This was posted early last night.
I don't know why proponents of Voter ID won't have the courage to point this out.
It is an effort to stop multiple votes or invalid votes of thousands of people, of all colors, regardless of how they vote. The fact that only the Democrats are upset by this demonstrates where the bulk of voter fraud lies.
They act as if it takes your life savings to get a damned State ID. At most it might cost $50 and you have quite a while to save up the cash to get it.
We've got one. Run Hillary Run!
It is ABSURD to NOT have to show photo ID to vote, unless, of course, if your motivation and intent, Ms. Tucker, is to commit vote fraud.....
And their destination should be the nearest Indiana state office, where they can get a state ID for free. That's part of the same law. Odd that law-abiding Cindy didn't mention that.
Only White Republicans have ID. Everybody knows that.
What an idiotic statement! The Marxists are really upset that their corrupt machine might at last see the light of truth and day. Given the ready availability of digital cameras, the ready availability of countless volunteer groups, the many positive advantages of having valid identification, and the ease of getting an ID, methinks the Dems protest too much. Why would they protest so vehemently against something so basic and useful? I for, one, would like to assured that each voter gets one vote, not several votes, and no votes from the dead.
Baloney - this is a brazen effort to block people from voting more than once, as large-city democRATS are wont to do. Perhaps with a more accurate vote count, where each citizen votes only once, the outcome of the election will more closely reflect the true will of the people. All the people's vote will count, but it will count only once.
Turning this into some kind of racial attack is pure, unadulterated baloney.
I am amazed that the Dems can state that their constituents are to stupid to get a picture ID and then have that confirmed by the constituents themselves.The fact that minorities still vote to keep “Master” in office confirms the conundrum.
Whoops. Someone committing tax and vote fraud won't elicit a lot of sympathy from the sane members of the court.
I like the “no prosecutions means there’s no fraud” logic. I’m going to stop locking my car when I go to the mall because as far as I know nobody has ever tried to take anything from it.
here in Indiana a State ID is free.
That's not from lack of ID. that's from Karl Rove's Vote-switch-amatic that's built into the newest generation of GPS satellites. < /sarc>
That was the best. If that's their best case, it's party time. I only wish it wasn't some number of months before they make a ruling.
“It is elitism, pure and simple, to suggest that requiring them to obtain a state-sponsored photo ID is a “minor inconvenience.””
It is elitism, pure and simple, to presume that certain demographic groups are less able to cope with simple administrative requirements than others.
Democrats know:
1) That they engage in voter fraud on massive scales.
2) That elections won’t even be close if this fraud is addressed.
3) That their main constituency is TOO LAZY to get photo ID if they don’t have it.
And yes, you are absolutely right - opposition to Voter ID is nothing but a brazen attempt by the left to make sure that illegitimate voters cancel out valid anti-Democrat votes.
Cynthia, conveniently, does not mention the ACORN convictions.
Hell, let’s have the taxpayers pay for it!
That’s an expense I’d gladly pay.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.