Posted on 07/05/2011 1:11:38 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON — Sixteen Democratic senators want the Justice Department to look into whether voting rights are being jeopardized in Texas and other states that require photo identification in order for people to vote.
The lawmakers wrote Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday to express concern that millions of voters do not have a government-issued ID - particularly older people, racial minorities, low-income voters and students.
The senators say the photo ID requirements have the potential to block millions of eligible people from exercising their right to vote.
Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said the department is monitoring, as it routinely does, this type of legislative activity in the states.
"We urge you to protect the voting rights of Americans by using the full power of the Department of Justice to review these voter identification laws and scrutinize their implementation," the senators said in the letter to the attorney general.
The 16 senators include.......
"Many of these laws effectively disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters," Bennet said in a statement.
The senators are seeking vigorous enforcement of the Voting Rights Act and federal civil rights law, which bars different standards from being applied to individuals within a jurisdiction. Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act gives the Justice Department significant authority to review laws before they are implemented in states with a history of discriminatory voting practices. Three states subject to Section 5 - Georgia, Texas and South Carolina - require a photo ID in order to vote. Texas and South Carolina enacted their laws last month.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
That seems to sum up my feelings pretty good...
Sure walks like a duck.
Let's face it. My summary of the creation of Georgia's counties was irrelevant to the topic of this thread. I simply found it interesting.
There are a few - a very, very few - people for whom getting a vote ID is perhaps more than trivial. It would be interesting to see statistics on the number of people actually effected.
I know that there are elderly individuals who no longer have driver's licenses and whose pension and other checks are auto-deposited. They may not have photo IDs.
Will the Democrats admit that it was the Democrat Party that put in place all of the obstacles to prevent Blacks from voting in and around the Jim Crow era?
The DOJ tried to stop GA over a year ago from instituting the ID requirement but we beat them on it. We had a great Sec of State.
Yep. But (just like "it's for the children") think of the number of nepotistic jobs that would be lost, and political favors and politically connected contracts that couldn't be awarded. Think of the number of people who couldn't supplement their income by being County Commissioners, the number of school board members, parks and recreation directors, and other political positions that weren't available.
Wouldn't that be a shame?
I’d venture to say that every person on SSI, welfare or other gov bennies has a valid photo ID. They have to show ID to buy booze, ciggies and many other things. Photo ID requirements are in place to stop voter fraud, which is why dims are against it.
How do they go through security at the Airport without a Photo ID?
E.J. looks like he has AIDS.
i’ll second that!
“Sixteen Democratic senators . . . wrote Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday to express concern that millions of voters do not have a government-issued ID - particularly older people, racial minorities, low-income voters and students.”
Then how do they sign up for food stamps, WIC, government housing, Medicaid, SSI, government cheese, etc., etc.?
On that last, the stock answer is “all those guys are Republicans now, it’s the Nixon Southern Strategy.” I’ve seen it again and again, it’s got to be in the Talking Points Email 101 somewhere.
b
Ping!
For sure. Voter ID will keep thousands of dead people from voting. The Democrats are worried sick about it.
That reminded me to check and make sure both my deceased parents are off the voter rolls in their county. I remember the number of people voting in Travis county that had passed away just before the 2004 elections.
I was estimating that dems would lose between 3 and 5 percent of the popular vote total if all voters were verified.
I saw something the other day that led me to believe the total loss would be much higher.
Their ‘history’ argument is exactly that! History. They have not had this kind of problem for 50 years. Vice Versa? Well, they won’t listen to anything anyone says about the Black Panthers in Philadelphia in November 2008.. Screw them. They are not Americans.
I think you are probably right.
What is appalling is that we had our state rep succeed in getting several hundred absentee military ballots - most likely for the (R) - thrown out in 2010. She ended up winning by 12 votes. I hope the redistricting from this session sends her to the unemployment line.
Pass a constitutional amendment allowing poll taxes. $50 to vote in any federal election, and tie it to the consumer price index.
A good start, but lets enhance it.
Make it a $5000 poll tax - or proof of at least $5000 paid in federal income taxes. The difference is collected at the time of the vote, so, for example, those who "only" paid $4500 would need to cough up an additional $500 or go back home.
That ought to clean up the cesspool fairly quick.
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