Some States Making It Harder to Vote (proof of citizenship is a burden)

NY Times ^ | 10/12/06

[Libloather]

Some States Making It Harder to Vote
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 12, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) -- Some states have enacted laws that make it harder to vote instead of correcting ballot problems that have plagued various parts of the country since the 2000 election, according to a study released Thursday.

Describing their findings as ''troubling,'' voting reform advocates sampled 10 states with past election difficulties. Especially worrisome, the report said, were laws passed by a handful of states, including Arizona and Georgia, that require a government-issued photo identification card and proof of citizenship before being allowed to vote.

Though both state laws were later blocked by judges, ''the damage has already been done,'' confusing would-be voters and severely hampering voter registration drives, said Tova Wang of The Century Foundation think tank, which conducted the survey with Common Cause and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

Also troublesome was a lack of electronic voting policies that could make voting lines in the upcoming midterm contest even longer than those in 2004, according to the survey.

Such delays especially affected Ohio, where people waited hours because of problems with computerized voting.

**SNIP**

After the 2004 debacle in Ohio, a law was passed mandating one machine for every 175 registered voters. But it is not enforceable until 2013.

The study contained some good news. Many states have aggressively recruited young people to serve as poll workers -- an effort to correct poorly staffed precincts and aging volunteers not familiar with new electronic technology.

But overall, of the studied states, ''none have come close to addressing in full the major problems that plagued the system during the last federal election,'' the survey concluded.

The states were Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.

[Libloather]

"the damage has already been done,"

Reducing voter fraud is AWFUL!

[rlmorel]

Boy..does Rush Limbaugh know these people or what? There has been a bunch of articles lately on voter fraud...

Looks like they are trying to set up the landscape for their invevitable loss...:)

[Argus]

The Century Foundation think tank, which conducted the survey with Common Cause and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

And we know how objective those outfits are.

[Brad from Tennessee]

Many states also make it difficult to drive a motor vehicle if you have not passed a test proving your ability to drive.

[airborne]

Describing their findings as ''troubling,''

What's troubling is that any American could possibly not see the problem of illegals voting in American elections.

[Dacus943]

The title should read...

Some States Making It Harder to Vote Illegally!

[NapkinUser]

"Though both state laws were later blocked by judges...."

The one in Georgia will stand eventually.

[BigSkyFreeper]

The states were Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.

Those states were states the Democrats were trying to steal.

[Fiddlstix]

.......the report said, were laws passed by a handful of states, including Arizona and Georgia, that require a government-issued photo identification card and proof of citizenship before being allowed to vote.

Poor Babies! Imagine that? Wanting only U.S. Citizens to be allowed to VOTE!
IT'S An OUTRAGE!!!!

</Sarcasm>

Click the Pic J

[fhlh]

Imagine that... Judges writing laws...

[rocksblues]

Here we go, voter fraud is better than one man/woman one vote!

[SMM48]

The states were Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin.

Thanks to the 9th Circus, Arizona can not ask for ID at the polling stations. Arizona can not ask for proof of who you are in order to register to vote either. Insane! This is now before the Supreme Court for an emergency ruling.

[ASA Vet]

Michigan is not a state where the commiecRATs were trying to steal.
It is a state where the commiecRATs do steal elections.

W won Michigan last time, if votes cast by the dead are excluded.

[fhlh]

just sad...

Thanks for getting those Judges through GOP controlled congress...

[Secret Agent Man]

If proving you are a citizen (and who you say you are) is too much of a burden, than we shouldn't force the burden of voting on these people either.

[JRochelle]

I am in charge of my local precinct and this past May, in the primary, we had to check every voter's ID.

No one objected. Everyone was willing to prove that they were eligible to vote.

So far we are one of the few states which mandates showing photo ID.

[TheLion]

"But overall, of the studied states, ''none have come close to addressing in full the major problems that plagued the system during the last federal election,'' the survey concluded."

That is correct. We still haven't come up with a sure fire way to prevent vote fraud by Democrats. This article is once huge pile of dung by the "left wing" Associated Press".

[NapkinUser]

The judge who did that was a democratic appointee, a partisan hack and a disgrace. I can't remember his name, something like T. Jackson.....

Anyway, the conservative Georgia supreme court will overrule that sorry excuse for a judge's ruling.

[handy]

Especially worrisome, the report said, were laws passed by a handful of states, including Arizona and Georgia, that require a government-issued photo identification card and proof of citizenship before being allowed to vote.

What worries me is that in some states you can vote without photo ID.

[theBuckwheat]

The right to vote is no less open to infringement than the right to keep and bear arms. Would that voters should have to pass the same exact check that is conducted on the buyer of a firearm.

I have not seen any members of the MSM point out that the Supreme Court has allowed federal and state governments to regulate both who can vote and the process of voting. For example, violent felons lose both their right to vote as well as their right to possess a firearm.

If, as opponents of voter ID contend, that requiring a photo ID is too great a burden, or has a chilling effect, on the act of voting, then I would happily ask them to apply the same standard to buying a firearm.