Voter ID Laws -- Your Thoughts? (POLL & DISCUSSION)

[ozymandias]

Could someone please answer my question about voting procedures here? Do you need to show ID and get checked off a list or what?

It's different in different places Tag. In Oregon we have vote by mail. Once you're registered as a voter you're sent your ballot by mail, fill it in, sign it and mail it back or drop it off at a dropbox. It's very flawed because there's no guarantee that the person it's mailed to actually receives it or is the one filling it in.

 

[muffntuf]

I think it should be required. I think it would cut out a lot of stuff. I know the ACLU is saying it would hinder a lot of people from voting - handicapped, homeless in shelters, etc. etc. How it could be racist, I am not sure, that seems a little far fetched for me. But there is an adult population that do not have driver's licenses, if they work they should have a photo ID issued from the state they live in, but?????

 

[brasstackminis]

I recently became friends with a 47 year old woman who had a shaded past. She recently changed her ways and was trying to get a drivers license again. She threw hers away when she was 19...lived on the streets and didn't need it. Anyways, after living through and loosing everything to Hurricane Katrina, then Ike, she was having a very hard time getting any kind of ID. All of her IDs and important paperwork were lost to one of the two hurricanes. You have to have a Social Security card and a copy of your Birth Certificate or a pass port to get a DL. Well turns out if you need a copy of a SS card, you need an ID or Drivers Licence, copy of your birth certificate and/or a passport. Around and around we go! After lots of education on how to use a computer, find information and apply for all of the stuff, she finally has an ID card. She is a legal citizen!!! If you are persistant and call the DPS or DMV enough times, you may get ahold of someone who can answer more than basic questions and help the odd problem holder. So there is a population who do not have ID's...it is true. Question is, do they even want to vote? If they did, they would get an ID IF they knew how...

There is a large group who don't know how a debit card works! I was shocked that this friend was not the only one that drove to the bank to get money to go to WalMart because they simply did not know that the debit card could be used at the store. Shocking but true. They have GEDs but did not graduate HS...but I do not remember a debit card class there...so where do you get this information? I remember a time when a young lady approached me at the gas station looking for $5 for gas to get to a job interview. She was a mess. I gave her the money but remember thinking that if what she said was true (who knows really) she was in quite the pickle! She needed money to get the clothes to get the job...but she needed the job to get the money to buy the interview clothes! It is easy to say..."get a job" or "get an ID" but some people do not have the information or means to do this. I am all for having an ID to vote...but if we are worried about those that want to vote and have no ID, then educate them! Send out cards in the mail to "residents" to inform them of the local contact information in order to get the IDs they need. It is kind of like telling someone who wants to spell a word right to go "look it up in the dictionary!" If I knew how to spell it, I wouldn't be looking it up! It is amazing to realize how many just don't know things that many of us take forgrated as "common knowledge." Just saying...

 

[Jill]

Brass, you really make some great points. I used to volunteer at an Adult Learning Center and I remember how shocked I was at the number of women who work jobs, raise a family and run a house that didn't understand basic math. I don't even mean fractions, but addition and subtraction. It was just a big eye opener for me... It's been a long time since I was doing that work, and it's easy to forget. There are for sure a wide range of abilities to be found in every day, functioning adults.

 

[ozymandias]

Not to sound elitist brasstack, because that certainly isn't how this comment is intended, but if they don't know life's basics like what a debit card is then perhaps they shouldn't be voting at the moment anyhow. Voting is something a little more involved than putting down an "x" in a box. Half the mess we're in is because people don't put any more thought into voting than "well my parents voted this way". I know that's going to come across as harsh and that's not my intention we all as citizens, have the right to vote but IMO it's more important than just doing it. Sometimes, getting back on your feet, is more of a priority and education as a voter takes commitment.

edited to add - it would be great if people not only helped educate on how to vote but could help educate on the candidates and issues too.

 

[Jill]

I have to say I agree with Miniwhinny / Oz, but it is good to be reminded about the wide range of abilities. A lot of people are (willfully or otherwise) uninformed yet armed with the right to vote. I know I got flamed years ago for saying what I'm about to say, but what the heck. I still feel this way! I wish that only people who could demonstrate a basic level of intelligence and knowledge of political structure were able to vote. Like a "you must be at least this tall to ride this ride" type of qualification outside the voter booth.

 

[Jill]

This article and accompanying video tie right in with our Voter Fraud ponderings.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/04/08/DC-Polling-Place-Holder-Ballot?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+BigGovernment+%28Big+Government%29

 

[targetsmom]

It has been a law in CT for several elections now, and not an issue that I am aware of. You do not need a drivers license, as we have relatives who are blind ( so they don't drive!) but can get an alternate ID card that will work. They are well-versed in the issues - probably more so than I am!

 

[Jill]

Does anyone know if all DMV's (Department of Motor Vehicles) offer a photo ID for non-drivers? In VA, it does, but I don't know if all DMV's offer this official form of ID for people who do not drive.

 

[REO]

That's where I got my ID in OK. (DMV)

 

[Riverrose28]

The state of Maryland also offers photo ID at the DMV for non-drivers.

 

[Jill]

Thanks, Robin and Terry

 

[user 488]

I think Illinois offers it too Jill.....I can remember my mother getting one.

 

[Jill]

Thanks, Carol

 

[Jill]

I wanted to share some of the latest... New O’Keefe video released today exposes non-citizens on voter rolls in NC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptSrcNvJzBQ

 

[lil hoofbeats]

Surely the important issue is that a large group of people who are currently voting ILLEGALLY are removed from the system whether it's being done now (for political reasons) or later for other reasons. It's about time our sovereignty as a nation is upheld. I do understand what your saying James but if the current admin is only in power because of illegal immigrants tipping the voting scale in their favor then they shouldn't be in power in the first place.

Like..uh.....heck yea!!!!! they still ask me for ID when i order tequila, and thats a heck of lot less important that voting!!!!! If you are too ashamed to show an ID at the polls, stay home!

Voting is extremely important, and should be treated as such!

 

[Jill]

Mary Lou, it seems like you're a good student of Media Matters, but I'm as likely to refer to their website in the hopes of being informed as I am to tune into MSNBC for the evening news. Sorry, my friend, I love you, but I know enough about Media Matters to avoid it.

 

[Debby - LB]

I voted a very loud yes.

I think this issue shines a lot of light on how things work, and how the "logic" behind something is so much more important than the final answer. If you think about it, it is minorities that have the most trouble producing a picture ID, due to a larger percentage of them being illegal citizen.. So the idea is, any law that affects one group more than another must be "against" that group, and therefore "racist". I think that logic obviously doesn't apply here, but it is used none the less to rile people up and get them to vote with their emotions not their heads.

On the other hand though, I don’t like or agree with is the timing of this topic's growth and the focus it is receiving all of a sudden. No matter how legitimate the law, I don't like that it is in essence being used by the conservatives to remove what is seen as a large part of the current administrations support. I have trouble trusting lawmakers whose motivation to get important laws in place comes from their fear of losing an election.

Very well said

 

[Debby - LB]

During the last Presidential election I saw several very-very old people who said they had never voted before being helped to the polls, which was very nice I love to see people at the polls... what bothered me about it was them asking "who am I voting for?" and the younger people telling them what to do. In Ga, it had been well advertised that people were going door to door in the poor neighborhoods helping to sign up voters. I think it's a shame that to vote for our countries leaders you need to be no more qualified than to vote on american idol.

 

[Jill]

I wanted to update this thread with some news out of Florida.

"Florida’s secretary of state has asked a federal judge to force President Barack Obama’s administration to comply with federal voting laws."

http://dailycaller.com/2012/06/11/florida-sues-obamas-agency-to-stop-voter-fraud/

"The Justice Department set the stage Monday to sue Florida over its effort to purge the voter rolls of non-U.S. citizens..."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/11/florida-sues-dhs-over-access-to-voter-citizenship-records/