Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for July 01, 2013

This is one character I dislike. GT, IMO, is guilty of being divisive in this one. Yes, some states have gone overboard in their efforts to curb what they see as voter fraud. But, I believe that there should be some way of telling who is who at the polls. Perhaps not so draconian as some are trying but someone here without proper paperwork should not be allowed to vote. I know, my opinion here will set off a debate. Well, good.

Yea ! Garry is back .

An alternative (less controversial) rerun:http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2004/06/28BD recovering in HospitalMike

OH, my gosh! XD

Voter fraud is statistically insignificant. I suspect that the real problem is the percentage of voters who vote for the “wrong” candidates and ballot measures.

Anyone know whether there are reliable stats comparing instances of voter fraud to instances of legit voters being denied the right to vote due to systematic, deliberate “demographic” profiling?

Ya know, I’m getting reeeeeally tired of these reruns. The last time we saw this strip moving forward, Alex was going into labor. (And I have to say, I didn’t like the illustrations—it looked like a bunch of pervs ogling an inebriated and vulnerable woman)

Your vacation should’ve been over two weeks ago, Mr. Trudeau! Get back to work.

I certainly hope that Mr. Trudeau makes a few improvements when he comes back, God willing. Yes, Doonesy and the gang have grown and changed in appearance and character several times over the years, but these days I swear they seem near death at times. I really hope that this strip doesn’t turn into another Funky Cancercancer.

How come, in one Philadelphia district NOT ONE person voted non-democrat? Dang, they must be good…at handouts.

Since there were no efforts to identify voters before voter ID , how do we know there is no fraud?

One of the most ignorant story arcs GT ever wrote!

Australia has an Electoral Commission that is responsible for running many different types of elections nation wide. It is truly non-partisan and independent. Polls have shown it to be the most highly respected and trusted of all government agencies. Elections are run by the same rules in every part of the country, not by locally determined rules. (Perhaps this is simpler with a much smaller population.)

Also, almost everywhere still uses paper ballots marked with a pencil – the potential dangers of online voting through hacking and manipulation are not worth the risk imo. (Not to mention voting machines made by companies with political affiliations!)

I’m not suggesting that everything is perfect about the system, but there are many fewer opportunities for corruption and fraud. Shouldn’t the US have moved to uniform voting procedures long ago and jettisoned the local political party aspects?

Yes folks, we’re down to sniping about how the Brits vs the Colonists spell. Lord knows we couldn’t take this summer hiatus to curry, feed and rest the high horses that all the Trolls ride on and maybe truly assess how damaging this political disparagement is for the common citizen.

Political division is a fun game when the Ship of State is still answering the helm. Put we the citizens who should be the ones to steer that ship have all been shoved down into the steerage class accommodations.

The people that we voted into office to be our tools for steering that Ship of State have almost universally lost all sense of HONOR, and become so blind drunk from their thirst and lust for power, that they can’t see that the Ship is heading straight into the shoals.

Our poor boat is about to be smashed against the rocks of moral, ethical and fiscal irresponsibility and sink into the sea of mediocrity,

Think about how we as citizens of a ONCE proud country, working TOGETHER can turn the Oligarchy style of government that we now have, back into the Democratic Republic we were once so proud to be a part of.

wonder what is next for those states, literacy tests? poll tax? civics test? provide one’s detailed autobiography to vote? school records? all in the name to stop voter fraud.

Which of the following capital cities has elected 3 black mayors and which has never elected a black mayor: Boston, Massachusetts, or Jackson, Mississippi? Jackson is about to inaugurate its 3rd black mayor and Boston has yet to elect one. Surprised? Do some research before expressing opinions about voting patterns.

IMO, GT is brilliant in terms of choosing the Jim Crow symbol here. Everyone called the anti-civil rights laws, JIm Crow, so everyone knows what he is talking about, if you are American at least, or you know the history of the civil rights era in the US. The excuse of “voter fraud” is just a means of trying to help the GOP stay alive. They can’t even come close to winning at the ballot box anymore, so they have to pull stunts like that in order to try to stay in office.

Ironic how Republicans are concerned with vote fraud, yet more Republicans are arrested for vote fraud.

@ the old professor…paper ballots marked with pencil? They’re making really good erasers nowadays….

As I understand it … if it is mandatory to show an ID, then everyone needs a drivers license or non-driver ID. If you have to pay for this ID that you need ONLY to vote, that is considered a Poll Tax.

If you want to stuff the ballot box, voter fraud will never work. Involves too many people and too much time. The only effective way is through the counting. Figure out how to corrupt the counting and you can succeed. Just sayin’

Alrighty then, how much longer will GT be on summer vacation? Though, this repeat is eerily apt!

For goodness sakes, they really need to post this at the top of the page – GT is on sabbatical while producing a TV show, until the end of August. Repeats until then. Although this week’s repeat arc is impressively timely.

http://www.brennancenter.org/publication/truth-about-voter-fraud

I love this “limo lib” crap. I wish I knew one liberal who had a limo because I would ask him/her for a lift to the airport when I needed one. Most libs I know either have minivans (kids) or take mass transit.As for IDs, I propose a compromise, an ID for voting purposes ONLY issued at NO charge when a person registers to vote. You do not use it as a driver’s license, or to get into night clubs; it is presented if requested when you vote.

Of course voters should identify themselves at the polls. They always have had to do that. The question is how? When laws are written that disproportionally effect one set of voters (as nearly all the laws in question do), there is a problem. Once, voting was a legal duty (as it still is in Australia and other places), and failure to vote was an offense like draft evasion or failure to appear for jury duty. I wish is was again. In one sense, the SCotUS was right. It IS unfair to single out certain districts and states for special scrutiny. The same standard should be applied to all. What is astonishing in that the same people who say it would be an infringement of a basic civil right to require a person buying a gun to to prove that he is legally entitled to buy a gun, then declare it is no problem to require a person voting to prove that he is legally entitled to vote!

@doughfoot: beautifully said. I do not understand why, but fear, prejudice, and ignorance are becoming self-righteously prominent in this country again. I actively fear the Morlocks.

Voter fraud by non citizens is insignificant, but Republican efforts to restrict ballot access is counterproductive. Non whites see it as efforts to surpress their legitimate access and tend to vote in larger, not smaller, numbers. Another way it is counterproductive is old people lack identity cards in larger proportions than everyone else because sooner or later they don’t renew their drivers licenses, but guess what? They also tend to vote Republican. So in pushing voter i.d. Republicans are punishing their own strongest supporters.

Return of the Crow! He’s not dead yet! Thank you, SCOTUS!

“Figure out how to corrupt the counting and you can succeed. Just sayin’”Actually, they figured out how to do that in 2000 and refined it in 2004..For those of you on the other side of the pond, until recently, we did identify ourselves at the polls, and were checked off against our address. If someone tried to vote twice at the same address fraud was detected. (Time for my little story again: I knew a Mr Brown from CT who said that he registered republican because he felt that as an African-American republican he would get benefits from the party. One year he went to vote and was to ld, “But Mr Brown, you’ve already voted!” Apparently the party didn’t trust him to vote correctly.).In any case, what you are all forgetting is that there is more to Jim Crow than voter ID. Since voting is controlled by partisans, they also make sure to put fewer polling places in minority districts, with fewer machines, resulting in longer lines for working folks; changing early voting hours to 9-5 Monday through Friday, and shortening the period they are available.

So, we went from reruns to lame?

You would quote the President of Kenya, wanted by the International Court of Criminal Justice for crimes against humanity.

if you do not allow dead people and non citizens to vote you are called jim crow

yes newshound if they are dead

You’ve regurgitated the GOP line of vomit with the true skill of a perfect dupe.Show proof of any of those accusations (and I ain’t talking Fox News, I’m talking responsible and accurate sources), or accept the fact that your posts are just noise and stink without substance (rather like a f@rt).

The same people who refuse to believe that our government can or should do background checks for gun purchases, think it’s ok to pass voter ID laws. I wonder why that is? Do they think the right to vote is less important than the right to bear arms??

“How come, in one Philadelphia district NOT ONE person voted non-democrat?” Leaving David’s racial slurs aside, Media Matters (11/14/12, extracted from the Philly Inquirer, available online)) investigated one representative precinct, the 3rd division of the 28th Ward, and found that 1) 94% of the 633 voters in that precinct are black 2) Of the 12 registered Republicans, “The Inquirer was unable to find any of them by calling or visiting their homes.” 3) Given that 93% of Afro-Americans voted for Obama, it is not unlikely that there were no votes for republicans in that district. This is the same as the results. In the 15th division there were, "no votes for Romney, also cast no votes for McCain in 2008. Thirteen other Philadelphia precincts also cast no votes for the Republican in both 2008 and 2012. " So, not historically an unusual situation.

news for newshound

while doing research for a city election in 2009 i found of the 70 people i know in my precinct who voted in 11/08 were 2 dead people [02/08 and 07/08] that is only 3%

in order to have a case you have to grab them in the act when i found a few months later that dead had voted nothing could be done

Are we EVER getting back to Alex and the twins?

“You have to be kidding. The Daily Show? Really? Are you aware the Daily Show is all Fake News spoofing Real News Stories Correct?”You realize Skulker wasn’t citing the Daily Show to support his point, he was responding to another poster who made the reference to a segment on the Daily Show? Stewart has repeatedly said his show is entertainment, not news. But like any good satire, it starts from real things. Stewart expects his audience is smart enough to know when he’s making things up, as opposed to most of the talkers on Fox News, who think people are stupid enough to swallow their lies. Judging from the paychecks they get & the comments posted here, I can’t disagree.Here’s Bill O’Reilly saying the Supreme Court is too complicated for “a simple guy like me”. Despite that, he feels qualified to “break it down” for you and me. Then he goes on to claim that the Supreme Court has “morphed into a political organization, not a body sworn to uphold the Constitution. Now we have three political concerns in the U.S.- Congress, the President & the SCOTUS.”O’Reilly Talking PointsContrast O’Reilly’s lack of facts with this:http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-march-28-2013/defending-your-wife

Voter suppression is one problem. Fact suppression is another, which is what you are talking about here. Thank for reprinting this.