Tom Toles for October 21, 2014

I am really getting tired of this “it’s just an ID” business. The people being disenfranchised, most of them, HAVE IDs: what they don’t have is the specific kind of ID that some of the new laws require, and the difficulty and expense of obtaining such an ID are significant. Often a birth certificate is required, and millions of Americans don’t have them: never had them, or don’t know how to get them. And often the fee for getting a lost birth certificate from another state is not inconsiderable. There are plenty of stories of people who have been registered voters for decades, some who don’t have driver’s licenses because they are disabled, who are now told they have no valid proof of identity — within the law, that is. The curtailment of early voting is another way to make voting less accessible to people who have limit mobility, or work or home situations make it difficult to get to the polls on election day. The history of poll taxes, and the other hurdles put into place in the south to prevent blacks from voting ought to give us a clue. Every examination of the effect of these new laws concur that they will disproportionate effect groups that are most likely to vote Democratic. If the last word in that last sentence were “Republican”, the party would not have supported them.I am perfectly willing that better methods be adopted for the ID of voters. And some of the new laws in some states may be (relatively) innocuous. But the devil is in the details, and it is the details you have to examine in these new laws, the actual as well as intended effect of them, to understand their importance. Even the Republicans have not pushed for these laws, except in places where they might be useful to Republican candidates.

Again:http://www.salon.com/2014/10/21/12_reasons_texas_new_voter_id_law_is_racist_partner/

Rs always harp on Daley in the 1970s and Johnson in the 1960s as their examples of “pot calling the kettle black” but Jeb in 2000 and 2004, Ohio in 2004, the PA R pol who said on camera that the PA voter id law was “to deliver the state to Romney” are much more current and salient examples of voter fraud

Even if you accept the “statistics” and wild extrapolations from True The Vote (a rather Orwellean-named organization) – proactive voter fraud would still add up to a fraction of one percent.

In a democracy all of the people need to be able to vote. Those who would create barriers, especially shortly before an election that clearly affect one class of voters are only seeking to disenfranchise their opposition. This is despicable in a democracy and they should be rewarded by being voted out of office.

All the talk of adherence to our Constitution and then we watch as some states purposely manipulate some voters out of the electorate. Federal elections need federal standards.

It’s illegal to charge a poll tax because it is a burden for those who are poor. So you can go to the DMV and get an ID card for free. You just have to show a birth certificate. And, when I needed a birth certificate, the county charged me $15.00 for it. That’s no problem for most people, but it is for some. And, they have as much right to vote as the Koch brothers.

Yeah, everybody has oodles of spare cash, and time to spend half a day getting to and from the DMV, and a birth certificate, and somebody to watch the kids, and a boss who’ll let you off on a weekday to do all that. Even party hack shills!

Can somebody remind me of the Pennsylvania politico who made the gaffe (as Michael Kinsley reminds us, a political gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth) of ADMITTING that he wanted to suppress voter turnout?

“They have to resort to trickery, lies, manipulation, and suppression…” you forgot FEAR.

“The only fraud is commited by the far “right”.”.Absolutely. Especially how much they want no voter id laws and how much they block efforts to purge the dead from voting rolls….Next those republicans are going to advocate to murderers and rapist to vote!

YEAH dead people get to vote // voter fraud who cares // start at 3% and work your way up

note to 49 absentee are still around // just make up bogeymen

Thanks, Mr. Ngn33r, you’re an officer and a gentleman (and a mister!)

By not allowing Student ID’s, you keep non-residents from out of state from illegally voting. Ohhh, that’s right, you think they should be able to vote in their school city AND their HOME city…

That’s actually an easy question to answer, if you stop and think about it.

A photo ID issued by a state college or University should suffice. But a lot of the new voter suppression laws disallow student IDs. Even for people who don’t vote early they might not be able to get to their precinct on Election Day because it’s been moved to some remote location not accessible by public transportation and on a road that’s not safe for pedestrians. The new laws have nothing to do about voter fraud, it’s voter suppression—cheating. Instead of persuading blacks and other non-whites, the poor, and college students to vote for them, Republicans have conspired to make it too expensive, too inconvenient, and too confusing to vote.

Try to keep up here…students HAVE voted in their college town with their student ID’s AND have also voted again back where they came from. Also, it keeps non-American’s from voting if they’re here from other countries.

a local radio reporter went to local college said he lost his id signed a card put radio station address on it paid $2 replacement fee presto photo id