Maybe someone can explain to me how requiring a photo ID will supress eligible voters from voting? I am 38. I have had a photo ID since I was 16. Even someone with a suspended license can get a non-driving ID card.
The past two elections have had many accusations of fraud from both sides of the aisle. Instances where there were more votes than there were registered voters. Instances where dead people voted or people being registered in more than one district. If requiring an ID card can help legitimize an election, how is it a bad thing?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

by a fraud. This was years ago and I doubt, but when never knows with the computer voting, that such outright "surprise" ballot boxes or massive one-time manipulation could occur. However, there is still a lot of fraud and confusion in the current system. Especially since 'motor voter' and the differences between systems. Currently the system is so screwed up that I continue to recieve both voter certification cards and jury summons for deceased relatives who've been dead for well over a year. If you call to correct the error you will get a big 'run around': 'you need to talk to the county voter registrar', 'you need to talk to DPS', 'we get our data from the county and can't update voter records, talk to them', etc.Jury summons are linked to either the voter registration data and/or the DPS operator license system. Both of which are, yearly, updated by the local counties who certify both the ability to vote and issue death certificates. These updates though are only 6mths, or so, depending on the country, backlog, etc.

Also it is quite easy to vote in a district in which you don't live if you haven't updated your driver's license or voter registration card. Techinically, this is a crime (when you move you should update your operator license which also updates your voter registration- though the lag is many months.) But you have a grace period to update your license so could vote, legally, I guess in the old district. This could be important due to the gerrymandered districts. Also if you own property (ranch, hunting leases, farms, lake/beach house, etc) in addition to your home you may register in the other area (again could be important in some circumstances.) One also wonders if the different counties actually communicate to each other in a timely fashion and how hard it would be to register in both counties and influence the vote. If they can keep dead people for juries and voting I'm sure a motivated live person could vote twice. You also can vote fairly easily by mail if you are unable to go to the polls (invalid) or working overseas/out-of-state. You only need to sign an affidavit and submit your information well in advance (takes several weeks to get the package and send it back) but never have to apply in person. So one could vote via mail in one state and then register in the other state and vote there fairly easily.

So the system is screwed up and although I'm not sure much outright fraud occurs as certain Republicans claim there are certainly errors and it is very possible that fraud could occur if someone, or some pressure group, was motivated to do so.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Has anyone ever done an objective assessment of current voter fraud cases to determine whether the number of unqualified voters who cast a vote out-number the number of qualified voters who are not allowed to vote by racially motivated voter suppression methods? The liberal bias I am starting with leads me to believe that suppression actions outnumber voter fraud, but I acknowledge my bias.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

In one state (Florida), tens of thousands of legitimate voters were removed from the rolls through two tactics: illegal "caging," wherein a "Do not forward" letter was sent to residences in minority areas. If it was returned as undeliverable, the vote was challenged and the voter cast a meaningless and uncounted provisional ballot. This affected servicemen and women and minorities who had moved for any reason. In the last 15 years, my wife and I have moved four times - within the same district and one time she had to cast a provisional ballot because she was challenged by a Rethug pollwatcher. THAT was the fraud!

Again in Florida, phony "stop the felons from voting," efforts removed tens of thousands of legitimate voters from the rolls. Here's how that worked: If a "Tyrel Johnson" in any state had committed a felony, Tyrell Jonson was removed from the rolls. The contractor(!) hired by the Rethugs to do this job had extensive Rethug connections and made no effort to verify the most basic information about the "felons" removed from the rolls.

Thus a 21 year old "Tyrel Jonson" who showed up to vote was forced to cast a provisional ballot (which wasn't counted) because a "Tyrell Johnson" committed a felony in Seattle Washington 23 years ago! About 70,000 were removed from the rolls this way.

In 2006 (also in Florida), Catherine Harris' old seat was taken by a Republican usurper after 12,000 votes in heavily Democratic areas simply weren't recorded by the "magic box" voting machines. The election was decided by a couple of hundred votes.

So under the pretense of preventing a literal handful of fraudulent votes, hundreds of thousands of Democrats should be denied their most basic right of citizenship?

Only the very ignorant would sincerely deny that this is the case. The rest are freedom hating traitors to Democracy - fascists.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The votes of minorities have been suppressed for many many, decades. Blacks, Hispanics, Native American Indians, Asians, and various European immigrant groups, have been systematically excluded from voting for more than 100 years.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]