[excon]

Poll taxes usually mean some money involved .

Hello again, tom:

He wasn't addressing Pennsylvania specifically. Plus, as you mentioned it's not one of the southern states that require monitoring..

But, as noted in my many posts, not ALL the states that require the new ID's are GIVING them away for free. Plus, they need to REPORT to get it, and that ain't free in ANYBODY'S book. Then if they don't have the required ID, they have to PAY to get one...

That's a poll tax.

excon

[Wondergirl]

... and they have to GO somewhere to get the ID.

[excon]

Hello again, Carol:

In Texas, a gun license is an accepted form of voter ID, but a STUDENT ID isn't.

Since students are more likely to vote for Obama, and gun owners aren't, it looks like there's an attempt to suppress the student vote... Now, I COULD be wrong... But, I ain't.

There doesn't even seem to be a pretext here either. It's BLATANT. The only ones who can't see it, are our resident right wingers.

excon

[Wondergirl]

Dear excon:

Just out of curiosity, why would a student photo ID be unacceptable? I missed out on the explanation for that.

Carol

[tomder55]

Please tell me which state doesn't have them for free . Texas has a free id provision ,so does Georgia .Not sure about Florida ,but if you don't have a photo id ;you are given a ballot that is valid if your signature matches your voter registration card (same provisions as New York) .
I keep looking for all this voter suppression and I don't see it .

[tomder55]

Dear excon:

Just out of curiosity, why would a student photo ID be unacceptable? I missed out on the explanation for that.

Carol

Does a student ID give your permanent address ? If I'm registered in NY why should I expect to be allowed to vote in Texas ?

[Wondergirl]

I can vote only at my own polling place and nowhere else. If I'm visiting my mother in western NY in November and want to vote, I'm out of luck.

[Wondergirl]

Just looked at my student ID card from grad school -- shows photo, name, signature, DOB, SS#, school name/address, degree being worked on, and my school ID#.

[speechlesstx]

First it's a "poll tax" and Thinkprogress says "Romney Supports Voter ID Laws That Could Disenfranchise 25% Of African-Americans".

No hyperbole there, eh?

The student IDs I've seen here are just a photo that says you're a student at that school. I could be from anywhere.

[Wondergirl]

The student IDs I've seen here are just a photo that says you're a student at that school. I could be from anywhere.

High school? College? Maybe you need to get out more?

[speechlesstx]

High school? College? Maybe you need to get out more?

Maybe you should cease the condescension?

[speechlesstx]

Dogs, dead people get election docs from nonprofit

The voter registration form arrived in the mail last month with some key information already filled in: Rosie Charlston's name was complete, as was her Seattle address.

Problem is, Rosie was a black lab who died in 1998.

A group called the Voter Participation Center has touted the distribution of some 5 million registration forms in recent weeks, targeting Democratic-leaning voting blocs such as unmarried women, blacks, Latinos and young adults.

But residents and election administrators across the country also have reported a series of bizarre and questionable mailings addressed to animals, dead people, noncitizens and people already registered to vote.

Brenda Charlston wasn't the only person to get documents for her pet: A Virginia man said similar documents arrived for his dead dog, Mozart, while a woman in the state received forms for her cat, Scampers.

"On a serious note," Charlston said, "I think it's tampering with our voting system. They're fishing for votes: That's how I view it."

No, we don't need no stinkni' ID to vote, any ol' dog, cat, dead guy or non-citizen should have their say. Twice even.

[Wondergirl]

Maybe you should cease the condescension?

No condescension. Sorry you read it like that. I dug out my college (undergrad) ID -- college name and address, date of issue. Photo, sig, birthdate, college ID#, and that was in the mid '60s. A student ID with photo and sig is not good enough to prove that 's the person who wants to vote? Why not?

[tomder55]

Problem is, Rosie was a black lab who died in 1998.

A group called the Voter Participation Center has touted the distribution of some 5 million registration forms in recent weeks, targeting Democratic-leaning voting blocs such as unmarried women, blacks, Latinos and young adults.

Maybe they thought Rosie the black lab was black.

[excon]

Hello again, Steve:

Nobody said that aren't obscure cased of voter fraud... However, given the tradeoff of disenfranchising MILLIONS of eligible voters, to eliminate SEVERAL cases of voter fraud, I'll take the most REASONABLE position... If you couldn't guess, that's NOT your position.

Since it's UNREASONABLE to suggest that MILLIONS of people give up their right to vote for NONSENSICAL reasons, I suggest the REAL reason is voter suppression.

excon

[speechlesstx]

Hello again, Steve:

Nobody said that aren't obscure cased of voter fraud... However, given the tradeoff of disenfranchising MILLIONS of eligible voters, to eliminate SEVERAL cases of voter fraud, I'll take the most REASONABLE position... If you couldn't guess, that's NOT your position.

Since it's UNREASONABLE to suggest that MILLIONS of people give up their right to vote for NONSENSICAL reasons, I suggest the REAL reason is voter suppression.

excon

Targeting dead people and dogs is obscured? The more I show fraud and attempts at it the more you dig your heels in. Bull you know what.

Again, if Rosie gets to vote I am the one disenfranchised - not that poor black lady that had to get a free ID.

[speechlesstx]

No condescension. Sorry you read it like that. I dug out my college (undergrad) ID -- college name and address, date of issue. photo, sig, birthdate, college ID#, and that was in the mid '60s. A student ID with photo and sig is not good enough to prove that 's the person who wants to vote? Why not?

This ain't the '60s. A college ID around here is a name, a pic and a bar code. The student could be from anywhere - Oklahoma, Illinois, Italy or Finland. It proves nothing in the way of citizenship.

[excon]

The more I show fraud and attempts at it the more you dig your heels in. Bull you know what.

Hello again, Steve:

During the Bush administration, a rhetorical tool became public policy. The Republicans could not get a photo ID law through the Senate, but they were able to enlist the 93 United States attorneys in their crusade against voter fraud. In 2002, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft announced an initiative that required “all components of the [Justice] Department” to “place a high priority on the investigation and prosecution of election fraud.”

Five years later, Ashcroft’s initiative hasn’t produced all that much in the way of convictions, at least relative to the overall Department of Justice caseload. Prosecutions for electoral fraud remain a minuscule part of the federal criminal docket. In 2002 alone, there were 80,424 criminal cases concluded nationwide in the 94 U.S. District Courts. By comparison, according to a DOJ document, between the fall of 2002 and the fall of 2005, there were only 95 defendants charged with federal election-fraud-related crimes in the whole country.

NOBODY wants somebody to vote who isn't qualified to vote. But, to disenfranchise MILLIONS of eligible voters to stop, what amounts to MINIMAL crime, is OVERKILL. There's SOMETHING else going on, it's voter suppression. I don't know WHY you can't see it... Actually, I think you can, but you KNOW that Romney CAN'T win unless you guys do this. So, it's all done with a wink and a nod - I mean who wants illegal people to vote??

Excon

[Wondergirl]

This ain't the '60s. A college ID around here is a name, a pic and a bar code. The student could be from anywhere - Oklahoma, Illinois, Italy or Finland. It proves nothing in the way of citizenship.

I was comparing my college ID card from back when to my more recent college ID card I had mentioned in an earlier post in this thread. That shows college ID cards haven't changed in over 40 years. The student's sig isn't on the ID card you are referring to? It should be or it's a pretty lame ID process that particular college is using. A college ID card is used for some pretty major transactions, not all of which are on campus. The important thing on college ID cards is the student's signature.

[paraclete]

What I see here is that someone has found a class of voter who might have more sense than the general electorate