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Voter ID - Reasonable or Disenfranchising?

S

Scat

Well-Known Member
Repubs have tried for years to make it a national requirement that you show proper ID when voting. Dems of course have argued that passing laws requiring voters to show proper ID will disenfranchise voters.

One of the biggest opponents of voter ID has been attorney general Eric Holder. A gentleman by the name of George O'Keefe has been traveling to various states to show how easy voter fraud is. Mr. O'Keefe showed up at a D.C. voting station last week and acquired Mr. Holder's voting ballot, no questions asked.

https://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/04/08/DC-Polling-Place-Holder-Ballot

He has also shown in New Hampshire and Minnesota how easy it is to vote using the ballot of a dead person.

Discuss.
 
I think I should be able to vote as JazzSpazz.
I also think my vote should count for more because I have a higher than average rep power.
 
TroutBum said:
As King of the World, I am going to veto this idea.
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And as VP and President of the Senate of the World, I will fight for 2/3rds to "veto" your veto.
Do I have a chance if I'm not part of the inner circle...... or am I?
 
Scat said:
Yes. Depending on the state the cost varies. Here in Utah it is $18.
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If you make that a requirement for voting, aren't you then setting a financial condition for voting?

I mean, I understand that the lack of ID requirement can create fraud, but it seems that the electoral fraud due to poll taxes and other means of preventing people from voting has been a much larger of a problem in US history than fake people voting.

Except in Chicago, where the undead vote.
 
JimLes said:
If you make that a requirement for voting, aren't you then setting a financial condition for voting?
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If that is a concern, then the solution is to make IDs free, not to abandon the ID requirement.
 
colton said:
If that is a concern, then the solution is to make IDs free, not to abandon the ID requirement.
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That is the solution. I just think that certain segments of society would get up in arms about it, because it's more "wasteful spending by the government."

Of course, if I were rich enough to afford things I want, I'd probably think anything free was wasteful, too.
 
So, I'm guessing a driver's licence, state ID card or Military ID would work? Then what, you also offer a free voter ID card?

I really doubt voter fraud has changed the outcome of all that many elections. I also doubt if there was a large organized effort to commit voter fraud that the ID requirement would put a stop to it.
 
Gameface said:
I really doubt voter fraud has changed the outcome of all that many elections.
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In a close race it only takes one vote.

Doesn't it bug you that even if it doesn't change the race that someone can walk into a voting station, say they are you, take your vote and use it in a way that you disagree with?

Cyrone said:
So getting voter ID is going to completely eliminate voter fraud?
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It may not completely eliminate voter fraud but it is such an easy step to reduce it, it seems silly not to implement it. Voter fraud is so incredibly easy to commit that making harder seems the prudent thing to do.
 
I think you are completely off base here JimLes. The right (the ones pushing for Voter ID Laws) are working free IDs into their legislation ont his issue. See the link I provided a few posts up. The Tea Party and allies are not against spending just stupid spending (in their opinion).
 
Scat said:
Doesn't it bug you that even if it doesn't change the race that someone can walk into a voting station, say they are you, take your vote and use it in a way that you disagree with?
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I don't think it's that easy. You would have to pick the correct polling location where the person is registered, and then maybe even show the voter registration card, depending on the state.

I honestly can't remember what I had to do to register to vote, it's been so long. But I know it would have been fairly easy for them to verify I'm actually alive, and living at the address I claim to live at.

Doing that would stop a lot more fraud than simply requiring an ID. Fake IDs are not all that hard to get for a determined individual. And if they verify the ID, they could even easier verify the person.

It's simple, when someone registers to vote you check the database and see if they are really a dead person. You also check the records and see if there is evidence they live at the address they claim to live at. If there is any doubt, you follow up with them and tell them to either verify some information that is on file (previous addresses, employment history, something from the credit file, when and where they last voted, income tax history, whatever), or let them bring an ID either to the polling location (which would only need to be done that one time and then they would be verified) or to the county clerk or whoever registers voters.

It would also need an immediate turnaround. If banks can decide whether to give you a $250,000.00 30 year loan in 5 minutes with an online application, the county should be able to verify if you're actually alive and living at the address you claim to live at in the same 5 minutes with an even simpler application and records check.
 
SaltyDawg said:
I don't think it's that easy. You would have to pick the correct polling location where the person is registered, and then maybe even show the voter registration card, depending on the state.

I honestly can't remember what I had to do to register to vote, it's been so long. But I know it would have been fairly easy for them to verify I'm actually alive, and living at the address I claim to live at.

Doing that would stop a lot more fraud than simply requiring an ID. Fake IDs are not all that hard to get for a determined individual. And if they verify the ID, they could even easier verify the person.

It's simple, when someone registers to vote you check the database and see if they are really a dead person. You also check the records and see if there is evidence they live at the address they claim to live at. If there is any doubt, you follow up with them and tell them to either verify some information that is on file (previous addresses, employment history, something from the credit file, when and where they last voted, income tax history, whatever), or let them bring an ID either to the polling location (which would only need to be done that one time and then they would be verified) or to the county clerk or whoever registers voters.

It would also need an immediate turnaround. If banks can decide whether to give you a $250,000.00 30 year loan in 5 minutes with an online application, the county should be able to verify if you're actually alive and living at the address you claim to live at in the same 5 minutes with an even simpler application and records check.
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Once you register to vote you are registered for life. You never need to re-register. The voting card that I currently have is the same card that I received when I was 18. To vote all you need to do is show up at the polling place associated with your address. You give them your name, they actually show you the entry they have for you listed in their book and ask you to verify that it is you, then you sign your name and get a ballot. They don't ask for ID, they don't ask to see your voting card, they don't even ask you for your address to verify that you are who you say you are. All you need is a name and the correct polling station to cast a vote as anybody you like.

As currently set up, it is amazingly easy to commit voter fraud.
 
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