Voter Photo ID: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Here's my question (0.00 / 0)

Not just homeless people, but what about those who live in nursing homes?  I know Rep. Blankenbeker believes they are tax users and thus shouldn't be allowed to have any rights at all, but how do we handle them?

Voter ID is simply wrong.

"We start working to beat these guys right now." -Jed Bartlet

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by: cblodg @ Mon Jul 25, 2011 at 19:51:25 PM UTC

Shorter O'Brien (4.00 / 2)

When he says:

It certainly is not a major imposition to ask for a driver's license or other ID in order to protect the integrity of voting.

He means:

I have a driver's licence.

Let the people vote, Mr. Speaker.

--
Twitter: @DougLindner

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by: Douglas E. Lindner @ Mon Jul 25, 2011 at 19:59:52 PM UTC

Rather, let the people remove false representatives. (4.00 / 1)

Every one of these authoritarians needs to be targeted for replacement.
Volunteering to serve in a public office is one of the obligations of citizenship. Every citizen needs to ask whether s/he's satisfied that obligation.

What we need to remember is that the purpose of segregation is to exclude certain populations from full participation in the affairs of the community, state or nation. Making segregation based on skin color illegal does not mean the impulse to segregate is defeated.  The segregationists will just pick another criterion. Segregationists are like parasites, opportunists. Humans are only different in that they create their own opportunities -- by finagling the law.

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by: hannah @ Mon Jul 25, 2011 at 20:43:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What a powerful video. (0.00 / 0)

I wonder how long this process took.  Imagine you are frail and elderly--how long could you take standing in lines?  

You have not converted a man because you have silenced him.  (John Morley, 1838-1923)

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by: Marjorie Porter @ Mon Jul 25, 2011 at 21:01:21 PM UTC

standing in lines (0.00 / 0)

An article about Tennessee's photo ID law

Will long lines sink photo ID law?
By Linda S. Wallace | Published  07/15/2011 | Commentaries | Rating:    

'Not familiar with Voting Rights Act,' says Tennessee official
Getting a driver's license in Tennessee is a test of skill and endurance, but I'm not talking about the road test or written exam, I'm talking about the crazy long lines.

On Friday, I joined 40 people in an outdoor line at 6340 Summer Ave about 12:30 p.m. We huddled together outside of the service center for nearly two hours, standing one-behind the other in 90-plus degree temperatures and punishing humidity. There were no chairs, no water and no restroom breaks. As I steamed, my hair gallantly fought off frizz.

The security guard called four to five customers at a time inside, where we then stood in a second line for 45 additional minutes. It was then we received a customer number and the official wait began. (The Tennessee Department of Public Safety does not officially begin tracking its customer wait time until patrons receive this service ticket. Up to that point, we were just there visiting and hanging out.)

At the information desk, customers had the first opportunity to talk to an employee who could answer questions and review supporting documents including birth certificates, social security cards, proof of residency, etc. Several of my fellow line companions were sent home because their documents failed to meet state standards.

Imagine waiting in a line for three hours, only to walk away empty handed. Our hearts go out to them. Hopefully, they found the nerve to try again and kinder temperatures to wait around in.

Across the nation, making jokes about the long lines at the driver's license service centers is a part of Americana. In Tennessee, this spectator sport has taken a sinister turn as a result of the General Assembly-tightened voter ID laws. Wanna-be voters in 2012 will need a driver's license or a government approved photo ID. That means you have to stand in line here to get to the polls on Election Day. That's no joking matter.

Studies indicate about 10 percent of the population nationally lack these credentials, and many of them are either low-income, elderly or students. When that wait time stretches to four hours, - two of it spent standing still, outdoors, in the scorching sun - that's asking a lot. In fact, one might even argue that asking people to stand in the hot sun for two hours is just as much a deterrent as a poll tax might be.

What's disturbing is how widely the line lengths vary in Tennessee. (The correlation between an area's racial makeup and the length of one's wait also is worrisome.) In Chattanooga, the average wait time at the Cherokee Boulevard location is less than 19 minutes for services. The average wait time statewide is between 45 and 48 minutes, according to Driver Services Director Michael Hogan. (My wait time, in contrast, was just over 4 hours. That includes my time standing outside the building - time that the state does not include in its wait time calculations.)

Hogan told me that the longest wait times are in urban areas, which have the greatest demand for services. This also happens to be where the bulk of the state's minority populations reside. Ninety percent of the people waiting alongside me were African American, Asian or Hispanic.

Asked if the variation in wait times for photo ids might violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which bars different standards from being applied to individuals within a jurisdiction, Hogan replied, "I am not familiar with the Voting Rights Act." Fortunately, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) was and he told me that he reached out this week to the U.S. Justice Department to determine what they are doing to protect voter rights, and if more can be done.

Hogan suggested the line waiters might go to underutilized service centers, but I pointed out that for many minority, low-income voters and college students, driving to Millington or Oakland, Tenn., is not a viable option.

Even though this line was one of the worst I've ever stood in, Hogan seemed sincere about customer care and serious about making immediate improvements. And the workers at the Summer driver's center did a great job, working under difficult circumstances with frustrated people. I commended their professionalism to their boss.

Hogan was empathetic and apologetic when we talked this week. "We are going to bring in water, we are going to bring in some form of shelter. Our goal is to make sure we get everyone in the building. We are going to promote other outlets where you don't have to wait," he said.

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by: calvin @ Mon Jul 25, 2011 at 21:41:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

photo ID in Wisconsin (0.00 / 0)

A Beaver Dam man took issue with a recent column in which I deplored the significant inconvenience Gov. Scott Walker and the Republicans in the Legislature have imposed on Wisconsin's senior citizens with their dopey voter identification law.
The Beaver Dam reader, who read the column in the Daily Citizen, said his mother-in-law got her ID in less than 10 minutes at the Motor Vehicles facility in his city. That was a huge contrast to the nearly two-hour waits that many seniors are experiencing in Madison.
He went on to say that "you should try to be a little less biased in your reporting," forgetting, I guess, that this is a column of opinion and not a news story.
I wrote him back to say that yes, I am biased on this issue. I think it's not only unnecessary, but a shameful affront to many of our citizens who have faithfully voted in elections going back to before Scott Walker was born.
No sooner had I replied than I got this email note from Gail Bloom of rural Rhinelander:
"How many of us can say we have voted for the past 83 years? As far as our family knows, my 101-year-old mother, Gladys Lassig Butterfield, has voted in every federal, state and local election since she turned 21. However, Scott Walker and the current Wisconsin Legislature have determined that she can't vote as conveniently as she has in the past; she must apply for a voter ID.
"Because she no longer has an unexpired driver's license and her baptismal record isn't acceptable as proof of her identity, she has had to apply for and pay $20 for a state certified birth certificate. She is not exempt from needing an ID as those in nursing homes are because my sister and I have been able to care for her in her home.
"The next step is to take her in her wheelchair to the Department of Transportation to wait in line to have her picture taken. If she doesn't request a free voter ID, she will have to pay an additional $28.
"My mother is fortunate that she has someone to take her through this vote suppressing procedure. How many elderly or disabled residents do not?
"Are Scott Walker and his followers deliberately making it difficult for the elderly, disabled, poor and young to vote? My mother thinks so."
And so do I.
Dave Zweifel is editor emeritus of The Capital Times. dzweifel@madison.com

Read more: http://host.madison.com/ct/new...

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by: calvin @ Mon Jul 25, 2011 at 21:46:07 PM UTC

I oppse referenda, recalls, etc... in principle, (0.00 / 0)

but I will dance a jig when Walker gets recalled.

There's a lot of bad on the other side.  But disenfranchising voters... it shows contempt for democracy.

birch paper; on Twitter @deanbarker

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by: Dean Barker @ Mon Jul 25, 2011 at 23:32:16 PM UTC

after disenfranchising voters in (4.00 / 1)

Wisconsin, Scott Walker is now working on closing 10 DMV offices, mostly in Democratic districts.  
http://thinkprogress.org/justi...

He's not even trying to hide his intent.  

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by: susanthe @ Mon Jul 25, 2011 at 23:38:59 PM UTC

My heart is just breaking about this. (0.00 / 0)

How dare they?

You have not converted a man because you have silenced him.  (John Morley, 1838-1923)

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by: Marjorie Porter @ Mon Jul 25, 2011 at 23:50:06 PM UTC

How about a Photo ID gun ownership card (0.00 / 0)

If I have to have a photo ID to use my constitutional right to vote then there should be a photo id gun ownership license to use you're right to bear arms !

Which is more dangerous to the public----voting or shooting????

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by: tchair @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 at 11:34:36 AM UTC

Which is more dangerous? (4.00 / 1)

Clearly the Republicans consider voting more dangerous than guns. Who knows what could happens if the elderly, disabled, minorities, poor and young people voted?

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by: calvin @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 at 15:10:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

NH DMV offices closing (4.00 / 2)

In Belmont and Merrimack.

Office hours in Berlin and Milford are being cut.  

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by: susanthe @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 at 14:41:13 PM UTC

Merrimack is just relocating (0.00 / 0)

It's more correct to say that the office in Merrimack is moving a short way down the road to an existing state owned building in Nashua.

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by: MartyInNashua @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 at 22:46:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

really (0.00 / 0)

The office in Merrimack is closing, therefore, there will no longer be an office in Merrimack. How is that incorrect?

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by: susanthe @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 at 23:10:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It's not factually incorrect, but the article fails to give background (0.00 / 0)

The two locations are something like two miles apart, and the move has been planned and publicized for a long time.  It has no causal connection to the budget changing.

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by: MartyInNashua @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 at 23:31:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

and (0.00 / 0)

I didn't say that it did. I merely pointed out that there will no longer be a location in Merrimack.

Please don't try to read between unwritten lines. The simple fact is that every office that closes makes it harder for someone to get a voter ID. A "mere" two miles for you may be no big deal, but for someone else, it can be an obstacle.  

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by: susanthe @ Tue Jul 26, 2011 at 23:46:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Okay, fair enough (4.00 / 1)

I gladly accept your point.

The horror stories in states that have enacted voter ID laws concerning the obstacles our more infirm citizens are encountering are heartbreaking.  Particularly when it is only done to cause vote suppression and not because there is actually any voter fraud.

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by: MartyInNashua @ Wed Jul 27, 2011 at 00:00:17 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Latest News (0.00 / 0)

i think this is not good for anyone who is eligible for vote.he should vote on election day.i like to read informative blogs and this blog is also so good and helpful.thanks for taking time to discus this topic..
Latest News
 

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by: rohangee @ Mon Sep 26, 2011 at 11:16:08 AM UTC

Craigslist Atlanta (0.00 / 0)

Interesting topic.i think this offer is not just homeless people, but what about those who live in nursing homes.thanks for post.Craigslist Atlanta

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by: craigslista2z @ Wed Oct 19, 2011 at 10:10:52 AM UTC