Voter ID question

Is there something wrong with requiring a photo ID to vote?

  • Yes

    Votes: 22 46.8%
  • No

    Votes: 25 53.2%

  • Total voters
    47
  • Poll closed .

Bardox

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More and more efforts from the right are being made to pass new voting laws. The reasoning being, despite all evidence to the contrary, that there is "rampant voter fraud" in the system. Liberals push back saying it's just a masked attempt to suppress voter turnout.

As some may already know, I am a liberal and I hate these laws as well. Thing is, I can't find anything wrong with requiring a photo ID to present when you show up to the polls to vote. Not talking about the closing of polling places, restricting of days to vote, or any of that other stuff. Just the Photo ID part.

Is there anyone (left or right) with a good reason not to pass a federal law that says when you register to vote you will have a photo taken and an ID issued to you that you must have with you to cast your vote. You get these IDs at the same place you register. For voter registration drives, the state sends a couple of clerks with a laptop and a printer to do the IDs on the spot. No charge, you fill out the form and smile for the camera. Done. A state issued Photo ID that says you are who you say you are.

If that were the entirety of one of these voter ID laws, would anyone have a problem with it?
 

philomel

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I see nothing wrong with requiring an ID to vote. You have to have your ID to drive there so you probably have it with you. I can think of no reason not to check your ID. In the past you didn't have yo posess an ID card if you didn't drive, but; now you do. the only people who don't have an ID are not citizens. They can't vote.
 
D

deleted15807

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Somehow for 200+ years it worked fine. So why now?
 
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redneckgymrat

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The argument used against it is that it would disproportionately affect the poor, a disproportionate number of whom are people of color.

Given sufficient time to gear up for the next election cycle, it does not seem as if it would be a real issue, but in theory the point *is* valid.
 

KTF40

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Unless you make it extremely difficult to get a voter ID, I see no problem with it.
 

docdeath

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It isn't as easy as the politicians who drafted these NEW laws make it out to be. The politicians have created yet another bureaucratic hurdle for poor folks to navigate in order to discourage a certain bloc of voters from voting. It's a republican SCAM! They know the poor don't vote for them, AND the poor can't afford to put up a legal fight, SO, the republicans fix things to lower their voter turnout.
There needs to be a study taken over the next few election cycles in areas with these new laws that could demonstrate the demographics negatively affected by the new changes.
There should be an oversight group charged with calling-out the politicians responsible if and when these new policies in fact wind up effectively discouraging poor voters from going to the polls. And, the state-sponsored roving "free ID card" issuers sounds like BULLSHIT to me! It may sound like the state has that issue covered, but in reality, we all know they will only deliver this service to a minute fraction of those who are able to request it. A program like that will surely be one of the first to be axed by the government when budgets need to be tightened.
All this new voter registration is completely unnecessary, but in states where the republicans are in control, you'll be sure to see it in action, for as long as possible.
Right now, the republicans in congress have demonstrated they aren't capable of solving any of the problems plaguing this country and they will do everything in their power to prevent the poor electorate from helping remove them from office.
FUCK the picture voter ID! We didn't need it before, why do we need it NOW, all of a sudden?
 

docdeath

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They pretty much hand them out. If the poor are so able to sign up for free money, why is it so hard to get a damn ID?

Since this is a republican idea, I can't imagine it working well at all. I predict huge problems, resulting in a large percentage of voters getting SCREWED. Especially non-republican voters.
 

redneckgymrat

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Since this is a republican idea, I can't imagine it working well at all.

Talk about closed minded.

By extension, I presume that you think all Democrat politicians are forthright, honest, and up front about their intentions, at all times? All being the operative word...

Wow. Just wow.
 

Eric_8

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Talk about closed minded.

By extension, I presume that you think all Democrat politicians are forthright, honest, and up front about their intentions, at all times? All being the operative word...

Wow. Just wow.

I BELIEVE that's sarcasm, unless Doc has had an almighty change of political heart in the last week or so.
 

Eric_8

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Absolutely correct. It worked just fine under every other Presidentin history but now withtThe US's first african american President all rules need to be changed and or modified.

No longer a valid critique. Unless I'm mistaken, there's no chance of our President seeking a 3rd term, and there do not appear to be any black challenging candidates from either party.
 

njitalian02

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i have no problem with them so long as you can get an ID for free and it's not incredibly difficult to get.

Also Supreme Court already spoke approvingly of Voter ID laws back in 2008. Justice Stevens (super liberal) voted in favor of these types of measures.

Crawford v. Marion County Election Board - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I also think that these are being used as lightning rods. Many states have some sort of ID requireement including those that are incredibly Democratic (Rhode Island, Maryland, etc.) and no one says anything. When Republicans do it, it is instantly viewed as evil and malicious. I think that's wrong and suspect
 

Eric_8

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i have no problem with them so long as you can get an ID for free and it's not incredibly difficult to get.

Also Supreme Court already spoke approvingly of Voter ID laws back in 2008. Justice Stevens (super liberal) voted in favor of these types of measures.

Crawford v. Marion County Election Board - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I also think that these are being used as lightning rods. Many states have some sort of ID requireement including those that are incredibly Democratic (Rhode Island, Maryland, etc.) and no one says anything. When Republicans do it, it is instantly viewed as evil and malicious. I think that's wrong and suspect

All about creating a false dichotomy and characterization of the Republican Party.
 

Klingsor

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No longer a valid critique. Unless I'm mistaken, there's no chance of our President seeking a 3rd term, and there do not appear to be any black challenging candidates from either party.

So? Minorities still favor Democrats, and Republicans still have an interest in minimizing their impact at the polls.
 

Bardox

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Thing about the voter ID laws is that these bills have very little to do with ID and more to do with restrictions on when you can vote, where you can vote, and who can vote. As these laws stand, it is impossible to honestly deny that this is effort to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters. Naturally, there is outrage. IF a law came up that dealt ONLY with a photo id requirement, an ID that would be provided free of charge apon registration, there wouldn't be such push back. It would pass in a heartbeat.
 

docdeath

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Talk about closed minded.

By extension, I presume that you think all Democrat politicians are forthright, honest, and up front about their intentions, at all times? All being the operative word...

Wow. Just wow.

Well, aren't the states with the new voting laws ALL republican controlled?
You don't see this type of shit going on in democratically controlled states, do you?
The whole idea behind the new voter laws is to disenfranchise mainly the poor and minorities (read: democratic voters), and as many as possible!
The republicans seem to be coming to the realization their obstructionist ways are going to sink them as a party, so, while they're still in control in some states, they're busy gerrymandering their voting precincts and subverting voting laws so that upcoming elections will swing more votes their way.
Don't give me that "wow" bullshit, it couldn't be more obvious.
As a whole, I don't trust ANY politicians, but the republicans wrote the book on scumbag political tactics. Hopefully, their numbers will decrease in the coming midterms due to their total inability to cooperate and compromise in congress.
As far as I can tell, they haven't offered a single valid idea to move the country out of this recession or developed any plans for job creation.
All they DO seem to want to do is give mega-corporations and rich elites tax breaks. To republicans, America doesn't need a middle class, and it shows in their inability and lack of concern to do anything for them.
 

redneckgymrat

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I BELIEVE that's sarcasm, unless Doc has had an almighty change of political heart in the last week or so.

Apparently not...someone sucked out his brain.

Doc: It is *not* obvious, and I'll tell you why. Many of the states with these new laws are border states where massive problems with illegal aliens exist, and where voter fraud has been proven to exist, to at least some extent. And, many of the states with *existing* voter ID laws, successfully implemented, are currently run by Democrats.

I do not deny the possibility of an ulterior motive, but please show it to me. Your statement reads as if you believe all Republican ideas, across the board, are always going to be bad.

Having finally escaped from the boot heel of big government, the states are implementing laws to protect the integrity of the voting process. If you divorce yourself from the fact that it is being pushed by Republicans, and actually look at the simple requirement of a photo ID, what is so onerous about that requirement? Was it Republicans who popularized the concept of "vote early, vote often?" Well, with a simple voter ID, that becomes a non-issue.

As for the gerrymandering bit, yes, gerrymandering is a common tactic used by *both* sides, when they are in control, to help cement their political position. In fact, where I grew up, I was actually in a different voting precinct than the neighbors on both sides of me...the line *literally* went down our driveways.
 

redneckgymrat

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So? Minorities still favor Democrats, and Republicans still have an interest in minimizing their impact at the polls.

What?! You're saying that politicians are acting in their own best interest?

Say it isn't so.

The only thing this seeks to minimize is the number of times people vote...one time, each.