While I’m hesitant to return to this stupid thread (only saved by the fact that magellan01 started an even more insipid OP in this forum), this is completely idiotic. I, a registration agent, hand the form to someone, who fills it out out of my frame of vision, seals it (they do seal, at least where I live), and hands it back. I’m now supposed to initial it, and get punished if they put bogus shit in it? I’d love to see the prosecutor handle that one. Hell, I’d kick his ass in court and I’m not even a lawyer.
As for this someone having anything to do with your hard-on for a Voter ID, I’ll repeat again, how’s that work with absentee ballots? If you want to eliminate absentee voting for everyone, including members of the military, I’ll certainly entertain that prospect. Let me know how your fellow conservatives feel about that one.
My oldest son worked for the elections office in King County (Washington) for three years. I asked him what they do in King County to weed out duplicate or fraudulent registrations.
It was not a false dilemma. I specifically noted that the decision was based on where to spend funds. Given the current economic situation, it seems to me that we would get much better bang for the buck going after state officers who have demonstrably skewed elections than hypothetical mobs of multiple-vote poor folks.
Is there some evidence that any office is in the position of making such a choice (i.e., “We have $X and have to allocate it. How much should go to the voter fraud of registrations and how much to the state officers’ investigations?”)
Why would you get punished in that circumstance? The issue is YOU, the canvasser, making shit up. There’s no suggestion that per se liability attaches to a bad form.
The purpose of voter ID is to ensure that the person casting the vote is the registered voter. I assume the way absentee ballots work is they’re sent out, address to the voter, and serialized in some double-blind way.
If we truly did absentee ballots the way we do live voting, then you’d be agitating for us to count a plain white paper written in crayon saying, “I VOAT FOR OBAMA, SIGNED GEORGE W. BUSH.”
So the answer to your question is: for absentee ballots, we employ a method that gives us reasonable assurance that the ballot was sent to the actual voter and that the ballot returned is the one sent out.
The point is we’re talking about two different offices with two different budgets. Elections officials handle implementing voter ID; prosecutors handle large-scale illegal disenfranchisement. They don’t share a budget.
I am opposed to solutions that start out with, “The government should…”
Usually.
But I must admit that this idea sounds appealing. It IS a civic responsibility. Why not register rising seniors out of high school, for example? Not a volunteer organization coming to the school – why isn’t it a school function? I’d love to see that.
I absolutely resist the idea that polling places should somehow be cop-free zones.
Equally, though, I agree that it’s improper to have members of the warrant squad listening to names as they’re called out, ready to leap into action to arrest someone.
So that would be the line I’d draw. If someone merely has an inchoate fear, simply based on police presence – too damn bad. Mere police presence is acceptable, but with the mission of keeping order and ensuring safety – not to serve old warrants.
Of course, if an Obama supporter is arrested for punching a McCain supporter, and THEN it develops that there’s also an outstanding arrest warrant for the puncher, then it should be served.
Of course there is an unlimited budget for the voting process. It’s not like there are ever any lines to vote in certain districts, and our money would be better spent ensuring that everyone who wishes to vote in their district is able to before the polls close.
I guess no one on this board knows the problems of poor people. A simple traffic violation can become traumatic for a poor person. If they can not pay a speeding ticket .a warrant is put out for them. If they get picked up for anything ,the warrant will be found and he will be immediately inside the system. He will get arrested,have to either go to jail or come up with a bond. He will get new charges and likely have to pay for court costs and then probation. Probation is charged and he will have to pay for that . He will still not have the money. He may blow off probation. What is a simple problem for us can result in a life changing experience for the poor.
Of course their insurance will get too expensive and the hits just keep on coming. But this new semi fugitive state keeps him from voting. The rumors every election are that police will be checking voters at the polls. Voter suppression has many heads.
Of course, if the poor person simply came to court and explained he didn’t have the money, it’s unlikely that he’d be jailed for failing to pay it. The court would work out a payment plan.
I was very poor growing up. Somehow, though, I never had an arrest warrant issued.
I, for one am. In this country the vast majority of people of voting age are registered. When you acquire your national ID you are automatically registered to vote. ID is required to vote. IDs are free, and mandatory. No ID means that you don’t exist as an adult, for all practical purposes. You cannot even cash a cheque.
I can see how the mandatory ID idea might not be appealing to US voters. But it can be worked around that (mandatory registration sans ID, perhaps?).