# I Pit GOP "voting reform" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 4, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180 "2011-09-04T19:34:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/21 "2011-09-05T00:29:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Considering what a long history the US has had with voter fraud it strikes me as extremely unwise to have a system that operates on the honor system. Considering that there is virtually no history of voter fraud in the US, these actions strike me as unecessary partisan maneuvering: > **[Voter fraud is just a dark GOP fantasy: Connie Schultz](https://www.cleveland.com/schultz/2011/08/voter_fraud_is_just_a_dark_gop.html)** > > Until Republicans can produce some fraudulent voters, any attempt to restrict voting rights by conjuring mythical malefactors is partisanship of the most dangerous kind, Connie Schultz writes. > [@](#): > > No one – not county boards of elections, the League of Women Voters or former secretaries of state – could cite a single instance of voter impersonation in Ohio. If people are really worried about people voting twice, they could adopt the solution Iraq did – dye thumbs purple after voting: [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi\_qn4188/is\_20050130/ai\_n11500583/](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20050130/ai_n11500583/) I don’t think they had to produce IDs to vote, either. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/22 "2011-09-05T00:34:51Z")
This is the fundamental problem…the right and those who swallow their ‘talking points’ are so damn concerned with finding ways to exclude folks from the process of government. Try to give a shit about more than you and yours for once and maybe you’ll realize we’re all in this mess together. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/23 "2011-09-05T00:39:32Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > So then you’re saying that you think we should run our voting stations on the honor system? You’re presenting a false dichotomy here. It isn’t “the honor system” now. We’ve also never had a problem in the US with voter fraud, so any suggestion that this is a needed remedy is disingenuous. It’s a “solution” to a problem that doesn’t exist. Everybody knows the purpose of these laws. We’re all adults here. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/24 "2011-09-05T00:43:52Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > In other words, the stalwart base of the Democratic Party is composed of people who can’t figure out how to get a photo ID. You idiots shouldn’t be running a pencil sharpener, let alone the country. That whingeing cretins would arrive to defend GOP’s version of “democracy” is no surprise. There are right-wing Dopers with 100+ IQs who pretend not to be mean-spirited assholes. It will be amusing to hear their takes on this matter. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/25 "2011-09-05T00:46:11Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > In other words, the stalwart base of the Democratic Party is composed of people who can’t figure out how to get a photo ID. “Figure out’s” got nothing to do with it. I though you righties were supposed to be against the big bad governement impeding people’s rights. Only if it’s white, Christian, heterosexual (or at least closeted) teabaggers, huh? Don’t you guys whine like little girls if the gummint wants to see an ID when you buy a gun? Just be honest. You support these laws because you hope it will stop blacks and Mexicans from voting. Let’s all be honest. Don’t insult our intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/26 "2011-09-05T00:47:51Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Everything is designed to suppress voting by people who are statistically more likely to vote Democratic. Poor people, minorities and college kids. Especially minorities. Those brown people are scaring the fuck out the GOP, what with their growing populations and their civil rights and everything. Why do I suspect that Republicans would be perfectly happy with all the “brown” votes they could muster? This is politics. Stop trying to make it about race. Besides, only U.S. citizens over the age of 18 are eligible to vote, so there’s absolutely nothing wrong with requirements that would-be voters demonstrate their eligibility. Otherwise there’d be no point to the laws at all and we might as well throw the polls open to all comers, and I don’t know of any country in the world that allows that. So sorry, but if a person wants to participate in governing this country they have to do it legally, no matter how much your side may benefit otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/27 "2011-09-05T01:01:52Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > That whingeing cretins would arrive to defend GOP’s version of “democracy” is no surprise. I would think you wouldn’t want ID-less people voting, purely on humanitarian grounds. They’d probably get run over crossing the street to the polling place, because you have to understand how a crosswalk works. You wouldn’t want that on your conscience, would you? Who are these people who can’t figure out how to get an ID? Can they even dial a phone or get the front door open? How do they buy groceries and feed themselves? Forget reading a transit map, these people are going to need guidance just to find the bus stop. I can see it now: The League of Women Voters will be sponsoring a workshop called “The Promise of Democracy: How to Vote When You’re a Dumbass” Lesson one will be that the voting machine only _looks_ like a changing booth. Don’t take your pants off. The Board of Elections will produce a bouncy, easy-to-understand video featuring the cast of Sesame Street with the lovable Elmo. Oscar the Grouch will demand Elmo’s ID, only to be subdued by a stern Gordon, who will explain why Oscar is both racist and homophobic. Elmo will then be seen pulling the big lever with his furry little arms, as the story of voting rights is told through interpretive dance. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/28 "2011-09-05T01:04:03Z")
On the topic of right-wing cretins, it is worth reminding ourselves that this ilk cannot read more than a few sentences at a time without their eyes glazing over. Cretins’ comments just in this thread prove they didn’t read the page linked by OP. Similarly, on [the webpage cited in a current GD thread](http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779) we see a Republican operative confess to such cynical ploys as > [@](#): > > in Wisconsin, Republicans have legislated photo IDs while simultaneously shutting Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) offices in Democratic constituencies while at the same time lengthening the hours of operation of DMV offices in GOP constituencies Yet polliwog brains let their little synapses demonstrate ignorance by focusing on half-truths, e.g. > [@Hungry Housepainter](#): > > there’s absolutely nothing wrong with requirements that would-be voters demonstrate their eligibility. Housepainter: Is your ignorance here willful or just due to laziness? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/29 "2011-09-05T01:04:17Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Why do I suspect that Republicans would be perfectly happy with all the “brown” votes they could muster? The fact that they can’t get them is the point. Racism is beside the point. They want to suppress minority votes, not for racist reasons (though that particular cock vein is very blue and throbbing within the American political right), but because they tend to vote Democratic. If they voted GOP, you would see no concern at all about voter ID. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/30 "2011-09-05T01:04:46Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Just be honest. You support these laws because you hope it will stop blacks and Mexicans from voting. Let’s all be honest. Don’t insult our intelligence. For the sake of this argument you may stipulate that I hate all people with a skin color darker than my own. Please continue with your learned treatise on why morons and illiterates should be allowed to vote. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/31 "2011-09-05T01:05:05Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > …This is politics. Stop trying to make it about race… Stunning. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/32 "2011-09-05T01:07:05Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > For the sake of this argument you may stipulate that I hate all people with a skin color darker than my own. Not my suggestion at all. See my post above. > [@](#): > > Please continue with your learned treatise on why morons and illiterates should be allowed to vote. Because there would be no Republican party if they didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/33 "2011-09-05T01:11:27Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Why do I suspect that Republicans would be perfectly happy with all the “brown” votes they could muster? I’m sure they’d love to have those votes, but making it harder for them to vote for Democrats is the next best thing. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/34 "2011-09-05T01:14:40Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > So you do admit that you think this is okay, as long as it disenfranchises the poor? You, like most hysterical liberals, wouldn’t know disenfranchisement if it crapped in your Wheaties. Is it disenfranchisement that the poor must obtain their own transportation to the polling place? Here’s an idea - why don’t you just vote for them? You already know how they’re going to vote, so just go right on down there and vote a straight Democrat ticket. But do it quick, before they start asking for ID. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/35 "2011-09-05T01:23:29Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The fact that they can’t get them is the point. Racism is beside the point. They want to suppress minority votes, not for racist reasons (though that particular cock vein is very blue and throbbing within the American political right), but because they tend to vote Democratic. If they voted GOP, you would see no concern at all about voter ID. Sorry, but you complained about Republicans and their “fear” of brown people with civil rights, it sounded like you were accusing them of racism. Glad to hear this is not the case. > [@elucidator](#): > > Stunning. You might want to ask **Dio** to explain it to you. He at least has demonstrated the knowledge that it isn’t about race. > [@Robot Arm](#): > > I’m sure they’d love to have those votes, but making it harder for them to vote for Democrats is the next best thing. Meh. The Democrats specifically targe black and Hispanic communities in get-out-the-vote campaigns, even going so far as to provide transportation to the polling booth. It’s only to be expected that if you’re going to use race to gain votes, the opposition will target those same groups similarly to make sure that only the legally qualified among them get to vote. And there’s nothing wrong with that either. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/36 "2011-09-05T01:24:15Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > You, like most hysterical liberals, wouldn’t know disenfranchisement if it crapped in your Wheaties. Is it disenfranchisement that the poor must obtain their own transportation to the polling place? Here’s an idea - why don’t you just vote for them? You already know how they’re going to vote, so just go right on down there and vote a straight Democrat ticket. But do it quick, before they start asking for ID. You really do think you have different rights then they do, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/37 "2011-09-05T01:26:50Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > You, like most hysterical liberals, wouldn’t know disenfranchisement if it crapped in your Wheaties. Is it disenfranchisement that the poor must obtain their own transportation to the polling place? Here’s an idea - why don’t you just vote for them? You already know how they’re going to vote, so just go right on down there and vote a straight Democrat ticket. But do it quick, before they start asking for ID. I’m not hysterical. I’m just looking in interest at the bag of filth you pull your morals from. I note that you haven’t addressed the actual issue. Instead you bring up things like transportation. You do this because on some level you know you’re wrong, but you are unable to face it. This isn’t all that unusual, conservatives tend to be angry cowards who want to fight wars with other people’s sons. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/38 "2011-09-05T01:27:45Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Meh. The Democrats specifically targe black and Hispanic communities in get-out-the-vote campaigns, even going so far as to provide transportation to the polling booth. It’s only to be expected that if you’re going to use race to gain votes, the opposition will target those same groups similarly to make sure that only the legally qualified among them get to vote. > > And there’s nothing wrong with that either. It’s bad form to accuse others of race baiting and then engage in it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/39 "2011-09-05T01:29:05Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Sorry, but you complained about Republicans and their “fear” of brown people with civil rights, it sounded like you were accusing them of racism. Glad to hear this is not the case. > > You might want to ask **Dio** to explain it to you. He at least has demonstrated the knowledge that it isn’t about race. > > Meh. The Democrats specifically targe black and Hispanic communities in get-out-the-vote campaigns, even going so far as to provide transportation to the polling booth. It’s only to be expected that if you’re going to use race to gain votes, the opposition will target those same groups similarly to make sure that only the legally qualified among them get to vote. > > And there’s nothing wrong with that either. SA just wants to return to that idyllic world of the '60s where poll taxes and literacy tests kept the “riff raff” out. After all, says SA, you can’t expect “riff raff” to vote for the \*right \*people, can we? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180/40 "2011-09-05T01:32:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Considering that there is virtually no history of voter fraud in the US, these actions strike me as unecessary partisan maneuvering. I’m sorry but this has to be one of the most foolish comments I’ve heard in a while. Talk to people from Chicago or Boston about Richard Daley or James Michael Curley or just read Tip O’Neil’s biography where he practically brags about tall the “tricks” they used to pull in Boston politics. Where do you think the saying, “Vote early and vote often came from”. Or, more recently, talk to the people of Miami about Joe Carollo and Xavier Suarez. > [@](#): > > **Diogenes the Cynic** > You’re presenting a false dichotomy here. It isn’t “the honor system” now. We’ve also never had a problem in the US with voter fraud, so any suggestion that this is a needed remedy is disingenuous. It’s a “solution” to a problem that doesn’t exist. Everybody knows the purpose of these laws. We’re all adults here. As already noted the US has a long history of voter fraud and the phrase “Vote early, vote often and vote Democratic” didn’t spring from nowhere. What’s wrong with asking people to prove they are who they say they are in order to vote. Once more, this is a case where most foreigners probably laugh at us when they hear these arguments. I could be wrong, but I’m almost 100% sure that everyone in Canada and Europe has to produce IDs in order to vote. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-gop-voting-reform/595180.md?page=3)