# I Pit the ID-demanding GOP vote-suppressors (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 12, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943 "2012-06-12T19:15:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 126
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2501 "2012-09-29T02:25:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [And it gets worse, especially in Florida.](http://www.thenation.com/article/170187/has-florida-created-trap-polls-ex-felons) Again, nonsense. The poor felon is confused? Hint: if he has taken no steps to,restore his voting rights, the best bet is he doesn’t have any voting rights. I know you liberals depend on the felon vote, but too bad. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2502 "2012-09-29T02:35:35Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The article does not explain why he believed he needed any additional ID, does it? The point being that people are confused and unable to get a straight answer from state employees. How are they supposed to know what they need to get the ID? How are they supposed to know if the ID will be accepted at the polls? Do you, as a conservative, suddenly have such great faith in the abilities of poorly trained DMV employees (favorite whipping boys of conservatives) that you trust them to hold our most basic right in their hands, especially when the rules change every other day? The right-wing loves - LOVES - to use DMVs as an example of why governments can’t do anything right… except for determining who can and can’t vote. To be honest I suspect that they’re counting on the incompetency (at least in their minds) of the DMVs. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2503 "2012-09-29T08:44:16Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The article does not explain why he believed he needed any additional ID, does it? From the article: > [@](#): > > He originally tossed out the Aichele letter, thinking it didn’t apply to him, but he was later notified by a committeewoman that he might have a problem because the name on the voting rolls didn’t match his driver’s license. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2504 "2012-09-29T14:54:45Z")
The Republicans’ efforts to keep “those people” from voting are [backfiring pretty strongly](http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2012/09/28/ohio-voter-suppression-efforts-may-galvanizing-african-american-voters/wEaaMnxD2fFhm87Pkp5t4M/story.html): > [@](#): > > In Ohio, that effort has mostly failed, with many new restrictions either overturned by the courts or hastily repealed by the Legislature itself in the face of popular uproar. But in the process, Republican legislators seem to have handed a powerful rallying cry to those seeking to maximize minority-voter turnout. > > “It’s suppression. It’s blatant,” said Michele Rudolph, 57, a retired county employee and resident of Maple Heights, a predominantly black community southeast of downtown Cleveland, who attended an early-voting cookout recently with other Obama campaign volunteers. Wielding a pink BlackBerry, Rudolph pulled up a message she posted on Facebook recently urging friends to “take advantage of the rights and privileges that people have tried so hard to take from us” when early voting begins in Ohio on Tuesday. > … > As recently as this spring, though, some Democratic strategists fretted that blacks, troubled by continued economic woes or President Obama’s support for gay marriage, might turn out at lower rates than in 2008. > > Those fears have eased. A September poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that black voters are as enthusiastic now as they were at this point in 2008. And the sense that voting rights are under siege may be a contributing factor. > > “The fact that the Republicans are trying to keep black people from voting is only going to want to make them want to vote more,” said David A. Bositis, an analyst of minority voting patterns at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington. > > Ohio passed its early voting law after the 2004 election, when hourslong lines at some Ohio polling locations made national headlines. Those lines, being in black Democratic areas in Cleveland, certainly helping discourage the Kerry vote, of course. > [@Bricker](#): > > I know you liberals depend on the felon vote, but too bad. _That’s_ the level you’re at now? I didn’t think it could get any sadder, but there it is. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2505 "2012-09-29T15:46:28Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Again, nonsense. The poor felon is confused? > > Hint: if he has taken no steps to,restore his voting rights, the best bet is he doesn’t have any voting rights. > > I know you liberals depend on the felon vote, but too bad. Remember when we’d see _ **Bricker** _’s name above a post and think “Okay, here comes some insightful, well-thought-out comment…?” Now I just think “Well, I suppose I’ll have to waste my time reading this… just to see what party line a hateful old hack would spout”. What the hell happened? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2506 "2012-09-29T17:01:34Z")
Nothing really changed. You just wised up. Everyone does eventually. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2507 "2012-09-29T17:47:22Z")
From your lips to the Ears… ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2508 "2012-09-29T20:32:53Z")
> [@Skip](#): > > From the article: Undoubtedly a Democratic committeewoman trying to stir up trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2509 "2012-09-29T20:34:11Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Remember when we’d see _ **Bricker** _’s name above a post and think “Okay, here comes some insightful, well-thought-out comment…?” Now I just think “Well, I suppose I’ll have to waste my time reading this… just to see what party line a hateful old hack would spout”. What the hell happened? How much abuse was I supposed to swallow without complaint? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2510 "2012-09-29T20:37:34Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > The point being that people are confused and unable to get a straight answer from state employees. How are they supposed to know what they need to get the ID? How are they supposed to know if the ID will be accepted at the polls? > > Do you, as a conservative, suddenly have such great faith in the abilities of poorly trained DMV employees (favorite whipping boys of conservatives) that you trust them to hold our most basic right in their hands, especially when the rules change every other day? No. I hold every person responsible for properly informing themselves, so they can properly exercise our most basic right, instead of whining that the answ wasn’t handed to them on a silver platter. ---
**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 29, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2511 "2012-09-29T20:39:03Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > How much abuse was I supposed to swallow without complaint? You’re abused because you advocate terrible things. Like making it harder for poor people to vote. You aren’t a hapless victim, you’re the bad guy. Seriously, you’re the one cheering Republicans trying to cheat the system and then gloating like a Bond villain. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2512 "2012-09-29T20:40:15Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > How much abuse was I supposed to swallow without complaint? Now you’re sounding like Starving Artist: “boo hoo, I am an asshole because everyone is mean to me.” Next you’ll be telling us you have a great response, but you have to go because you’re “sooo busy and have an actual life”. God help us if you start telling us about paper towel tubes. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2513 "2012-09-29T23:29:15Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Undoubtedly a Democratic committeewoman trying to stir up trouble. Unsurprisingly, [wrong again](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Aichele). This is the same Carol Aichele who admitted she was [unsure about the actual details](http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/carole_aichele_in_charge_of_pennsylvania_voter_id_law_i_dont_know_what_the_law_says.php) of the Voter ID law in PA. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2514 "2012-09-30T02:04:05Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > No. I hold every person responsible for properly informing themselves, so they can properly exercise our most basic right, instead of whining that the answ wasn’t handed to them on a silver platter. And if they find the answer and the poorly trained DMV employee disagrees with them, what then? And, this being is the pit, I should tell you what to do with your frigging silver platter, but I’ll refrain. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2515 "2012-09-30T02:42:32Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Now you’re sounding like Starving Artist: > > “boo hoo, I am an asshole because everyone is mean to me.” > > Next you’ll be telling us you have a great response, but you have to go because you’re “sooo busy and have an actual life”. > > God help us if you start telling us about paper towel tubes. Wow. You certainly did an excellent job zinging me…for all the stuff you wish I said. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2516 "2012-09-30T02:44:55Z")
> [@Skip](#): > > Unsurprisingly, [wrong again](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Aichele). > > This is the same Carol Aichele who admitted she was [unsure about the actual details](http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/carole_aichele_in_charge_of_pennsylvania_voter_id_law_i_dont_know_what_the_law_says.php) of the Voter ID law in PA. The committeewoman was the one that stirred up trouble. The man correctly intuited that the Aichele letter did not apply to him. It is she, the unnamed committeewoman, who stirred up trouble and who I speculate is a liberal. Right back atha, then, Sparky. Wrong again. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2517 "2012-09-30T03:03:36Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The committeewoman was the one that stirred up trouble. The man correctly intuited that the Aichele letter did not apply to him. It is she, the unnamed committeewoman, who stirred up trouble and who I speculate is a liberal. > > Right back atha, then, Sparky. Wrong again. How about you take some of that precious attitude and show the same outrage at the RNC and their hired guns who were faking voter registrations that you showed against ACORN, huh? Until you do that, you’re just another partisan blowhard. Coward. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2518 "2012-09-30T03:24:52Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > So, **BrainGlutton** you’re implying that “the poor and minorities” are too stupid and/or lazy to acquire an ID card. > > Seems kind of mean to me. I disagree that Brain Glutton is implying this. The poor tend to move frequently and getting a state-issued ID costs money on top of having to take the time off the job to report the change of address in person. It’s hard enough trying to find the time to move. In my twenties, I moved an average of every 13 months while holding 2+ jobs. On a couple of occasions, I had to use utility bills to prove I was a resident. Another time, due to a very recent move, I had to go back to my old neighborhood to vote (out of respect, I chose not to vote on district candidates as I was no longer in the district). It was rare for my driver’s license address and my own address to match. I have always voted however. It is important to me. But under the GOP-sponsored voter ID plan, I would have had to miss a few elections back then. I am a citizen and always have been. ---
**Author:** ![Bouncer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@Bouncer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bouncer)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2519 "2012-09-30T03:55:12Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I am a citizen and always have been. Or so you claim, Sir! Or. So. You. Claim. -.- \<–Squinty eyes at you. Regards, -BouncerWhoIsVerySuspiciousOfYourWildCitizenshipClaims!- ---
**Author:** ![Bouncer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@Bouncer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bouncer)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2520 "2012-09-30T04:00:45Z")
The thing to me is, I find the republican claims of bands of roving vote-fraudsters hard to buy. For a simple reason. There’s no profit in it. While ID theft is a serious criminal enterprise because there’s tons of money to be made, ID theft for purposes of voter fraud is counter-intuitive on multiple levels: 1. No Profit 2. Federal Pokey time if caught 3. goto 1 Why in the world would anyone go to the lengths required simply to record one fraudulent vote. Or ten, if they’re some kinda extra-crazy serial voter. It fails the smell test. Criminals don’t care about defrauding the vote system, because THERE IS NO PROFIT IN IT. No DVD player, no laptop, no cell phone and no free porn. /shrug Regards, -Bouncer- [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=125) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=127)