# 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:** 146
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2901 "2012-11-08T15:07:04Z")
Let’s go further. I’m pretty much always in favor of going further. Now we have plenty of time, a couple years before major elections. Lets make getting voter ID so cheap, easy, and convenient that anybody who wants to vote can have it, no prob. Heck, as long as we’re about it, why not couple that with a full-court press to register new voters! All of them with rock-solid voter ID. Millions of previously unregistered voters! Warms the heart, to be sure. Of course, we could use some people with experience in registering previously unregistered voters. Shouldn’t be too hard to find. We also need the firm public support of someone on the “other side”, someone with rock solid credentials as a tighty righty with long standing support for voter ID, which is very popular with the American people. A Republican, for sure, maybe even a lawyer! Suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2902 "2012-11-08T15:14:07Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > No, I gave you a CURRENT REPUBLICAN strategist, you gave me a FORMER Democrat/NOW Fox Whore. > > Jackass > > Oh, and HA HA! He’s not a current Republican strategist. He’s the vice chairman for public affairs for Edelman and a frequent television commentator. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2903 "2012-11-08T15:25:33Z")
Hands down, you win that one, **Bricker.** No two ways about it! C’mon, Shayna, throw the guy a bone! Time for you two kids to knife and make up! ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2904 "2012-11-08T19:33:30Z")
So am I the only one that thinks taht these transparent attempts at voter suppression backfired on the Republicans? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2905 "2012-11-08T19:37:18Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > So am I the only one that thinks taht these transparent attempts at voter suppression backfired on the Republicans? I don’t, because I never believed the proper way to analyze the new Voter ID laws was as voter suppression laws. I think the next Pennsylvania election, for example, will have the same laws discussed here in this thread working in full effect, which I believe is the proper outcome. This gives the state more than two years to roll out the program and ensure that everyone who wants an ID has one, and it removes from the opponents’ arsenal the claim that there’s a rush to place the laws into effect. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2906 "2012-11-08T19:52:45Z")
Well, yes, that will definitely work to defuse that claim. Because then it won’t be true. > [@](#): > > …because I never believed the proper way to analyze the new Voter ID laws was as voter suppression laws. In Brickerspeak, is that the same thing as saying it wasn’t so? Or is that saying that some Republicans thought of it that way, but they were wrong, it wasn’t the right way to analyze it? Counselor, you are as slippery as a catfish in a barrel of motor oil. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2907 "2012-11-08T21:07:48Z")
I thought of Bricker as I told the poll worker (in PA) “Since it is not required, I am politely declining your request to see my ID.” Then I said, “Also, Bricker is a giant douchebag.” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2908 "2012-11-08T21:19:53Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, yes, that will definitely work to defuse that claim. Because then it won’t be true. > > In Brickerspeak, is that the same thing as saying it wasn’t so? Or is that saying that some Republicans thought of it that way, but they were wrong, it wasn’t the right way to analyze it? Counselor, you are as slippery as a catfish in a barrel of motor oil. Some Republicans thought of it that way, but since there was a valid, neutral justification for the Voter ID laws, they should be analyzed under that rubric. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2909 "2012-11-08T21:21:03Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > I thought of Bricker as I told the poll worker (in PA) “Since it is not required, I am politely declining your request to see my ID.” > > Then I said, “Also, Bricker is a giant douchebag.” Great. Next election, don’t even bring your ID. Let 'em know where you stand! ---
**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:** [November 8, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2910 "2012-11-08T21:26:18Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Great. Next election, don’t even bring your ID. Let 'em know where you stand! So, how you doin’ Bricker? Is there sand? In your vagina, I mean. Rough, gritty sand? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2911 "2012-11-08T21:32:15Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > there was a valid, neutral justification for the Voter ID laws Except for the parts about “valid”, “neutral”, and “justification”. Three lies in three words. Congratulations on a perfect score. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2912 "2012-11-08T22:47:07Z")
Polling places already know (they have lists, just like Stalin haha) of those who are registered to vote. So what is the problem? People have drivers licenses or state IDs already. So why do we need ANOTHER form of ID? So what is the problem? Military people have their federal ID, as do federal workers. So why do we need ANOTHER form of ID? So what is the problem? State employees have a state ID. So why do we need ANOTHER form of ID? So what is the problem? Many many people have a company ID badge, with picture and everything. So why do we need ANOTHER form of ID? So what is the problem? It would appear that the wild claims of rampant fraud wre just another “Rovian” style lie and were baseless, at least as far as the VOTERS being the perpetrators. I don’t see any valid reason why this became a sudden dire emergency THIS time. I suppose the courts failed to see it too, since they struck it down here and there. So the Ockam’s Razor answer is, it was a non issue, cooked up for political reasons. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2913 "2012-11-09T03:41:32Z")
I’ve researched this issue, and have publishable results. Compare, for instance, the number of states with no strict voter ID laws to the number of reported instances of voter impersonation fraud, Cross-reference that to the number of emergency room admissions for marijuana overdose in those same states. Would it surprise you to know that they are exactly the same number! Kinda changes your whole viewpoint, doesn’t it? Now, compare Idaho’s numbers for voter impersonation fraud to hunter’s reports of being sexually molested by Bigfoot. Both are almost exactly zero, except that the latter is .0001! No, wait, that’s a dust speck on my monitor. It’s zero too. So, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2914 "2012-11-09T09:06:00Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > So am I the only one that thinks taht these transparent attempts at voter suppression backfired on the Republicans? Shayna has posted several excellent posts in other threads about how it did indeed backfire. I’m pretty sure many people got of their butts and voted (most, but not all, for Obama) – including, if necessary, by waiting in line for seven hours – precisely because some jerks who think like Bricker were trying their damnedest to prevent them from doing so. P.S. Since Husted failed to deliver the goods, will he still get paid by his Koch Brothers sugar daddies? Maybe his contract was “50% for effort, the rest if you get the job done.”. (I kid. Don’t try to refute me, Bricker.) ---
**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:** [November 9, 2012, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2915 "2012-11-09T09:32:43Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Now, compare Idaho’s numbers for voter impersonation fraud to hunter’s reports of being sexually molested by Bigfoot. Both are almost exactly zero, except that the latter is .0001! No, wait, that’s a dust speck on my monitor. It’s zero too. So, never mind. I want to speak up for **Bricker** who surely doesn’t deserve your snide sarcasm. Just as he has fought so diligently against voter impersonation, I’ve no doubt that **Bricker** would take on the Bigfoot rape victim’s case _pro bono_, at least if [del]the dust speck[/del] she were a Republican voter. One would have to admire “Republican idealism” … if the very term weren’t such a sick oxymoron. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2916 "2012-11-09T11:17:49Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I want to speak up for **Bricker** who surely doesn’t deserve your snide sarcasm. Just as he has fought so diligently against voter impersonation, I’ve no doubt that **Bricker** would take on the Bigfoot rape victim’s case _pro bono_, at least if [del]the dust speck[/del] she were a Republican voter. > > One would have to admire “Republican idealism” … if the very term weren’t such a sick oxymoron. Don’t forget, some Bigfoot victims rape easy. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2917 "2012-11-09T11:38:46Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I don’t see any valid reason why this became a sudden dire emergency THIS time. I suppose the courts failed to see it too, since they struck it down here and there. So the Ockam’s Razor answer is, it was a non issue, cooked up for political reasons. Some of the courts that struck it down “here and there” seem to have done so only as to this election cycle. That is, you’re right about “sudden dire emergency” being unavailing, but as far as I can tell, Pennsylvania will have Voter ID laws in effect for the 2014 mid-terms. You OK with that? Other states had their laws struck down by the DoJ as violative of Section 5 of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits any changes that might affect minority representation in voting in states with a poor track record of civil rights.. But given the data that this election created in states that had Voter ID laws, that decision might not survive… the “backfire” we see discussed above s good evidence that Voter ID laws do not harm minority turnout. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2918 "2012-11-09T11:55:29Z")
[Republicans ‘Test’ For Voting Fraud, Wind Up In Custody](http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/11/republicans_voter_fraud_tests.php?ref=fpb) > [@](#): > > On Tuesday in New Mexico, a Republican poll watcher was taken into police custody after also apparently trying to test the system. According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, the man voted, then obtained a second provisional ballot and announced he was simply “testing the system to see if people could get away with voting twice.” > … > \*\*“From what we understand, he was trained by the Republican Party,” Sandoval told TPM. The Grant County Republican Party did not respond to a request for comment. > \*\* > County Clerk Robert Zamarripa told TPM he and his employees had never seen such an incident before but said it wouldn’t sour his office’s relationship with poll watchers. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2919 "2012-11-09T15:21:07Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > … the “backfire” we see discussed above s good evidence that Voter ID laws do not harm minority turnout. This is a rare and special thing, it must be preserved like a perfect butterfly of crystalline _chutzpah_. It didn’t work, therefore, it didn’t happen. A golden butterfly to be preserved in my scrapbook, for **Bricker** ’s Greatest Hits, Volume 6… Wait! Still fluttering! Hammer, quick! _BAM!_ Ah. There. Much better. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/2920 "2012-11-09T15:54:08Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > This is a rare and special thing, it must be preserved like a perfect butterfly of crystalline _chutzpah_. It didn’t work, therefore, it didn’t happen. A golden butterfly to be preserved in my scrapbook, for **Bricker** ’s Greatest Hits, Volume 6… > > Wait! Still fluttering! Hammer, quick! _BAM!_ Ah. There. Much better. I had read, though not from Nate Silver directly, that his model accounted for a voter suppression effect. His predictions turned out to be quite accurate. So, does his model thus give us an estimate of the level of vote suppression that occurred? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=145) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=147)