# 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:** 200
**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:** [March 21, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3981 "2014-03-21T01:17:21Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I wasn’t aware the ACLU had weighed in on the national-ID issue, nor of any reason they’d oppose it. > > But yeah, let the survivalist nuts and fundamentalists resist. They’d probably vote Republican anyway. I don’t know that they’d oppose it now, but they’ve talked against it in the past: > **[5 Problems with National ID Cards | American Civil Liberties Union](https://www.aclu.org/documents/5-problems-national-id-cards)** > > The terrorist attacks of September 11have revived proposals for a national identity card system as a way to verify the identity of airline passengers and prevent terrorists from entering the country. For example, the Chairman and CEO of Oracle Corp.,... > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > A national ID that acted as a driver’s license, organ donor card, gun license, voter ID. Sounds good to me. Lets set up shop and pass them out. Hell yes. I’d be a strong advocate for a national ID card if we made honest efforts to get them in every hand. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3982 "2014-03-21T13:27:08Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Hell yes. I’d be a strong advocate for a national ID card if we made honest efforts to get them in every hand. No, see, that’s still something you can lose. What we’re gonna have is a barcode **tattooed** on every hand. Or forehead, some people have one or no hands but everybody has a forehead. What? ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3983 "2014-03-21T13:49:07Z")
Nahh, they’re gonna make us get an implant. You know, those ones they got from the aliens. The ones that identify us, control us, and make us enjoy anal probes. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3984 "2014-03-21T14:44:10Z")
Anal probes as a test for citizenship is entirely legal and Constitutional, as well as having objective value in supporting voter confidence. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3985 "2014-03-21T14:56:17Z")
You, sir, should run for office in North Carolina! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3986 "2014-03-31T14:10:00Z")
[Gov. Walker signs bill restricting early voting in Wisconsin.](http://host.madison.com/daily-cardinal/news/gov-scott-walker-signs-bill-restricting-early-voting-at-elections/article_7e8598e0-b628-11e3-9644-0019bb2963f4.html) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3987 "2014-03-31T14:44:02Z")
> [@](#): > > …“It is time Republicans start fixing problems and stop fixing elections,” Barca said in a statement… But elections are the problem, what with the erosion of voter confidence and the dread threat of voter fraud, which may burst into actual existence at any moment! Everybody knows that America is a center right country, basically conservative, all \*real \*Americans know that! What other explanation is possible than knavery and skulduggery when the elections don’t reflect the real heart of America? American elections are unfulfilled, incomplete! Let the Republicans take charge of elections, and then they will be finished! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3988 "2014-03-31T16:15:23Z")
Note that Walker also signed legislation to give lobbyists more time during election years to make financial contributions to lawmakers and other candidates (moving the earliest date to April 15 from June 1). Because priorities. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3989 "2014-04-01T00:18:28Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > That assumes that the new qualifications are actually enforced equally on all voters. > [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > One assumes that those who were already registered to vote will be grandfathered in. > > As with the original [grandfather clause](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_clause) the goal is to freeze the current voting rolls as they are now in order to fight the coming demographic shift. It would not freeze voters rolls long enough or well enough to still be effective during the demographic shift that is 20 years away. And new voter registration will be a lot easier for folks that trend Democratic during that time because they will tend to already have proof of citizenship. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Wisconsin Republican Legislator Tears Into His Own Party For Voter Suppression](http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/03/19/3416499/wisconsin-senator-voter-suppression/) This is a familiar phenomenon in the north-east. As soon as they no longer need to win election, northeastern Republicans have made it almost a ritual to condemn their party (in other parts of the country) for all the bullshit they try to pull. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > No, see, that’s still something you can lose. What we’re gonna have is a barcode **tattooed** on every hand. Or forehead, some people have one or no hands but everybody has a forehead. > > What? Your ability to buy or sell things would also have to be conditioned on having the tattoo (or more likey, implanted RFID chip). ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3990 "2014-04-01T01:40:06Z")
A denarius for a Quarter-Pounder…with “cheese”. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3991 "2014-04-01T03:21:59Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Gov. Walker signs bill restricting early voting in Wisconsin.](http://host.madison.com/daily-cardinal/news/gov-scott-walker-signs-bill-restricting-early-voting-at-elections/article_7e8598e0-b628-11e3-9644-0019bb2963f4.html) Can someone explain this line from that cite?: > [@](#): > > Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill Thursday that prohibits early absentee voting on weekends In my experience, and to my knowledge, “absentee ballots” are the ones you fill out and send in via the snail mail. How would Wisconsin know when I filled out my absentee ballot? Obviously some other mechanism is in play here. Can Wisconsinites fill out absentee ballots via computer, or something? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3992 "2014-04-01T15:58:35Z")
The GOP’s new voting laws are nothing less than a war on democracy > **[The GOP's new voting laws are nothing less than a war on democracy](https://theweek.com/articles/448551/gops-new-voting-laws-are-nothing-less-than-war-democracy)** > > The Grand Old Party has all but admitted that it no longer represents America's "silent majority" ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3993 "2014-04-01T16:19:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Obviously some other mechanism is in play here. Can Wisconsinites fill out absentee ballots via computer, or something? Even in Massachusetts, you can go visit Town Hall and fill out a ballot right there. It goes into an envelope and into a bin along with the mailed-in absentee ballots. ---
**Author:** ![Reginald\_Hobbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@Reginald\_Hobbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reginald_Hobbes)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3994 "2014-04-02T10:36:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Can someone explain this line from that cite?: > > In my experience, and to my knowledge, “absentee ballots” are the ones you fill out and send in via the snail mail. How would Wisconsin know when I filled out my absentee ballot? > > Obviously some other mechanism is in play here. Can Wisconsinites fill out absentee ballots via computer, or something? In Wisconsin, what is referred to as “early voting” is technically in person absentee voting. Go to the clerk’s office, fill out absentee ballot, seal it and put it in the box. It is not actually counted until election day. Voting absentee by mail is also still an option. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3995 "2014-04-03T23:13:09Z")
The new Wisconsin law allows “observers” to stand as close as three feet to you when you register, and again when you pick up your ballot. That wouldn’t be intimidating, at all. Concerning the right wing’s fear of national ID, [Pat Robertson says that buying things by computer is an attempt by Satan to mark you with the Mark of the Beast](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/03/pat-robertson-buying-stuff-by-computer-is-the-mark-of-the-beast/). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3996 "2014-04-28T15:40:22Z")
[Arkansas judge rejects photo-ID law as conflicting with state-constitutional right to vote.](http://www.salon.com/2014/04/28/ugly_gop_scheme_squashed_arkansas_judge_says_no_way_to_disenfranchising_minorities_poor/) ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3997 "2014-04-30T01:03:59Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The new Wisconsin law allows “observers” to stand as close as three feet to you when you register, and again when you pick up your ballot. That wouldn’t be intimidating, at all. > > Concerning the right wing’s fear of national ID, [Pat Robertson says that buying things by computer is an attempt by Satan to mark you with the Mark of the Beast](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/03/pat-robertson-buying-stuff-by-computer-is-the-mark-of-the-beast/). I suspect this isn’t what they intended: [![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oyqjnrXTZMo/UQvepKAzKZI/AAAAAAAATCQ/WMGwqNnnZIc/s400/black-panthers-guns3.jpg) ](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oyqjnrXTZMo/UQvepKAzKZI/AAAAAAAATCQ/WMGwqNnnZIc/s400/black-panthers-guns3.jpg) And today, a judge struck down the Wisconsin voter ID law. The court found that > [@](#): > > In-person voter impersonation — the only type of fraud a voter ID law can prevent — is nonexistent or virtually nonexistent in Wisconsin, . . . > > “Because virtually no voter impersonation occurs in Wisconsin and it is exceedingly unlikely that voter impersonation will become a problem in Wisconsin in the foreseeable future, this particular state interest has very little weight,” . . . > > “The defendants could not point to a single instance of known voter impersonation occurring in Wisconsin at any time in the recent past.” and > [@](#): > > . . . determined that in practice the law requiring voters to show one of nine types of photo IDs at the polls established an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote. It also violated the federal Voting Rights Act because its effects hit Latinos and African-Americans harder than whites, . . . > > Under the voter ID law, minorities "must pay the cost, in the form of time or bother or out-of-pocket expense, to obtain what is essentially a license to vote . . . The claim that voter ID laws are justified in part by the goal of having the public believe in the integrity of the voting system was also disputed. All the evidence at trial was that claims of voter fraud and passage of voter ID laws makes the public have less faith in the voting system. Story [http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/federal-judge-strikes-down-wisconsins-voter-id-law-b99258822z1-257200321.html](http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/federal-judge-strikes-down-wisconsins-voter-id-law-b99258822z1-257200321.html) The entire 70 page ruling. (No, I haven’t even scanned it.): [http://media.jrn.com/documents/adelmanorder.pdf](http://media.jrn.com/documents/adelmanorder.pdf) Republican state officials have already announced they will appeal the decision. No doubt the Supreme Court will eventually decide. Based on their apparent disdain for voting rights shown last year, I’d guess the GOP still might get its way on this issue. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3998 "2014-04-30T03:04:31Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > And today, a judge struck down the Wisconsin voter ID law. Uh oh. A judge’s ruling establishes whether people were previously right or wrong when they stated their opinion on a legal issue, right? [Every day I’m Brickey Shufflin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9oVth5rJbg) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/3999 "2014-04-30T13:54:18Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Uh oh. A judge’s ruling establishes whether people were previously right or wrong when they stated their opinion on a legal issue, right? What on Earth are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/4000 "2014-04-30T14:07:58Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Uh oh. A judge’s ruling establishes whether people were previously right or wrong when they stated their opinion on a legal issue, right? > > [Every day I’m Brickey Shufflin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9oVth5rJbg) A final ruling certainly establishes the state of the law. This ruling – by a single judge at the federal district court level – certainly does not. It has no precedential value. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=199) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=201)