# 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:** 519
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10361 "2016-10-07T18:45:14Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > [From here.](http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/illegal-voters-uncovered-philly-just-tip-iceberg/) > [@elucidator](#): > > **Mags**? Who the fuck is _Polizette_? > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Polizette is right-wing entertainer Laura Ingraham’s politics website. It’s actually a sub-site of LifeZette (motto: “Life. Explained.”) with the similar motto “Politics. Explained.” I guess they assume that their readers are stupid people who don’t just need facts, they need them explained, presumably in simple sentences (like one word sentences) with lots of pictures. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10362 "2016-10-07T20:04:41Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > It’s actually a sub-site of LifeZette (motto: “Life. Explained.”) with the similar motto “Politics. Explained.” I guess they assume that their readers are stupid people who don’t just need facts, they need them explained, presumably in simple sentences (like one word sentences) with lots of pictures. Founded by right-wing entertainer Laura Ingraham. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10363 "2016-10-07T20:07:31Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Founded by right-wing entertainer Laura Ingraham. Oh yeah; for sure. I’m sorry if my post came across as trying to ignore or somehow marginalize that; it was in no way my intent. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10364 "2016-10-08T18:54:11Z")
I just noticed that the ignominious SCOTUS ruling that overturned much of the Voting Rights Act, _Shelby County v. Holder_, also [curtails the ability of the Justice Department to observe polling.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-department-severely-curtails-election-observers-inside-polling-places-this-november/2016/10/06/dfb49caa-875a-11e6-92c2-14b64f3d453f_story.html) :mad: Trump has already announced plans to sabotage Democratic precinct in swing states; the _Shelby County v. Holder_ decision means DOJ will be unable to intervene. Too bad. The Voting Rights Act had been upheld by the District Court, upheld by the Court of Appeals, and would have been upheld 4-3 by the Supreme Court if only the human Justices were allowed to vote. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10365 "2016-10-12T21:27:25Z")
[In fact, he thinks there’s a lot of it. And he thinks people should have to show an ID:](http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2016/10/12/nyc-election-commissioner-i-think-theres-a-lot-of-voter-fraud-n2230958?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad=) > [@](#): > > In the video, NYC Democratic Commissioner of the Board of Elections Alan Schulkin is caught on hidden camera at a United Federation of Teachers holiday party admitting that there is widespread voter fraud in New York City. “Yeah, they should ask for your ID. I think there is a lot of voter fraud,” said Schulkin, who elaborated on the types of voter fraud that are taking place in New York…“You know, I don’t think it’s too much to ask somebody to show some kind of an ID…Like I say, people don’t realize, certain neighborhoods in particular they bus people around to vote,” said Schulman. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10366 "2016-10-12T21:48:07Z")
Shouldn’t be too hard to find some examples, then, right? :rolleyes: Yes, one can be a dumbass and a Democrat simultaneously. We just don’t glorify it. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10367 "2016-10-12T22:00:14Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > [In fact, he thinks there’s a lot of it. And he thinks people should have to show an ID:](http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2016/10/12/nyc-election-commissioner-i-think-theres-a-lot-of-voter-fraud-n2230958?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad=) Relying on recognized fraudsters of Video like James O’Keeffe is really pathetic. One has to add that looking at the bigoted comments at the end it is clear to me that the guy being taped is a DINO. And what the person there reports is not confirmed at all, it is his opinion and busing people around to vote is not forbidden, just added and edited to make it look bad. In the end it has to be noted that you are only pointing at a straw man, more than once it was reported in this thread that there is fraud around for sure, but not in the numbers the right assumes as many studies made report. And many many times in the thread it was reported that voter id would not be a problem, provided the voters would get those ids in a prompt and easy manner to avoid what the courts found, clear evidence of voter laws used to prevent minorities from voting. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10368 "2016-10-12T23:20:09Z")
I find it amusing that the article begins “Before we get to this hidden camera video from James O’Keefe”, because of the temptation to end the sentence with “I recommend the reader drink at least eight ounces of lead-based paint to reach the appropriate mental state.” I’m confident other dopers can suggest similar and better alternatives. ---
**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:** [October 18, 2016, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10369 "2016-10-18T09:59:08Z")
[Voter suppression has gotten](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mike-pence-voter-suppression_us_58027076e4b0e8c198a87ffb) more [blatant in Indiana](http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/10/06/indiana-police-raid-democrat-connected-voter-registration-project/). > [@](#): > > The accusations follow a raid by the state police on the Indiana Voter Registration Project offices on Oct. 4, a week before the state’s voter registration deadline, following claims of strange registration applications. Police seized computers, cell phones and thousands of voter registration applications. > > Craig Varoga, the president of Patriot Majority USA, estimates that 45,000 people may not be able to vote on Nov. 8 because their applications were seized. Most of the disenfranchised are African American, he said. > > “Mike Pence has a well oiled political machine that is using the Indiana State Police to suppress African American votes and violate the Constitutional rights of tens of thousands of Hoosiers,” said Varoga in a statement. “This is not only voter suppression at its worst, it is an insult to all of the honest troopers in the state police, and to law-enforcement officials across the country, who disapprove of wasting precious crime-fighting resources on partisan witch hunts that further harm relations between police officers and minority communities.” > > The group also claims that state police officers did not allow employees to film the raid, handcuffed a black male employee and denied him the right to speak with an attorney. Are these claims exaggerated? Indiana was always going to vote for Trump, but an (R) Senate seat is in great jeopardy., ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10370 "2016-10-18T21:35:36Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Shouldn’t be too hard to find some examples, then, right? :rolleyes: > > Yes, one can be a dumbass and a Democrat simultaneously. We just don’t glorify it. [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/17/no-voter-fraud-isnt-myth-10-cases-where-its-all-to/](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/17/no-voter-fraud-isnt-myth-10-cases-where-its-all-to/) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10371 "2016-10-19T05:40:29Z")
Just for shits and giggles…in your estimation, which is the most reliable source for citation, the most trustworthy…Breitbart, _Washington Times_, or World Net Daily? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10372 "2016-10-22T07:44:29Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Just for shits and giggles…in your estimation, which is the most reliable source for citation, the most trustworthy…Breitbart, _Washington Times_, or World Net Daily? Don’t forget the semi-coherent rantings of subway derelicts. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10373 "2016-10-22T19:24:38Z")
You know, I’m a voter (got an id and everything) and my voter confidence is shaken. Not from blacks or Latinos or dead people, but from the Russians. How is the GOP working to restore _my_ confidence? ---
**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:** [October 24, 2016, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10374 "2016-10-24T08:16:26Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > You know, I’m a voter (got an id and everything) and my voter confidence is shaken. Not from blacks or Latinos or dead people, but from the Russians. How is the GOP working to restore _my_ confidence? If I’m concerned about anything this election, it’s that. It seems implausible, to say the least, but it’s more likely than enough people to sway the result managing to get away with in person vote fraud. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2016, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10375 "2016-10-24T08:46:27Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/17/no-voter-fraud-isnt-myth-10-cases-where-its-all-to/](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/17/no-voter-fraud-isnt-myth-10-cases-where-its-all-to/) Dead people voting is almost certainly ballot stuffing or absentee fraud. People who moved away still being registered does not mean that they voted in their old precinct after they moved. The illegals who were registered had driver’s licenses so ID laws wouldn’t have prevented them from voting. The fact that they self reported indicates that either they didn’t realize it was illegal or hadn’t intended to register and were reporting it as a mistake. Education and bilingual warning signs in polling places could curtail this but ID laws wouldn’t (since they had driver’s licenses). One of the examples mentions intimidation of a voting official, something that doesn’t seem like it could be solved by ID laws. The other claims don’t give enough information to be sure what was going on but don’t seem like they could amount to enough to make a difference. That article is typical of other articles I’ve seen that claim to debunk Democratic statements that ID laws are uneccesary. They list a bunch of examples of types of fraud that ID laws wouldn’t prevent. As desperate as Republicans and right wing media are to prove that there is massive fraud of the type that could be prevented by ID laws, they’ve yet to do so. You’d think it would be easy to prove if it’s so rampant. And, by the way, Republicans recently seem to be frantic to denounce Trump’s claims of a rigged election. So, do they believe in voter fraud or not? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10376 "2016-10-24T13:36:23Z")
Depends on who Trump decides to blame. He has given broad hints that he is going to blame the Republican “Establishment” for failing to back his play. Lately, he seems to be swerving in the direction of voter fraud and I think this will turn out to be the compromise position for his backers and said establishment. Of course, this implies some understanding of how Trump thinks, if that is the word. He’s not going to stand there and say “I lost because I suck!”. And illegal immigrants voting is a myth dear and close to the Republican heart. They _know_ they are the real Americans and the real majority, they’ve known it for years. Which leaves them looking for an explanation for otherwise inexplicable losses. What if Trump “goes rogue” on the Republican Party, urging his supporters to go and vote for him, but leave the downticket votes blank? How many would obey? How many would be closely watching their local downticket candidates to see who is trying to distance themselves from Trump? How many would it take to give the House and Senate to the Dems? Ten percent, twenty? Really, I have no real idea. But remember, the whole rationale for carefully crafted gerrymandering is to give the Republicans a small but reliable advantage, to win a majority of close races. “Hoist on their own retard” comes to mind. So, the central question is how vindictive and deranged he is. He could “make nice” with the Pubbie leaders and totally blame illegal voting. He still loses, but downticket, not so bad. He blames Republican elites, and Trump voters stay home to punish them, really, really bad. Or he blames them and his voters turn out to vote for _him_ but not the other Republicans…oh, my! Or, to put it another way, groovy. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10377 "2016-10-24T14:36:40Z")
Trump is clearly implying that the problem will be in-person vote fraud. He explicitly asked people to go to what he called “certain areas” to make sure that “people don’t come in and vote five times”. There’s nothing ambiguous about the type of fraud he’s talking about, even if others in his campaign say otherwise. Regarding what I said about Republicans frantically distancing themselves from his cries of fraud, I found what appears to be the reason for that. [http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/why-the-rnc-desperately-needs-to-not-getting-dragged-into-trump-s-poll-watcher-talk](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/why-the-rnc-desperately-needs-to-not-getting-dragged-into-trump-s-poll-watcher-talk) > [@](#): > > Trump’s comments urging elections monitoring has drawn attention to the consent decree the RNC signed in 1982 that banned the very sort of “ballot security” measures Trump has encouraged from his supporters. If there’s reason to believe the RNC was participating, it could be found in violation of the decree, which could keep the committee under its restrictions for another eight years. That would be a major set back for the RNC, given the decree is set to expire in 2017. > … > The court decree in question stems from a 1981 lawsuit filed against the RNC by Democrats, for actions related to a gubernatorial race in New Jersey. According to the Dems’ lawsuit, the RNC and its state counterpart engaged in a number of practices in the name of “ballot security” that intimidated, threatened or coerced minority voters. The alleged activities included the hiring of off-duty cops to patrol near polling places in minority communities, as well as a shady mailer campaign the RNC used to cobble together a list to challenge otherwise eligible voters from casting ballots at polling places. The case was settled with the consent decree, imposing a number of limits on what the RNC could do at polling places on Election Day. > > Fast forward to 2016, and the thin tightrope Trump’s rhetoric is making the RNC walk now. I have to wonder how much they can legally distance themselves from the remarks of the leader of their party. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10378 "2016-10-26T01:42:24Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > . . . > "The state keeps frantically changing its procedures to mollify the courts, leading to even more confusion among voters. Last week the Walker Administration proposed issuing ‘voting purposes only’ IDs that could not be used for anything else, like opening a bank account. ‘The Division of Motor Vehicles also wants the free IDs—born of voter-fraud fears – to be cheapened in quality, with some fraud protections removed,’ the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. > > ‘The more they change the procedures, the clearer it becomes that this has nothing to do with voter impersonation,’ [a different Sean, probably less hot] Young [of the ACLU] says. ‘The whole process has no meaning anymore. It’s just a pointless obstacle to the right to vote.’” > > Curious to see what the follow-up is on how successful this newest “voting purposes only” IDs thingie pans out. > > And yes, it deserves nothing more than a “thingie” appellation for now. [Clerk in Green Bay doesn’t like students voting](http://occupydemocrats.com/2016/10/25/wisconsin-clerk-caught-blocking-campus-voting-cuz-students-lean-democrat/) Vote suppression by lack of access. > [@](#): > > A Wisconsin city clerk has been caught refusing to set up an early polling place at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus because students “lean towards more Democrat.” In an August 26th email, clerk Kris Teske – appointed by Gov. Scott Walker ally Mayor Jim Schmitt – told state Rep. Eric Genrich (D-Green Bay) that she had concerns about setting up an early polling location on the Green Bay campus because of its partisan leanings and potential cost. Cute little trick GOPers love to use. Just make voters they don’t like wait hours and hours to vote. One of my kid’s friends, who was a student at Oberlin in 2004, waited in line for 12 hours to vote. In a cold rain, no less. Many fellow students, of course, gave up and didn’t vote. Republican clerks in Ohio had a cute way of allocating voting machines to Republican areas and keeping them scarce in Democratic areas. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10379 "2016-10-26T15:23:37Z")
From our good friends at _ThinkProgress_… [https://thinkprogress.org/indiana-registration-raid-51a6a7a83f37#.a6jgupsx5](https://thinkprogress.org/indiana-registration-raid-51a6a7a83f37#.a6jgupsx5) **Indiana officials are trying to block almost 45,000 black citizens from voting** > [@](#): > > Roughly 45,000 newly registered voters in Indiana — almost all of whom are black — may not be allowed to vote next month after state police targeted the state’s largest voter registration drive, forcing it to shut down its operation. > Police raided the Indiana Voter Registration Project (IVRP) offices on October 4, seizing documents and equipment and forcing the group to cease its get-out-the-vote efforts one week before the end of the state’s registration period…(snip) > > Secretary of State Connie Lawson (R)’s office declined to comment, and Buck said IVRP is still unclear what law it violated or why it’s being aggressively targeted by election officials and police… More words, if not more clarity, offered here: [http://www.wthr.com/article/indiana-state-police-provide-update-on-voter-fraud-investigation](http://www.wthr.com/article/indiana-state-police-provide-update-on-voter-fraud-investigation) In other news, Republican voter confidence in Indiana is soaring. Black voter confidences, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/10380 "2016-10-26T15:41:26Z")
That’s a fucking shame, and although it is in no way funny, it reminded me of this Onion story: > **[Trump Campaign Training Poll Watchers To Spot Any Suspicious Skin Colors On...](https://www.theonion.com/trump-campaign-training-poll-watchers-to-spot-any-suspi-1819579362)** > > HARRISBURG, PA—Instructing volunteers to remain alert and pay close attention to every individual who arrives at their voting location, the “Trump Election Observer” section of Donald Trump’s campaign website reportedly trains supporters to spot any... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=518) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=520)