So when that happened to me - someone used my name and signed next to my name at the polls one year - what risk is there that the fraudster would be caught? The people there didn’t care that I could prove I was me. The fraudster clearly did not provide a name, address or any other identifying information.
How do you propose to catch people committing fraud if they never have to show ID?
I have advocated this since the beginning (interesting many of the Dems are starting to come around to this as a compromise) BUT if we do this I also favor that the Voting Rights Act be amended so that you need to prove eligibility to vote in order to register rather than the current “Under penalty of perjury I pinkie-promise I’m a citizen.” signature.
In every presidential election I can recall there were stories about some precinct somewhere where the number of votes cast exceeded the number of registered voters. You can’t do that by accident; it’s caused by someone (or more likely, a group of people) stuffing the ballot box. In a close election, this might make a difference. Perhaps not in the presidential race, but it could affect who wins a closely-contested congressional seat, or any number of local issues.
About this:
Where did these numbers come from?
It typically is in most countries. And although it could cause some short term disruption in the US, it should be a non-issue once we’ve made it SOP here, too. I think it’s important, if we are going to have such laws, to make sure they are not enacted right before an election-- give at least a couple years notice to let people adjust.
BTW, there is a Pit thread of about a billion pages on this subject, and although there is much vitriol being thrown, it still has pretty much every argument anyone is ever going to make in it.
Did you not see it?
“A free voter ID” is not a thing that exists.
Both sides prefer to accuse the other of having ulterior motives.
It could be done. It could have been done. They didn’t want to.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Rather depends, doesn’t it, on whether you are vaccinating against smallpox, or working to prevent the public being gored by a unicorn stampede?
What is the cost of a voter ID in Wisconsin? To whom would money be paid and for what?
The “Document Verification Petition Process” required to waive the fee still requires the applicant to provide a Social Security Number and proof of identity and residency.
It’s a Catch-22 - you need to spend money to acquire the documents you need in order to be exempted from having to spend money.
I beg to differ. It used to be that in Los Angeles County, when you registered to vote, the county sent you a voter ID card. For free.
And wherever that is the case, good! Wherever it is not the case, not good.
You need such documents to work. Are you saying there is no constitutional problem or justice problem with requiring people to spend money to get a job as a matter of law?
The Constitution does not guarantee a right to work, so no. It does guarantee a right to vote that cannot be denied on the basis of inability to pay a poll tax, which is exactly what the GOP is up to here.
If its all the same to you, I would prefer that the words that come out of my mouth be placed there by me.
Actually, no. Forbidding votes, disenfranchising, is not the plan. That would be wrong. Making it more difficult, more troublesome, that is the plan.
Neither does it guarantee a right to vote. Like the right to earn a living, it is implied, and also like the right to earn a living, you can’t be discriminated against.
However, since we already require people to have this documentation as a condition for being an independent human being, it should be assumed that people will already have these documents. Whether voter ID is justified depends on whether the conditions attached are arduous or not. In a country where people by law have to prove they have f*#*!ng HEALTH INSURANCE as as condition of living, we can require a Social Security card and birth certificate to register to vote.
If we wanted to make it difficult, we’d start by, you know, making it difficult. Requiring ID to vote to prevent voting is akin to putting cigarettes behind the counter to prevent smoking.