Does that ever really happen? I mean, often enough for anyone to care? I’ve never heard of anyone going to a polling place and discovering that someone else has already voted in that person’s name. And I’ve been voting for over 30 years.
In addition, many polling places are very local, and some poll watchers know a lot of people in the community. Anyone trying to commit fraud risks signing his false name in front of a poll watcher who knows the real person. When I was a poll watcher one year I knew lots of voters.
There is no reason to believe that one party will commit fraud more than another. There is every reason to believe that one part wishes to exclude voters more than the other. Random fraud won’t affect elections - the systematic exclusion of one type of voter will.
Wisconsin’s voter ID law was declared unconstitutional today, and a permanent injunction set against further attempts at enforcement or appeal. Here’s the ruling (PDF).
I’ve told the story a few times on this board (even in this thread) that it happened to me. Typically the response I get is that numberwise, the fact it happened to me is insignificant, Now if someone loses their right to vote because they cant get an ID, that is significant.
Oh, yes that’s another one: around here you get a UV-ink mark to indicate you already voted; one of the poll workers has a blacklight lamp in the manner of the doorman at a fancy club.
Also, all along we had the right to vote be restored to felons once their sentence was done; then in a decision that is still widely decried but not by enough of a majority to reverse, in the 1980s an administration legislated to allow prison inmates to vote as absentees. (around here inflating crimes to felony-level, besides a way to pander about how tough you are on crime, is more used to make the three-strikes laws kick in sooner, and to exclude people from positions of trust and public contracting)
If WE can do all this (included provide free pic ID) without running afoul of the US Constitution to which we are beholden, it does look as if the folks stateside have no excuse.
Sorry, I’ll pass. It’s that whole ‘cure-worse-than-disease’ thing.
I’d be OK with purple finger “solution” since it places the burden squarely on the state and not the voter.
And the reasons were already pointed out. The people without ID all usually vote Democrat, while the people who run into fraud are a random assortment. There is a huge difference.
And, as we said, if you want to fix it, there are ways to do it that do not disenfranchise voters, and thus obviously that should be the preferred option.
BTW, what was the result? Did you not get to vote? Because I would think that, assuming you proved you were who you were supposed to be, they’d let you vote and cancel the previous vote. And if that’s not how it’s done, that’s how it should be done. That takes care of half the fraud “problem” right there.
We’ve been over this question already many times. I even posted a thread not long ago on a related issue.
You will get nothing but a bunch of twists and turns here since this forum is inhabited by at least 85% leftists, who a majority actually support letting illegal aliens vote in US elections. Of course they’re not going to support the idea that people prove they are Americans before voting to say the least.
Cite?
Sure, no problem: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=634896&highlight=illegal+aliens+voting
I’m surprised that the percentage was that high. It’s still not a majority (perhaps someone should start a poll,) but I was surprised that there were three people in that thread, just on the first page, that out and out defended the idea.
I counted five people who said they think illegal immigrants should be allowed to vote, and two of them said it should only be allowed to vote as part of a broader series of changes that would make most of them legal residents. That’s not a majority of liberals, a majority of people who were posting in the thread, or a majority of any group I can find.
So untwist it for me. Convince me that voter IDs are a net societal good.
Yeah. I really dont want the government to have my prints on file for no reason. As for the postcard, I have too many pieces of paper to track in my life right now. What if my twelve year old gets the mail and the confirmation postcard ends up between couch cushions? Happens with bills all the time (electronic bills are a godsend for the disorganized mother). Or when I shove it into my purse and then swap purses leaving it behind. Is my right to vote, which happens on a single day and for which I seldom have more than a few minutes to run through the polling place, going to be denied if I misplace a postcard?
How would you implement a system that would make that possible and yet still keeps the ballots anonymous?
Well, to be fair, it is a majority of the subset of people who posted in that thread that they thought illegal aliens should be allowed to vote. It’s damn near unanimous if you look at it that way!
It all makes sense now. What a fool I’ve been!
Well, don’t go throw yourself into the quarry over it.
To be clear it was not a majority taking into account there were left, right, and center postings there, the ones who hold that idiotic view are all (100%) liberals. Shocking.