# What effect did voter-ID laws have in the 2012 election? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 22, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243 "2013-07-22T20:08:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/101 "2013-07-27T17:21:13Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > This argument has been overwhelmed by intervening facts: that Republicans, where they have the power to do so, are ih a full-court press to keep their political opponents from gaining votes, and are entirely shameless about the means they use to obtain their goal. Their methods are beneath the dignity of a sewer rat. > > Barry Goldwater would puke his guts out. But: > [@Bricker](#): > > Well, elucidator? You asked, I answered, now I am asking you. Have you ever changed your mind after evidence showed you were wrong? Is there some evidence of that? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/102 "2013-07-27T18:01:54Z")
Boy, when you stretch out for a connection between too utterly disparate points, you really _stretch_! Used to think Anthony Weiner was sort of OK, when I thought about him at all. Now, as you can see by the appropriate thread, I renounce, denounce, and condemn. Hence, I am immune to questions about liberal hypocrisy. Neener-neener. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/103 "2013-07-27T19:38:01Z")
Shit, totally forgot! This was the post that convinced me, against all my liberal hypocrisy and bias. > [@](#): > > Right. He’s a Democrat – “We Have No Values.” He’s covered on the hypocrisy front. > > Heh. I just said he was covered in front, and he’s really not. Heh. I simply could not withstand the cool, crisp reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/104 "2013-07-27T19:55:20Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > This argument has been overwhelmed by intervening facts: that Republicans, where they have the power to do so, are ih a full-court press to keep their political opponents from gaining votes, and are entirely shameless about the means they use to obtain their goal. Their methods are beneath the dignity of a sewer rat. > > Barry Goldwater would puke his guts out. I’ve [done some reading on Goldwater](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1568584121) and, you know, I think you’re probably right. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/105 "2013-07-28T03:14:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And let’s not forget that some states, at the same time as trying to implement voter ID laws, simultaneously closed down DMV offices in urban areas, leaving residents of those areas no good way to get to the office. > You mean things they need to live like, oh, say, health care, or food, or shelter? Because programs to make those more accessible to people are all supported by Democrats, and opposed by Republicans. How about the means to take care of themselves? It takes two forms of ID to get a job. It takes tons of paperwork to start a business. This argument you are making gives credence to the accusation that Democrats are actually trying to make people dependent. Place barriers in front of people trying to succeed, remove barriers for people trying to get benefits. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/106 "2013-07-28T03:49:43Z")
Old news, yesterdays rock stars. The Republicans have gone way past the voter id shtick, that only promised a bit of trimming for the Dem vote. Like Nate Silver said, maybe two percent. A few years back, that would have been enough. But the Republicans are panicking, they have to plug every hole . Stop early voting, curb voter registration, make the voting place as tiresome and difficult as possible. In those neighborhoods where the unreliable people live. No reason the better class of people have to put with that shit, they’re the real Americans, after all. Rest of us just live here at their sufferance. I can understand why you want to keep yourself to voter id, its the only place in the stinking list of crap that you can justify with a straight face, and even then you have to scare us with phantoms and boogymen. The last really good trick (and by “good” I crafty, slimy, and underhanded) they had was lining it up so that anti-gay marriage stuff was on the ballots to draw out the troglodytes. Maybe you’re not ashamed of that, but I’m’ashamed for you. But it looks like that trick isn’t going to work again. Ooopsy! What else you got, besides trying to cripple the opposition? Tell me why the League of Women Voters is a socialist plot, tell me whats un-American about early voting, tell me what’s socialist about keeping the polls open so everybody votes. How deep into the muck are you willing to go, **adaher**? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/107 "2013-07-28T03:51:31Z")
That was Rick Scott down here in Florida, and that got struck down. Condemn the GOP all you want, in many cases it’s justified. But much of what they are doing is legal, and popular. Have a little more faith in our courts to protect us from the excesses. I have faith in the courts to protect us from Democratic excesses. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/108 "2013-07-28T04:12:17Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > … It takes two forms of ID to get a job. … Why? CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/109 "2013-07-28T04:31:18Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It takes two forms of ID to get a job. Not in my experience. Not at McDonald’s, not at a law firm. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/110 "2013-07-28T04:33:30Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That was Rick Scott down here in Florida, and that got struck down… What in hole you talking about, “Florida”? Its all over the place, don’t you get the news where you live? North Carolina just took full retard to eleven! You don’t know about this stuff, or hoping I don’t? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/111 "2013-07-28T04:38:04Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Not in my experience. Not at McDonald’s, not at a law firm. Sheesh, **BG** , I thought you worked at an anarcho-syndicalist bookstore and vegan restaraunt. Either way, I’m deeply disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/112 "2013-07-28T13:15:46Z")
Glutton, in your experience, employers are breaking the law. It’s called the I-9 form, and every employee is required to fill one out. Please tell us again which companies are foregoing this legal requirement. > **[Form I-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-9_%28form%29)** > > Form I-9, officially the Employment Eligibility Verification, is a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services form. Mandated by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, it is used to verify the identity and legal authorization to work of all paid employees in the United States. All U.S. employers must ensure proper completion of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. > The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) required employers to ve... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/113 "2013-07-28T17:05:30Z")
And what does that have to do with one party or the other? The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which created that requirement, was bipartisan, and jointly sponsored by a Republican and a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/114 "2013-07-28T21:21:33Z")
My point is that if ID is truly an onerous barrier, then it’s stopping people from making a living, a far more serious problem for the average person than the inability to vote. But it’s not actually an onerous barrier, which is why almost everyone has ID. The only people that don’t have ID don’t need it in their every day lives. But that doesn’t mean they can’t easily get it, and they would get it the very next day if they needed it to cash a check or something. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/115 "2013-07-28T23:34:23Z")
Is it that you are innocently unaware of all the other vote suppression efforts, like in NC and TX, or simply refuse to consider them? Seems to me, they rather give away the game. And, you may well note, they are presented as a package, all of these efforts in one swell foop, a single unified set of legislation rushed through as quickly as possible. Yet you insist on only paying attention to one subset, voter id. Let me put this baldly: it appears to me that the main thrust of these laws is to lower the voter turnout amongst people who would be expected to vote more for Dems. Do you deny this? And if you do, can you offer us some more innocent explanation? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/116 "2013-07-28T23:37:12Z")
The point of the laws is to tighten up the electoral system to give people more confidence in it. An illegal vote disenfranchises a voter as surely as simply turning him away at the polls. Sometimes they go too far, and that’s why we have courts. The courts have done a great job of sifting out the reasonable from the unreasonable. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/117 "2013-07-28T23:43:13Z")
Besides, these laws supposedly have the worst effect on the elderly, and those are GOP voters these days. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/118 "2013-07-28T23:50:23Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > My point is that if ID is truly an onerous barrier, then it’s stopping people from making a living, a far more serious problem for the average person than the inability to vote. > > **But it’s not actually an onerous barrier, which is why almost everyone has ID.** The only people that don’t have ID don’t need it in their every day lives. But that doesn’t mean they can’t easily get it, and they would get it the very next day if they needed it to cash a check or something. > [@adaher](#): > > Besides, these laws supposedly have the worst effect on the elderly, and those are GOP voters these days. Don’t they already have ID? They should have no problem getting one according to you so this isn’t really a problem. Or is this a case of your own ox being gored? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/119 "2013-07-29T00:07:04Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Besides, these laws supposedly have the worst effect on the elderly, and those are GOP voters these days. Well, most of the white ones, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243/120 "2013-07-29T03:00:13Z")
It was earlier claimed that most people getting caught committing voter fraud are Republicans trying to test the system. However, they usually get caught because they bragged about it. What if instead of this, there was an organized effort by Republicans to steal and election through the use of in person voter fraud? Wouldn’t it be pretty easy to pull off? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-did-voter-id-laws-have-in-the-2012-election/664243.md?page=7)