# Why don’t we (Americans) dye people’s fingers when they vote? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 24, 2012, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925 "2012-05-24T07:08:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/41 "2012-05-27T03:00:22Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Did you actually read the thread? > > They can’t use their IDs to vote. So what? Do you know what it’s called when someone who should be eligible to vote is prevented from doing so? _Disenfranchisement_. And why? Because students tend to vote for the Democratic party. Other than that, there is no problem that requiring IDs would address. > > Random [cite](http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/susan-milligan/2011/03/07/new-hampshire-republicans-wrong-to-attack-college-sudent-voting): They are **not** being prevented from voting. They’re being required to show the same sort of identifications that non-college students would. Unless you can provide a cite that over 80% of PA college students do not also hold a valid form of ID that is acceptable, I can’t take your argument seriously. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/42 "2012-05-27T03:07:53Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > For the Nth time, were the Democrat-controlled legislatures in Rhode Island and Delaware trying to subvert democracy and suppress votes when they passed the Voter ID laws? Since you seem to think you’re making a point of some kind with that, how about just telling us what it is? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/43 "2012-05-27T03:12:17Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > For the Nth time, were the Democrat-controlled legislatures in Rhode Island and Delaware trying to subvert democracy and suppress votes when they passed the Voter ID laws? Consider it this way: you were ostensibly following up on **Bricker’s** post. He has been posting here for a long time and I have come to know his posting style. Further, I have had ample opportunity to gauge his intelligence. Given that, had he been the one making your posts, I would have concluded that he was being deliberately obtuse–and would have told him so. In doing so, save hyperbole, I would not have though there was any other possibility. I do not know you. While it is possible that you are being deliberately obtuse, unlike in **Bricker’s** case the possibility that you are incapable of grasping the distinctions necessary to follow the conversation and participate in a dialogue are very real. If what you took from the initial exchange started you on this path, and if you were further unfazed or unable to comprehend or follow **Alan Smithee’s** post, then there is no other conclusion (again, excepting that you are not acting the fool). That in this post you are suddenly shifting from your tenacious grip on questions of line-standing to demanding “for the Nth time” I respond to something you were first asking about in this particular post suggests a dreadful deficit in competency. ---
**Author:** ![benbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/44 "2012-05-27T03:12:40Z")
It’s really this simple: any1 who can’t produce a picture id, doesn’t deserve to vote. Getting a picture id is ez; DMVs will issue a non-driver id to those who don’t want a driver’s license. If some1 is so burdened by the problems of life that they “can’t” get a picture id, they don’t get to vote. That ain’t a Democrat or Republican position - it’s a common-sense one. To pre-deflect any accusations - even Republicans who are too ‘persecuted’ to get a picture id, should be prevented from voting. Better? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/45 "2012-05-27T03:18:20Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > That in this post you are suddenly shifting from your tenacious grip on questions of line-standing to demanding “for the Nth time” I respond to something you were first asking about in this particular post suggests a dreadful deficit in competency. Mixed up threads - it was another thread in which it was mentioned several times, and no proponents of “Voter ID laws exist in order to disenfranchise Democrat voters” answered it. So - for the **second** time - were the Democrat-controlled legislatures in Rhode Island and Delaware trying to subvert democracy and suppress votes when they passed the Voter ID laws? ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/46 "2012-05-27T05:21:18Z")
Well, where I live, in Oregon, no one has gone to a polling place to vote for almost 15 years. Every election from the little county measures to the big general elections is vote by mail. If you wanted to mark those that have voted you would need to insert little dye bombs in each envelope. When the rest of the US moves into the 21st century and leaves the 19th behind and goes to vote by mail, many of these issues will be left behind too. You do need to have a mailing address or PO box so I suppose that disenfranchises those voters living under bridges, but really vote by mail is simple, cheap and effective. And I agree that requiring people to stand in line to vote on a particular day IS a poll tax that eliminates the working poor, shift workers, those without transportation or the money for gas to get to the polling place, stay at home moms with kids that make it impractical to spend the time to go vote, and many other sorts of people who just don’t bother because the logistics are difficult. It’s harder to explain why vote by mail participation is not higher than it is, when the ballot is sitting in your home for a couple weeks and you can’t be bothered to fill it out and send it in. ---
**Author:** ![benbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/47 "2012-05-27T05:33:56Z")
Disenfrachiser! Denying the addressally-challenged the right to vote - that’s unAmerican. They must all be Republicans in Oregon. Every1 knows they’re the evildoers who constantly scheme to deny votes. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/48 "2012-05-27T06:57:31Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > You do need to have a mailing address or PO box so I suppose that disenfranchises those voters living under bridges, but really vote by mail is simple, cheap and effective. [You don’t even need a mailing address](http://oregonvotes.org/pages/faq/index.html): > [@](#): > > A homeless person may use the mailing address of the county elections official of the county in which the person is located. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/49 "2012-05-27T15:39:15Z")
> [@benbo1](#): > > It’s really this simple: any1 who can’t produce a picture id, doesn’t deserve to vote. Getting a picture id is ez; DMVs will issue a non-driver id to those who don’t want a driver’s license. If some1 is so burdened by the problems of life that they “can’t” get a picture id, they don’t get to vote. That ain’t a Democrat or Republican position - it’s a common-sense one. To pre-deflect any accusations - even Republicans who are too ‘persecuted’ to get a picture id, should be prevented from voting. Better? Is there a problem with your keyboard? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/50 "2012-05-27T20:55:12Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > All I can see that doing is preventing a person from voting twice. Is double-voting really a huge problem? Not that I’ve ever heard. It was, once, I suppose, if you go by _Gangs of New York,_ but that particular form of ballot-box-stuffing was a long, long time ago. Nowadays it’s enough trouble to get a voter to vote **once.** ☹ ---
**Author:** ![benbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/51 "2012-05-27T21:59:03Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Is there a problem with your keyboard? Fine. Is there a problem with your monitor?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/52 "2012-05-28T03:29:56Z")
> [@benbo1](#): > > Fine. Is there a problem with your monitor?😕 I suppose there could, for some reason your post read like gibberish. Should I get my monitor checked? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/53 "2012-05-28T03:39:53Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Is there a problem with your keyboard? The ink is slippery? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/54 "2012-05-28T04:03:37Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > I suppose there could, for some reason your post read like gibberish. Should I get my monitor checked? What browser are you using? You may need to adjust your \*\*[Skammerizer](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14918804&postcount=18) \*\*settings. I hear they go up to 11. ---
**Author:** ![Randvek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a6a055/32.png) [@Randvek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randvek)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925/55 "2012-05-28T07:27:39Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > It’s harder to explain why vote by mail participation is not higher than it is, when the ballot is sitting in your home for a couple weeks and you can’t be bothered to fill it out and send it in. I actually worked for the Republican Party here in Oregon during the last major election (hey, I really needed the money!). Part of my job was to remind people of deadlines as long as they were likely to vote for the GOP guy. While I genuinely helped a few people to vote, there were a lot more who were fed up with politics and didn’t plan to vote at all. Add in all of the people who have moved and never bothered to update their address with the county commissioner, and you have lower-than-expected turnout. I think the number of people who forget or slack off about it are actually fairly low. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-don-t-we-americans-dye-people-s-fingers-when-they-vote/622925.md?page=2)