# Will Obama and the democrats do anything to make voting easier **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 21, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633 "2015-03-21T23:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633/41 "2015-03-24T16:19:52Z")
If it was all about the long waits that would be one thing. But you guys are trying to “fix” registration, because wow, filling out a one page form is so difficult. Like everyone in this country isn’t used to much longer forms from the very same government. Fix that if you want to fix something. Instead of trying to make voting easier than brushing your teeth, why not make other things the government requires as easy as voting? Then maybe people wouldn’t hate, and make fun of, the government. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633/42 "2015-03-25T11:01:45Z")
Ah, the distraction technique. **adaher** , why aren’t you out fighting crime instead of spending all your time on internet messageboards? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633/43 "2015-03-25T13:43:58Z")
I think it’s a fair question. Why is making voting, already the easiest thing we do in relation to our government, even easier, a higher priority than making other things we do with the government easier. It’s not that we CAN’T, it’s that there is no interest. And making voting easier wasn’t something many people cared about until Democrats ran into a turnout problem. Then THEIR problem because the government’s problem. That’s what makes it all so hilarious. Democrats think it’s the government’s job to solve their political problem. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633/44 "2015-03-25T14:38:10Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I think it’s a fair question. Why is making voting, already the easiest thing we do in relation to our government, even easier, a higher priority than making other things we do with the government easier. It’s not that we CAN’T, it’s that there is no interest. And making voting easier wasn’t something many people cared about until Democrats ran into a turnout problem. Then THEIR problem because the government’s problem. That’s what makes it all so hilarious. Democrats think it’s the government’s job to solve their political problem. And yet it’s the Republicans putting additional government processes in place. To solve THEIR political problem. Which they didn’t much care about until the demographics started shifting against them. And while they make no efforts whatsoever to consider fraud in absentee ballots which is much easier to achieve, largely because military personnel who vote via absentee ballot skew Republican. Why make voting easier? Because the Republicans are actively trying to make it harder. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633/45 "2015-03-25T14:48:19Z")
Actually, since a partisan gap in turnout emerged, both parties have tried to change the voting laws. I’d be perfectly happy to go back to pre-Clinton voting laws across the board, when this whole thing started. Democrats want to make voting easier, and fraud easier as part of the process. Republicans naturally want to tighten up that process, while not necessarily opposing making voting easier. you’d THINK that we could have a compromise: make voting easier, make fraud harder. We even had a bipartisan commission make recommendations in that regard in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633/46 "2015-03-25T16:44:08Z")
Oh, so the Republicans will roll back their restrictions on early voting? Work diligently to increase voter access in heavily populated areas so nobody is waiting four hours to vote? Roll back extra regulations that make voter registration drives difficult and possibly illegal? And an outreach program in all the states to make it as easy as possible to get the appropriate ID? And all the Dems have to give up is their advantage in fraudulent voters? Cool! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633/47 "2015-03-25T16:46:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Democrats want to make … fraud easier Cite? > [@](#): > > Republicans … not necessarily opposing making voting easier. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633/48 "2015-03-25T18:08:33Z")
Same day registration, opposition to voter purges, mail in voting, all increase the risk of fraud. If Democrats wanted to compromise, I’m sure we could come up with a voting system that was even more ridiculously easy than it is now, and you wouldn’t have non-citizens and felons mistakenly voting because the registration process would deny them at that stage. Oh, wait we already passed such a law. It’s called the Help America Vote Act. Problem is, Democrats pulled another fast one. THey supported the parts of the law that expand access to voting, while challenging in court the anti-fraud measures in the law. And they expect us to trust them on immigration enforcement? > [@](#): > > Computerized statewide voter registration > > HAVA requires states develop a single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list defined, maintained, and administered at the State level. (Previously, voter registration lists could be maintained solely by local officials.) HAVA requires the statewide list be coordinated with other agency databases within the state. HAVA also requires regular “maintenance” of the statewide list including removing ineligible voters and duplicate names are eliminated in accordance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). > > Voter identification > > HAVA requires any voter who registered by mail and who has not previously voted in a federal election to show current and valid photo identification or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter. Voters who submitted any of these forms of identification during registration are exempt, as are voters entitled to vote by absentee ballot under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. > **[Help America Vote Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_America_Vote_Act#Voter_identification)** > > The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States)107–252 (text) (PDF)), or HAVA, is a United States federal law, which was authored by Christopher Dodd, and passed in the House 357-48 and 92–2 in the Senate and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 29, 2002. The bill was drafted (at least in part) in reaction to the controversy surrounding the 2000 U.S. presidential election, when the Supreme Court narrowly ruled that Bush was the president. The Th... ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633/49 "2015-03-25T18:10:27Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Same day registration, opposition to voter purges, mail in voting, all increase the risk of fraud. You claim they \*want \*to facilitate fraud. Again, cite? > [@](#): > > THey supported the parts of the law that expand access to voting, while challenging in court the anti-fraud measures in the law. Cite that the true purpose is anti-fraud? > [@](#): > > And they expect us to trust them on immigration enforcement? Relevance? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633/50 "2015-03-25T18:13:39Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > You claim they \*want \*to facilitate fraud. Again, cite? That is not what I meant to say, and in any case, even if they wanted to do that they wouldn’t tell us. I can however cite same day registration as a probable example. As I pointed out, the day of registration is irrelevant. Same day registration does not make it easier to vote. It does make it easier to commit fraud though, which is exactly what happened in Wisconsin. > [@](#): > > Cite that the true purpose is anti-fraud? What, you think bipartisan majorities supported HAVA to disenfranchise voters? > [@](#): > > Relevance? A compromise that involves good stuff on one hand, and tougher enforcement on the other, is only useful if the enforcement will be followed through on. If the Democrats vote for tougher enforcement then obstruct it later on when it actually happens, that’s bad faith. Voter purges are the law of the land. But whenever a state actually attempts to maintain their rolls, Democrats sue. The Obama adminstration further refused to cooperate with the purges, illegally. Democrats agreed to a compromise on election integrity and then broke their promise. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633/51 "2015-03-27T02:47:07Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > **Will Obama and the democrats do anything to make voting easier** Democrats: [Oregon is first state to adopt automatic voter registration](http://www.timesheraldonline.com/general-news/20150316/oregon-is-first-state-to-adopt-automatic-voter-registration) > [@](#): > > Seventeen years after Oregon decided to become the first state to hold all elections with mail-in ballots, it took another pioneering step on Monday to broaden participation by automatically registering people to vote. > > Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill that puts the burden of registration on the state instead of voters. > > Under the legislation, every adult citizen in Oregon who has interacted with the Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division since 2013 but hasn’t registered to vote will receive a ballot in the mail at least 20 days before the next statewide election. The measure is expected to add about 300,000 new voters to the rolls. Republicans: [Voter suppression likely result of auto registration provision in transportation budget](http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/03/voter_suppression_likely_resul.html) > [@](#): > > The provision would require people who come into Ohio and register to vote to re-register their vehicles with Ohio after 30 days. If they fail to register the car with Ohio, then their driving privileges under their out-of-state license for any vehicle would be suspended and they would have to obtain an Ohio license to drive. > [@](#): > > Rep. Kathleen Clyde, a Portage County Democrat, says that provision could be burdensome on college students, who would be faced with the cost of re-registering their vehicles with Ohio if they want to vote from their campus addresses. That fee, approaching $100, would be a deterrent, she said. > [@](#): > > The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the right of college students to vote from their college addresses. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-obama-and-the-democrats-do-anything-to-make-voting-easier/715633.md?page=2)