Having To Present a Photo ID in Order To Vote

The Supreme Court issued an order allowing Texas to use a strict and controversial voter ID law that requires people going to the polls to present photo identification issued by a government agent.

Some people say it is a partisan trick to try to prevent people from being able to vote and I wouldn't be surprised if it is.

Opponents say poor and minority communities in Texas disproportionately don't have those forms of ID.

I ask this question out of ignorance. Why wouldn't poor people and minorities have these forms of identification? Since 9/11, there is very little that I can do in this country without a photo ID.

Some people have to travel to a county seat in order to get the required ID and don't have the means to travel 45 minutes to go there. Others don't have official birth certificates due to where they were born. Others have to weigh what the license fee will do to their budget. It may not sound like a lot, but a $50-80 fee is prohibitive to some. These are just a few circumstances that come to mind and nearly any reason affects the poor disproportionately. And minorities tend to be disproportionately poor.

Regarding the need for such a bill, ask why the sponsors are pressed to prohibit voter fraud which has been proven to be nearly non-existent but willing to literally fight in order to protect the access to guns when murders are out of the ability of the police to control. Why is voting so sacred that you'll risk preventing citizens their Constitutional right but the other so sacred that there is no circumstance that should encumber their right to it?

I'm not for gun control, but I find the opposite level of concern to be partisan and a butthurt response to how the last two presidential elections went.

Thank you Jerry for the explanation. I guess it is different in each state. I helped a disabled friend get a government ID because he could not do anything without it. He got it at Motor Vehicle Agency and it cost $25. He had to show other proof of ID like Birth Certificate, proof of residence etc., which he luckily had. He was also forced to open a bank account because the government now only direct deposits disability Medicare checks and of course, he needed picture government IDs to do that. Without someone to guide him through all the red tape, and provide transportation, he felt like he was in a catch 22.

The news report that I was watching said the same thing as you did about voter fraud being almost non-existent. I've never been asked for any form of ID whenever I voted. I don't think the law is necessary and it is easy to read between the lines to see the real purpose of the law.

Again, thanks for the explanation.

In Ohio, we have to present ID or a bill with our address on it. Since the Texas law is described as more stringent, I assume we have recourse if we don't have photo identification. The voter identification laws were dreamed up by the Koch brothers who have influenced countless laws under the guise of conservatism in recent years.

I asked an acquaintance who is associated with the TEA party why these laws are necessary and was told that will prevent illegal aliens from voting. When asked if that was a problem, he told me that it wasn't yet a problem but it might be one day. The real problem? When people are sufficiently concerned, they turn out the vote and the 'conservative' lawmakers are aware that they are in the minority on most of their laws. Consequently, the best way to control the vote is to discourage people from doing it. They are counting on many people to be too lazy, too ignorant, or too poor to do what is necessary to fulfill the requirement.

These voter ID laws are a solution looking for a problem. There is no voter fraud except in the minds of paranoid conservatives/republicans. If anyone is committing fraud, it's them, tricking voters into voting for the wrong person or telling them the wrong day, that the election is delayed or cancelled, or send them to the wrong voting place. They send people things in the mail, and if they don't respond, they get wiped off the rolls.

The thing about having to have an ID does make sense, but it is not honest when they allow gun registration cards for voting, but they won't allow collage I.D.s. Clearly, they want to stop minorities, young people, old people, and women from voting because they will vote Democrat. The last two presidential elections for Barack Obama confirmed that, so they don't want to let it happen again. It is very sad that the GOP can't win any other way now except to cheat. They consistently offend and exclude every voter block other than the white, conservative males.

And, you know what is crazy about all of this tea-bagger mess? They have a few things that Black people could really get behind, but don't because so many of the tea-baggers are extreme, racist, or hard-core social conservatives.

It is ironic that voter I.D. issue comes up.

LBJ had lots of dead people vote in Texas.

edafan

They have more tricks up their sleeves to steal the vote. There's debate in Ohio to allocate electoral college votes by representative district instead of having the candidate with the most votes in the state get all of the them. We've done it the same way for decades, but now they want to switch and essentially eliminate the ability of the state to swing the national election again. It's too bad the other side doesn't have such a devious mindset or they could have secured constant majority in the House before the 2010 vote.

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Originally Posted by edafan

It is ironic that voter I.D. issue comes up.

LBJ had lots of dead people vote in Texas.

edafan

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That's a myth perpetuated by the conservatives.

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Originally Posted by soulster

That's a myth perpetuated by the conservatives.

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I am a liberal Democrat.

I just happen to study history. My 2nd wife worked for Herb Goodwin, and used to take calls from Doris Kearns Goodwin from the White House, when Lyndon supposedly chased the women around the table until he caught them.

As I said to a current politician, why were 2 of the presidents of the last
century dishonest LBJ and Tricky Dicky. But damn they know how to run the country.
Can you imagine a president now putting a price freeze on oil and gasoline like Nixon did.

Let the dead people vote.

edafan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by edafan

I am a liberal Democrat.

I just happen to study history. My 2nd wife worked for Herb Goodwin, and used to take calls from Doris Kearns Goodwin from the White House, when Lyndon supposedly chased the women around the table until he caught them.

As I said to a current politician, why were 2 of the presidents of the last
century dishonest LBJ and Tricky Dicky. But damn they know how to run the country.
Can you imagine a president now putting a price freeze on oil and gasoline like Nixon did.

Let the dead people vote.

edafan

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That doesn't answer the myth of dead people voting.

It would be easy to prove and it wouldn't become a problem 40 years after it happened.