Forum Post: Another "Republican Attempt at Dem Voter suppression" Story
Posted 12 years ago on Aug. 18, 2012, 10:50 a.m. EST by VQkag2
(16478)
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Rochelle Riley: GOP caught with voter-suppression pants down
Detroit Free Press
We should be ashamed of ourselves.
As November’s presidential election looms, we aren’t really paying attention to a growing movement to keep some people from voting.
Once again, when it’s not us, we don’t care so much. But if any American is not allowed to vote, as happened in the 2000 presidential election, then our entire democracy is a fraud.
GOP-led efforts to combat what they claim is a major issue of voter fraud prompted lawmakers to propose 62 voter photo-ID bills in 37 states. Lawsuits have been filed in numerous cases, most notably in Pennsylvania, where a judge is slated to decide the law’s fate soon. (Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder derailed legislative efforts here to fuel the voter suppression train.)
Here's the problem with the GOP effort: Voter fraud via impersonation is so rare that there have been only 10 cases since 2000, according to a new study released out of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
"Despite the push for strict voter ID laws in a charged partisan and racial debate, the most exhaustive study ever of American election fraud reveals the rate is infinitesimal," according to News 21, the voting rights project conducted by 24 students from 11 universities across the country.
The project found that, since 2000, there had been only case for every 15 million eligible voters.
So this great Republican-led effort to ensure fair elections is based on a fear that, like most political fears, is overblown and possibly fraudulent.
Passing a voter-ID law to prevent voter fraud is like passing a law to prevent black beauty salons from opening on Mondays. For the uninitiated, almost none do.
It’s like passing a law to prevent doctors from operating without gloves or a law to prevent the demolitions of buildings with people in them.
That study, that amazing project that once again affirmed the need for the kind of great journalism that was a part of America’s birth, also found that:
• “Photo ID laws and other new voting restrictions disproportionately affect minorities, students, the disabled and the elderly. "
• “More than half of the state bills proposing photo IDs originated from people affiliated with the conservative, pro-business American Legislative Exchange Council. Since the model photo ID legislation, known as ALEC's 2009 Voter ID Act, 62 voter ID bills were introduced in state legislatures."
• "Changes to Florida's voting laws will reduce the state's in-person, early voting time frame. This includes the Sunday before Election Day, when African-American churches traditionally organized caravans of parishioners to polling places, known as 'Souls to the Polls.' "
The issue is a complex one.
A new Washington Post poll found that nearly three quarters of people surveyed felt that voters should have a government-issued ID to vote.
But only about half knew anything about efforts to pass new voter ID laws across the country. And about half considered voter fraud as a major problem.
But -- and this wasn’t a part of the poll -- few of the respondents had any idea that they had little to fear.
I’ve read testimonials, editorials and position papers that compare the need for voter ID to the identification process to get on a plane, drive a car or write a check. I used to be one of those who wondered what the big deal was.
The deal is this: The GOP is targeting people, particularly black people and older people who may not do those things anymore or young people whose permanent residencies still remain with their parents.
There are seniors who no longer fly, who have paid their mortgages, who don’t drive and who no longer have an ID. They have spent decades walking into their polling places, showing the voter registration cards that were mailed to their homes and doing something that they had to fight for, that their ancestors had to fight for: the right to declare a preference.
If you’re someone who hasn’t kept up with the issue and you don’t see what the big deal is: Imagine that you’re an 85-year-old woman who owes no one, no longer drives and looks forward to voting. And you walk into your polling place and are asked for something that you haven’t needed in 10 years: Proof that you’re an American, proof that you are supposed to get that ballot, mark it and give it back to America.
If you can imagine that – and you can understand that the very problem that the GOP voter-suppression effort aims to end isn’t really a problem - then imagine this.
One day, it could be you.
Contact ROCHELLE RILEY: rriley99@freepress.com
the pugs have to suppress the vote in order to carry out the agenda started back when dub took office. people now know how to use common sense better than their braindead parents. they need to new ways to extend the riches of the rich, the military industrial complex and world domination. it is their God-given right, (so they think). what are ya gonna do you little insignificant people? you deserve nothing other than what they are willing to give you. refer back to that word.....nothing.
insidious, evil geniuses. Their day will come!
Uh say Amen! Make the Fed swallow their own debt and then dissolve it. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, free at last.
If that is a possibility you have my vote.
50,000 a year can die from gunshots, but no action is needed, but they say if one voter's vote is neglected by a fraudulent vote that is unacceptable, it is clear they want your vote more than they need you, but now who are they now?
huh? you support vote suppression?
Elect progressives, Vote out pro ALEC, vote suppressing republicans.
I wasn't very clear sorry, what I'm trying to say is that the R's say we don't need to do anything even though there are 50,000 a year dying, and then they turn around and say things like we need voter ID because voters are getting their votes "stolen" by fraudulent votes when maybe it happens once a year, I think they have distorted priorities.
They do! Except that their priority is getting elected. So they must disregard gun deaths, & attempt to suppress the votes of minority, elderly, students and other dems.
we should say, as some do, that "as long as one American is denied their vote..."
Right! Agreed!
opps denied
Voter suppression effects all of us.If Repubs win,everyone we care about is screwed(including ourselves)If u think it's bad now,just wait. Voter ID,registration etc shouild be a major focus for OWS. Obama has a better chance of getting things done in 2nd term.He doesn't have to worry re re-election and winning "moderates"Please wake up to this!!!Repubs are on the verge of stealing this election.
I'm with you Rosaria. OWS and all the issues we care about is best served by keeping the republican/conservative 1% plutocrat tools OUT of power.
Elect progressives. Vote out pro ALEC republicans.
This is how one con poster put it, I think it really represents the thinking of many cons:
Forum Post: Why don’t we turn America into a corporation?
[-]1 points by 1sealyon (245) 18 hours ago Why not ask this question another way. 50% of the people pay no Federal Income Tax. Why do the people that pay nothing have any say in how the tax money is spent? We have a graduated tax rate why not a graduated ballot box? Everybody gets one vote, and then you get one more for every $1000 that you pay in taxes? ↥like↧dislikereplypermalink
From here:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/if-we-give-them-a-lower-tax-rate-dont-we-have-a-ri/
Money is not the measure of citizenship taxes paid do not equal more rights. That is ridiculous. Perhaps we can give poor people an extra vote because they need help, while the wealthy need no help so they should get no vote.
Money is not speech, I will believe corps are people when Texas executes one.
Elect progressives, Vote out anti poor people republicans.
or when they put Romney in jail for killing one:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/405930/january-15-2012/colbert-super-pac-ad---attack-in-b-minor-for-strings
Colbert rules!
Stewart/Colbert 2016
Leadership from both side of the aisle.
So to speak. Some repubs DO think Colbert is pro repub. & I think Bushs people thought so when they had him at the correspondence dinner. Which was excellent.
is it possible? could even Bush be so obtuse? it is still a classic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7FTF4Oz4dI
LMFAO.
I think the obtuseness was just an act. Just watch the speech of his message to the nation when he and 1% plutocrats mugged the dems & the nation for the tarp payoff. Only time his act was dropped.
Bastards
And........He.....got......out......of......there.......ALIVE...ah.HA.hahahahaha
the look on Bush's face at the end is priceless
There were several times I thought that he might give the nod for the secret service to gang tackle Colbert. But there was so much adult speak happnin that he wuz liklee confused.
LOL
Why not have OWS protestors go to rebuplican precincts and stand in line. Making those lines so long will discourage those. That are suppressing others. Clog up the parking lots and make it hard for them to vote
Wow. That is underhanded and kinda bad karma.
In regards to the election and republican efforts to suppress the vote, my preference would to focus on positive actions to help people register/vote. rather than trying to hurt republican people.
Sorry I can't agree to take part in vote suppression activities. We would be as bad as them. You see. We have to retain integrity and decency if that is how we want to be treated.
Wile I don't disagree, but if the republicans play by different rules then well that means lower wages, no Medicare, and more money to wall street
There is much at stake it is true. We cannot sell our souls to the devil (I'm atheist) to succeed against the same devil.
Won't work. hypocrisy would turn off half our supporters. We are attracting good decent people by highlighting the evil perpetrated upon them and us.
We have to be better.
Peace
I have come to realize that there are a great many young people (under 40) on these pages...at first I couldn't understand why they did not realize why a picture ID was a big thing and what was so difficult about obtaining one...now I do.
My grandmother was born in 1891, she didn't have a birth certificate, she had a baptismal certificate from the Lutheran Church. She never drove a car, never needed a driver's license, or a picture ID. My grandfather was born in 1887, he too did not have a birth certificate, he got his driver's license from Montgomery Ward, the catalog. It cost less than a quarter, with a nickel shipping and handling charge. He thought it made it look 'official' that he could present one whenever he wished.
My own parents did not get driver's licenses until sometime in the late '30's or early '40's. Picture ID is a relatively new concept, my own first license didn't have a picture.
My mother still drives, she keeps up her driver's license for that purpose, so she can legally drive her car. Many of her elderly neighbors no longer drive and have forgone the expense of maintaining a license.
Since they all have already registered with all the services they most likely will, few if any of them feel a need to obtain any form of ID, after all, everyone that they deal with, on a regular basis, knows who they are.
Most of these elderly people have been voting longer than many of you have been alive. To suddenly be told the rules have changed and they have to obtain an ID with a picture on it just seems foolish to them. Many of them no longer have marriage certificates indicating a change of last name, so the birth certificate is not adequate for the purposes of identification, the names on their rent forms, utilities, SS checks, checking accounts reflect a name change that is for all intents and purposes undocumented.
This is the difficulty of the elderly, many of whom are poor.
Those who live on limited incomes, no matter the source, are often so tightly stretched financially even the smallest 'bump' becomes a major issue. It doesn't matter if that bump is missing a few hours work, the expense of an ID, or even the additional cost of transportation to obtain one...many of these people budget so they can afford the expense to arrive at the polls to cast their vote.
Like everyone, we all tend to look at things from the basis of our own experience...forgetting to realize that our experiences do not reflect the experiences of others.
Excellent illustration of this serious issue.
Thx
Why don't black people or other minorities use ID's? I probably have to show mine at least once a week just in the course of daily living. How do people get by without them?
They do. Thats the truth. I didn't use a govt ID until I was in my early 30's.
That should be ok. Having some national ID has always been looked at as more govt intrusion into our freedoms.
That is republican dogma! I guess it ain't an issue for them if it means they can skimm off some dem leaning voters this one time.
It's despicable!
Repubs can't win unless they cheat!
How do people get food stamps and other welfare benefits? Don't you need ID for that? If not, I am just going to start getting food stamps with some random name. Why pay for it if I can get it for free?
When I was a kid on food stamps & welfare my single mother showed her electric bill, and birth certificate.
Regardless of that fact, Voting is a right! We haven't needed this new requirement, and haven't had a problem with identification.
Clearly the 40 states (run be repubs) who have implemented these new requirements is an effort to suppress dem leaning votes.
Republicans have to cheat to win.
I'll agree with you that it is a political stunt. But if poor minorities overwhelmingly voted for the GOP, I have no doubt the Democrats would be pushing these laws and the GOP would be blocking them. Very, very, few politicians truly care about anything other than their own self interests or the interests of the very few who fund them, regardless of party.
So anyone with an electric bill and a birth certificate can get food stamps? I am not knocking you, I am just curious because on several occasions I have watched people swipe an EBT card and then go get into a $40K car.
You mean like Reagans welfare queen? That's an old stereotype that perpetrates somepretty ugly isms. In any event it is simply more "blame the victim" rhetoric. I disagree.
And to suggest dems would do the same as repubs in regards to suppressing votes is like saying the parties are the same. And of course that is just right wing propaganda to minimize republican crimes and discourage progressive OWS supporters from voting dem.
Elect progressive! Vote out anti food stamp republicans!
You seem to forget that Democrats ruled the old South until LBJ.
Both parties are parties of opportunism; to fictitiously mold one of the major parties into some type of crusading angelic host is nonsense. Democrats and Republicans have betrayed the American people.
Democrats were the party of racists (conservative) from the civil war until FDR, with a slow transition until Nixon. However now the republicans are the beneficiaries of the "old South" as you put it. Since Nixons oft repeated southern strategy repubs have fed and exploited white (moral/silent majority) fear of minorities, immigrants, LGBT Americans.
We don't need a history lesson, or a civics lesson do we. Democrats now represent the liberal/left side of the political spectrum. Republican the conservative/right side.
Democrats HAVE betrayed americans when they vote for the conservative policies at the root of all our problems. We can correct that.
Elect true liberal left wing progressives!,
Vote out anti minority, anti immigrant, anti LGBT, pro ALEC vote suppressing republicans.
It's the only way to be sure.!
I am just telling you what I see when I go to the store, and when I worked at Target in high school and college. It is pretty common. Do you know who it is really unfair to, besides hardworking taxpayers? It is unfair to the poor who really need it. There is only so much welfare to be handed out and when people who can afford to drive an expensive car also use food stamps, they are taking from people who really are poor and need all the help they can get. That is truly sad.
And then there is the issue of people being allowed to use food stamps to buy soda, chips, cookies, and other junk food. And we wonder why the poor are more obese than the rest of America (which is pretty bad because America as a whole is fat).
Yeah those people on welfare are the problem.. If only we could solve those problems every thing would be fine.
Damn poor people.
Poor people are not the problem. People that abuse the welfare system are a problem. You don't see anything wrong with people paying for their groceries with an EBT card and then driving home in their brand new car? They are stealing money from the middle class and stealing food from the poor.
What would you think about more restrictions as to what kinds of foods can be purchased with food stamps, like limited choices to healthy foods? I think it would save a ton of money in health care costs in the long run. Heart disease, type II DM, and some cancers are chronic conditions that require decades of treatment but can largely be prevented by eating healthy. Not to mention the obvious advantages of simply living a healthy lifestyle.
yeah thats the ticket restrict the foods, and which cars they can own. that'll do it
I assume you are being sarcastic. You really think that it makes sense to buy junk food for a segment of our population that are already more likely to be unhealthy and obese and then treat the consequences rather trying to prevent these serious health issues to begin with? How does that make any sense? Why should only people of higher socioeconomic status eat well?
You gonna dictate diets for all people who get govt money? Or just the poor who are desperate for the money?
Why don't you leave the poor people alone. You wanna help them eat better get fresh fruit and vegetables back in the inner city. We eat what is available.
You just wanna save money off the poor. Focus on the wealthy. They have real money boss.
When a black man in America has a lower life expectancy than your average Iraqi citizen, something should be done. I shop at the same supermarkets that people using food stamps do and they do indeed have fresh fruits and vegetables and fish and lean meat and whatever else you would want. I think we should give them MORE, not less, to spend on food because healthy foods obviously cost more. Why give someone who is already obese free Mountain Dew and Doritos?
Clearly we must restrict what they can buy. I know you said. What more do you want.
Good luck in your all your good efforts
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The proper place to start to address the issue of "junk" food would be the FDA - but then I suppose if Ho Ho's were banned that we would see black market bakeries pop up all over.
Hey - Dude - pssst - can you hook me up?
Sure no prob - watcha need(?) - ludes(?) - smack(?) - Black beauties (?) - a little reef?
No no no - nothing like that.....................I need Twinkies...........Bad - Real BAD.
I don't have a problem with junk food per se, and don't think it should be illegal. I have some in my pantry now. I just don't think the government should facilitate an overwhelmingly unhealthy group of people becoming even more unhealthy. There is no reason someone should be allowed to use their food stamps to get Mountain Dew and Doritos as opposed to fruits, veggies, lean meats, etc.
Truly? You can't see any problems with denying people access to something that they crave?
Foods can be like another type of addiction - just like heroine or nicotine or alcohol or gambling or greed. The junky will get as desperate as any other junky.
The answer is not in denial of the drug of choice but in addressing that unreasonable need - fix the cause - removing availability only creates more problems.
[-] 1 points by Mooks (1615) 1 minute ago
But this is such a simple thing that could basically be done with the snap of finger (or click of a mouse) and it would have a huge impact on the health of poor Americans. I really can't see a valid argument against it. ↥twinkle ↧stinkle permalink
So do you think the government should provide heroine addicts with heroin and smokers with cigarettes too? I mean people don't rob or murder people for a couple bucks so they can go buy a bag of potato chips.
And again, I am not talking about denying people junk food. I just don't think it should be given to them for free. It makes no sense.
Heal society and you will heal the ills of society.
But this is such a simple thing that could basically be done with the snap of finger (or click of a mouse) and it would have a huge impact on the health of poor Americans. I really can't see a valid argument against it.
I can tell you its really insulting to minorities to have a bunch of rich assholes declaring that they arent able to get IDs.
I would love some stats on the amount of people who voted in 08 using something besides their state ID. Percentage of people who voted and didnt have a state ID. I bet its less than .01%.
I agree. Going to the DMV is a right of passage. Like having your first drink or losing your virginity. You aren't a real American until you have done it.
What does race have to do with it Mookie?
"I’ve read testimonials, editorials and position papers that compare the need for voter ID to the identification process to get on a plane, drive a car or write a check. I used to be one of those who wondered what the big deal was.
The deal is this: The GOP is targeting people, particularly black people and older people who may not do those things anymore or young people whose permanent residencies still remain with their parents."
I don't know, you tell me. Apparently according to your post, black people and old people don't often have ID's. I really don't know that many black people living up here in New England so I honestly have no idea.
Republicans have targeted almost 5 million voters with these suppression efforts (coincidentally, the same amount added in 2008).
Repubs can't win w/o cheating
You never explained why black people don't have IDs though.
I can't explain every circumstance! I didn't have ID until I was in my early 30's. thats how it goes. Or used to. If you don't need a drivers license you don't need an ID. What more explanation do you need. It happens! Ain't that enough? Is it that you don't believe it? You think we're lyin'? The repubs know it! Thats why they are attempting to suppress this way!
I guess it is just hard for me to believe. Like I have said before, I have to show my ID literally once a week for something or another. Don't people ever go to a bar or go out to eat and get a drink with your dinner? Or buy alcohol in general. Or go to a strip club? Or buy a lotto ticket? Or go to a casino? I once got carded buying whipped cream.
I never had to show ID for bars/alcohol when I was younger.
When you say you Find it hard to believe do you mean you do not believe? Because it happens! Repubs know it and are exploiting it. It ain't about you and what you have experienced. It's about the millions of other decent Americans whose rights are being attacked by the republicans.
So put the drink down. turn away from the naked girl, stow the lotto tkt and fight the voter suppression of your fellow citizens
No, I honestly don't believe there are a lot of people without some kind of photo ID.
Both sides make this a huge political issue, when it is really a non-issue. I bet the amount of people that lack a government ID is about as small as the amount of people who commit voter fraud.
Nope. it is huge numbers. Repubs tried to say it was small number in PA but had to admit finally it was almost 1 million. So you are wrong!
From what I was able to find from demographic data, PA has about 9.6 million people over the age of 18. Are you saying that more than 1 in 10 Pennsylvanian adults do not have IDs?
That's not what I'm saying. That is what the experts in PA have said.
Oh I realize that. It just seems crazy to me that in a state like PA, 10% of adults do not have an ID.
It's not crazy. It's a reality that republicans are exploiting in an attempt to suppress the vote. I understand the PA Supreme Court is hearing the case Sept 13th. Maybe 1 rep judge will do the right thing. we will see.
Whipped cream?
No joke, it was at a local supermarket. I guess if you were to hold it right side up, instead of upside down, you would just get nitrous oxide with no whipped cream and kids were using it to get high. The store had a policy where you were either 16 or 18 to buy it. I was in college so I looked young and I got carded for whipped cream.
Funny story.
elect progressives! vote out vote suppressing republicans
U support vote suppression by repubs?
No. Why? Do you?
Nope
Is there an ism in there?
Whoops there it is!
Tag Team fan?
nope
That is some old school 90s shit.
If you say so!
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What I find so two-faced about the voter suppression efforts is that elections have always been rigged anyway. The insiders of the political system have their way with the vote box in whatever back alley they choose. I find it amazing that they marched that horse out without even sniffing at the pile of manure they were walking through. They might want to watch what hornet nests they piss on. In every precinct in the country there are people who know the GPS of the buried bodies. What if stories of sins past started to come out?
So U don't support republican vote suppression?