Originally Posted by Guest

Here are actual cases....

“What I have used for voter registration and for identification for the last 52 years was not sufficient yesterday when I went to vote,” 117th District Court Judge Sandra Watts said.

Watts has voted in every election for the last forty-nine years. The name on her driver’s license has remained the same for fifty-two years, and the address on her voter registration card or driver’s license hasn’t changed in more than two decades. So imagine her surprise when she was told by voting officials that she would have to sign a “voters affidavit” affirming she was who she said she was.

“Someone looked at that and said, ‘Well, they’re not the same,’” Watts said.

The difference? On the driver’s license, Judge Watts’s maiden name is her middle name. On her voter registration, it’s her actual middle name. That was enough under the new, more strict voter fraud law, to send up a red flag.

“This is the first time I have ever had a problem voting,” Watts said.

The disproportionate impact of the law on women voters could be a major factor in upcoming Texas elections, especially now that Wendy Davis is running for governor in 2014.

Moreover, the state is doing very little to make sure that voters who don’t have an ID can get one. As I mentioned, 600–800,000 registered voters don’t have an acceptable voter ID, but according to the Dallas Morning News “only 41 of the new cards were issued by DPS [Department of Public Safety] as of last week.”

Getting a valid photo ID in Texas can be far more difficult than one assumes. To obtain one of the government-issued IDs now needed to vote, voters must first pay for underlying documents to confirm their identity, the cheapest option being a birth certificate for $22 (otherwise known as a “poll tax”); there are no DMV offices in eighty-one of 254 counties in the state, with some voters needing to travel up to 250 miles to the closest location. Counties with a significant Hispanic population are less likely to have a DMV office, while Hispanic residents in such counties are twice as likely as whites to not have the new voter ID (Hispanics in Texas are also twice as likely as whites to not have a car). “A law that forces poorer citizens to choose between their wages and their franchise unquestionably denies or abridges their right to vote,” a federal court wrote last year when it blocked the law.

Texas has set up mobile voter ID units in twenty counties to help people obtain an ID, but has issued new IDs to only twenty voters at the sites so far.

Supporters of the voter ID law, such as Governor Rick Perry, argue that it’s necessary to stop the rampant menace of voter fraud. But there’s no evidence that voter impersonation fraud is a problem in Texas. According to the comprehensive News21 database, there has been only one successful conviction for voter impersonation—I repeat, only one—since 2000.

Texas has the distinction of being one of the few states that allows you to vote with a concealed weapons permit, but not a student ID. Provisions like these suggest that the law was aimed less at stopping voter fraud and more at stopping the changing demographics of the state.

This raises 2 questions in my mind. First, how could a student ID possibly confirm citizenship? I'm assuming that all students, including foreign students who are not citizens of this country, would have to have a student ID. That surely does not mean they are a citizen. On that same note, if you are questioning the legality of using a concealed carry permit as sufficient evidence of citizenship then maybe you do not understand the process of obtaining one.

My second question is regarding your example above. So she had to sign a voters affidavit - was she then able to go ahead and vote? If so, so what?!? Signing an additional piece of paper was that big of a deal?? Just seems to me that people continually want to make mountains out of molehills. If that had been me, I would have been happy to sign whatever was required for the privilege to vote.

"Texas has the distinction of being one of the few states that allows you to vote with a concealed weapons permit, but not a student ID."

This could very well be why Texans had both George W. and Rick Perry as their gooberenators. All you need is your gun permit and NON- EDUCATED PEOPLE allowed to vote.

This is such a bunch of BS, and you know it. Go ahead a cherry pick some obscure example. You can't get on a plane without valid ID. If they want to vote they will go get an ID. Go ahead and keep spreading this nonsense. We see you for what you are - clueless and paranoid.

Originally Posted by Guest

Here are actual cases....

“What I have used for voter registration and for identification for the last 52 years was not sufficient yesterday when I went to vote,” 117th District Court Judge Sandra Watts said.

Watts has voted in every election for the last forty-nine years. The name on her driver’s license has remained the same for fifty-two years, and the address on her voter registration card or driver’s license hasn’t changed in more than two decades. So imagine her surprise when she was told by voting officials that she would have to sign a “voters affidavit” affirming she was who she said she was.

“Someone looked at that and said, ‘Well, they’re not the same,’” Watts said.

The difference? On the driver’s license, Judge Watts’s maiden name is her middle name. On her voter registration, it’s her actual middle name. That was enough under the new, more strict voter fraud law, to send up a red flag.

“This is the first time I have ever had a problem voting,” Watts said.

The disproportionate impact of the law on women voters could be a major factor in upcoming Texas elections, especially now that Wendy Davis is running for governor in 2014.

Moreover, the state is doing very little to make sure that voters who don’t have an ID can get one. As I mentioned, 600–800,000 registered voters don’t have an acceptable voter ID, but according to the Dallas Morning News “only 41 of the new cards were issued by DPS [Department of Public Safety] as of last week.”

Getting a valid photo ID in Texas can be far more difficult than one assumes. To obtain one of the government-issued IDs now needed to vote, voters must first pay for underlying documents to confirm their identity, the cheapest option being a birth certificate for $22 (otherwise known as a “poll tax”); there are no DMV offices in eighty-one of 254 counties in the state, with some voters needing to travel up to 250 miles to the closest location. Counties with a significant Hispanic population are less likely to have a DMV office, while Hispanic residents in such counties are twice as likely as whites to not have the new voter ID (Hispanics in Texas are also twice as likely as whites to not have a car). “A law that forces poorer citizens to choose between their wages and their franchise unquestionably denies or abridges their right to vote,” a federal court wrote last year when it blocked the law.

Texas has set up mobile voter ID units in twenty counties to help people obtain an ID, but has issued new IDs to only twenty voters at the sites so far.

Supporters of the voter ID law, such as Governor Rick Perry, argue that it’s necessary to stop the rampant menace of voter fraud. But there’s no evidence that voter impersonation fraud is a problem in Texas. According to the comprehensive News21 database, there has been only one successful conviction for voter impersonation—I repeat, only one—since 2000.

Texas has the distinction of being one of the few states that allows you to vote with a concealed weapons permit, but not a student ID. Provisions like these suggest that the law was aimed less at stopping voter fraud and more at stopping the changing demographics of the state.

Originally Posted by Guest

"Texas has the distinction of being one of the few states that allows you to vote with a concealed weapons permit, but not a student ID."

This could very well be why Texans had both George W. and Rick Perry as their gooberenators. All you need is your gun permit and NON- EDUCATED PEOPLE allowed to vote.

In case you missed it, see post #46 above. How would you answer that post?

Originally Posted by Guest

Supporters of the voter ID law, such as Governor Rick Perry, argue that it’s necessary to stop the rampant menace of voter fraud. But there’s no evidence that voter impersonation fraud is a problem in Texas. According to the comprehensive News21 database, there has been only one successful conviction for voter impersonation—I repeat, only one—since 2000.

Texas has the distinction of being one of the few states that allows you to vote with a concealed weapons permit, but not a student ID. Provisions like these suggest that the law was aimed less at stopping voter fraud and more at stopping the changing demographics of the state.

Voter fraud is a red herring. The republicans use it as justification to make legitimate voting much more difficult. The more difficult it is to obtain registration, the more it eliminates the poor, who have a nasty tendency to vote against republicans, who have done everything in recent years to make their lives more miserable. The right wingers used to be able to suppress the minority vote, especially in the south, by poll taxes and impossibly difficult tests, not to mention lynchings and shootings. Their progeny have become more sophisticated and devious, but the intent is the same.

Originally Posted by Guest

This is such a bunch of BS, and you know it. Go ahead a cherry pick some obscure example. You can't get on a plane without valid ID. If they want to vote they will go get an ID. Go ahead and keep spreading this nonsense. We see you for what you are - clueless and paranoid.

My you are angry! Must be all these married gays with health insurance that has set you off.
Personal Best Regards:

Originally Posted by Guest

This is such a bunch of BS, and you know it. Go ahead a cherry pick some obscure example. You can't get on a plane without valid ID. If they want to vote they will go get an ID. Go ahead and keep spreading this nonsense. We see you for what you are - clueless and paranoid.

Your nasty attitude will NOT be tolerated....when confronted with the truth this is how you act.

So sorry for you.....

Originally Posted by Guest

Your nasty attitude will NOT be tolerated....when confronted with the truth this is how you act.

So sorry for you.....

Oh, all of us thought you had gone down your curmudgeon troll hole.

No at all. I actually find mindless comments like yours quite amusing. You are clearly not well informed and probably spend your time reading left-wing web sites. MSNBC is probably your source of information and you think Al Sharpton is a genius.

Originally Posted by Guest

My you are angry! Must be all these married gays with health insurance that has set you off.
Personal Best Regards:

And just who do you think you are? Jerk.

Originally Posted by Guest

Your nasty attitude will NOT be tolerated....when confronted with the truth this is how you act.

So sorry for you.....

Wow!! The liberal trolls are out today without one informative post among them and not able to even answer simple questions. Now I wonder, who IS the uninformed? I think the question has been answered unequivocally on this thread! Way to go...........

It is obviously cheap entertainment to keep tossing the caustic BS into the fray to see what it unsettles.

Originally Posted by Guest

And just who do you think you are? Jerk.

I am the one who will NOT tolerate your nasty posts.....

Sticks and stones may hurt my bones but NAMES will never hurt me.

Nice try.

Originally Posted by Guest

No at all. I actually find mindless comments like yours quite amusing. You are clearly not well informed and probably spend your time reading left-wing web sites..

I found this posting on another thread that seems to generally fit in here.
____________
Amazing that someone from a liberal city can have such reactionary right wing views.

It is really YOU that does not understand the democratic way of life. The Constitution is a living and evolving document. Remember, in the Constitution that there were slaves and they were counted as less than a whole person. The living document changed that. Women could not vote. The living document changed that.

The Executive Branch can veto bills, the Legislative Branch can over ride vetoes, and the Judicial Branch can declare a law unconstitutional. It is called checks and balances.

Anyhow, the Affordable Care Act is now the law of the land. There is marriage equality which is the law of the land.

This is not the 1950's. Joe McCarthy is dead and gone. Caitlyn Jenner is alive and well.

Get into the 21st century. Embrace change.

Go with the flow, keep up or get run over and left at the side of the road as road kill.

Originally Posted by Guest

GOD made the law and it is so and it is a good law. Man can not change it only in their heads. Why for thousands and thousands of years was this not allowed? Oh I forgot this generation is far more advance than all who have come before us. One only has to read what happens to a society that was run without the laws of GOD in tact - The book is in the old testament in
Genesis 19. Now does this sound like a place you would want to live? How about your children and grandchildren.
Your silence on this makes my heart sick!

Ah, Geez ......... here we go with the god stuff.