Activists Call Texas's Voter ID Law Discriminatory, Plead For Feds' Help

• I am offended by their implication that I'm too stupid to get a photo ID because I'm only part white!  If you can figure out how to get to a poll you can figure out how to get to a license center.

• education begins at home, and our current 'educators" are mainly unionized hacks who think they're babysitting...and at times they really are. there's no accountability in public education, unions won't allow bad teachers to be fired anymore than any gov't slacker.

• i've never heard a sound argument for not needing id to vote- how could poor people be disenfranchised by having to prove who they are to do one of the best things they could ever do for free? they show id to buy beer/cigs/cash checks/use credit cards, etc don't they? this has obviously rankled the the ones who round up homeless people or bus union members to the polls to vote "often" and usually for democrats.

• Really now.......I am a democrat and at no time have I ever been involved in voter fraud.  On the other hand would you be the pot calling the kettle black?  After all the republicans have done so great that high school grads can't read, do math, count change or spell....and then there is a whole list of things that go one further.   Makes me sick!!!

• You have to pay for a Texas ID card, this can be viewed as a poll tax. If the state ID was free then this would't be the case. With the current system you don't have any fees involved, and after the voter rights act was passed poll taxes were banned.

• You are assuming the way you can vote is if you have a drivers lic, Texas does have a Texas ID that can be used and the same rules apply. So voters who are "walking" still get to vote. Why this is an issue I will never understand. People who want to cast their vote, will go the polls and providing an ID should not stop anyone from doing so. The presumption that it will is some what silly. 

• The white self victimization is strong with this one

• Oh, snap!

• Mitch McConnell has said that he believes only people who own homes should be allowed to vote. This surely is not "your father's GOP" anymore!

• Has anyone actually looked at the paperwork that is involved online in Texas? It is so contradictory. It tells you that you can fax it in; and then when you go to the county seats it says you cannot. The "you cannot send this in prior to 60 days" (means they will throw out your request if they received it before then) before an election - for your request for an "official Texas ID"! So how many people really believe that they will have the right to vote (and if you are going to be out-of-state you have to mail in your "application" FROM the address that you want it sent to (hoping college students won't do it perhaps)? I would be interested to know what % of the population rents in Texas. Renters must get an "updated" voter ID each time they change their residence and will have to go through this entire fiasco with the time constraints each time they move. There is no question about the fact that the ALEC / GOP are showing intent to make it an effort of jumping through hoops for the young, poor and older citizens. I do not care what side of the aisle one sits on; this is the end of democracy if this is not stopped. It is just plain WRONG!

• But our courts have often allowed certain restrictions or requirements be placed on these rights. Just look at all the different rules and requirements people have to comply with to excersize their second amendment rights.

• Is there voter fraud, yes. Is it a rampant problem that should trump all the other problems the state and country are facing, no. This is a red herring issue meant to divert attention from the real issues, the issues our elected officials don't want to address and correct. We are now in a never ending election cycle. No time to govern or solve problems, politicians only think about the next election. 

• The whole voter ID law is a fabricated issue, a red herring. Is there voter fraud, yes. Is it as rampant as some make it out to be, no. Are there much bigger problems our elected officials should be addressing, yes. This issue is raw meat the republicans throw to their right-wing supporters and divert attention away from more serious issues.

• I see this week's Rolling Stone article riled Joe up and provoked him to post on this topic. Jack Shafer, who has probably forgotten more about both editing and reporting than Joe Tone will ever know, provides a slightly more balanced look at the issue here: http://blogs.reuters.com/jackshafer/2011/09/14/crock-the-vote/

• First:  Many people in this country are poor as a result of the decisions they make. Many of that group are poor in spite of the assistance freely and generously provided by any number of groups.  This group chooses freely chooses poverty and probably doesn't vote anyway so lets leave them aside for the purposes of voting. Second:  America does not know the level of poverty that exist in South Africa.  I remember reading that over 95% of black South Africans voted, some walked for DAYS to do so.  Some were subject threats of death, but they voted.  That group of poor voters has some real roadblocks to voting.  It offends me that in llight of such sacrifice of people far pooer than any American will ever be that we debate whether taking a few hours AWAY FROM A JOB or TAKING A BUS to GET A FREE ID CARD is too much trouble for an able bodied person. 

• What the heck are you talking about?

• boy some folks on this blog have a real problem with reading comprehension. I am in no way citing Mexico as a beacon of non-corruption. I am merely pointing out that they have instituted a form of voter identification designed to cut down or eliminate voter fraud. Just the same as their immigration laws are much tougher than ours and yes I find it duplicitous of them to complain about our immigration laws. and yes voting is a constitutional right but not in the way you are thinking. "The "right to vote" is explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution in the above referenced Amendments, but only in reference to the fact that the franchise cannot be denied or abridged based solely on the aforementioned qualifications. In other words, the "right to vote" is perhaps better understood, in layman's terms, as only prohibiting certain forms of legal discrimination in establishing qualifications for suffrage. The "right to vote" may or may not be denied for other reasons." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_rights_in_the_United_States states are allowed under the Constitution to establish qualifications and rules. http://supreme.justia.com/constitution/amendment-14/92-voter-qualifications.html Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, 553 U.S. 181 (2008) was a United States Supreme Court case holding that an Indiana law requiring voters to provide photo IDs did not violate the Constitution of the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crawford_v._Marion_County_Election_Board In a splintered 6-3 ruling, the court upheld Indiana's strict photo ID requirement, which Democrats and civil rights groups said would deter poor, older and minority voters from casting ballots. Its backers said it was needed to prevent fraud. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24351798/ns/politics/t/supreme-court-upholds-voter-id-law/#.TnEjaNTaeHg

• You are citing Mexico as a beacon of non-corruption?  "You can't cash a check, board a plane, or even buy full-strength Sudafed over the counter without ID. Why should voting be different?" Because none of those are a Constitutional Right.  Voting is.

• Well, gee, we did manage to have a republic that works perfectly well without asking people for identification, and when we actively went looking for in-person voter fraud across the country, we found fewer than 50 cases out of millions of votes cast. And then, too, when we find rich white people who fraudulently vote in elections, we give them a pass about it and, as far as I know, we still counted their votes (there's been no word as to whether Jon Hunstman's votes made after he was governor but while he was still claiming the Utah governor's mansion as his official residence were thrown out. And there's no evidence that Mitt Romney's votes in Massachusetts - when he owned two out-of-state homes but claimed his son's basement as his official residence - were ever thrown out) and have made no effort to prosecute them. It just seems weird to be so concerned about preventing voter fraud that may have happened in a miniscule number of races (38 nationwide that the Bush Justice Department was able to find over eight years), but we're not rushing to pass laws to prevent people from being wrongfully turned away from the polls (more than 38 voters were wrongfully purged from the voter rolls in Florida in 2000 because they had names similar to felons), and when we do actually find fraud, we not only don't even mete out a slap on the wrist, but we make at least one fraudulent voter a favorite to win the Republican nomination for the presidency. I don't have a problem showing my ID at the polling place, but this was a solution in search of a problem, and it's very clear that the entire reason these laws are being passed is because those pushing the laws have statistics that show that the ID laws will decrease voter turnout amongst a population that tends to vote Democratic. If the polling and studies showed that fewer Republicans would vote if voter ID was passed, we wouldn't have this law in Texas. (And the second somebody arrests and charges Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman and Todd Akin for their voter fraud, I'll believe that actual voter fraud is a concern)

• Renting a moving van is not a constitutional right.  Voting is.

• "Don't know how prevalent a practice this is" But you posted it anyway.

• As a precinct chair, you do not have the right to enforce driving laws.

• Yeah, that's why every state government official is a Republican, we have a Republican Legislature, and McCain carried Texas in 2008.  It's all that Democratic voter fraud.

• It is obvious that the only reason that you white-guilt libtards are behind this is because you know that the only way Odumbo is going to be re-elected is with the votes of illegal aliens from Mexico. You aren't fooling anyone. Quit being such disingenuous white-guilt libtards.

• It can`t be discrimination if everyone has to do it idiots.

• Nope ... just put lipstick on a pig ...

• I'm confused; showing ID to vote is good, but showing ID to buy a gun is bad?

• Now if Mexico would only require cartel members to have secure drug dealer ID cards...

• So we are supposed to believe that these "disenfranchised poor people" don't have the necessary identification to cash a check or apply for welfare or food stamps or anything else that requires identification? Just simple and normal day to day business that all people do. Almost all businesses ask for state issued photo ID for any purchase over a certain par amount with a credit card as happened to me at Bass Pro the other day. So my point is all these supposedly "disenranchised" already have ID and use it regularly. That being the case then the only plausible reason not to want to show identification you already have to do normal business anyone has to do with identification is commit some kind of fraud or some criminal reason (warrants or deportation orders) you don't want to be identified. Really, they don't mind showing ID for cigarettes or booze... but it's a horrendous violation of rights to be identified to vote. Bless their hearts and all you southerners know what that means.

• Here's some help:  All the things you listed are interactions with private businesses, not consitutionally protected rights.  Requiring ID that costs money amounts to a poll tax, which violates the 24th amendment.  A more interesting comparison is to ID/background checks required to purchase a gun.  The Right is all up in arms (ha ha) about ID checks infringing on the right to bear arms, but doesn't seem to have any qualms about infringing on the right to vote - even though there are far more cases of gun-facilitated murder than there are of voter fraud.

• This has nothing to do with the individual "Poor, Elderly, Minorities"  Those groups are very capable of producing id's, should they feel compelled to do so.  I would be willing to bet that of the actual registered voters who show up, in these groups 99% of them have valid picture id.  I think this puts a speed bump to the vote harvesters and scammers that knock on doors and fill out absentee ballots.

• "voting is a right that is inherent" to American citizens.

• Keep going - your true colors are starting to show...

• Uh did you miss the Medranos and voter fraud story?

• and you sir/madam are an anti-semite..

• I look at it this way: Voter ID is what I like to call agenda legislation, which is to say the primary reason its drafted is to make people of a certain party feel as if their in control. While I have no issue w/ confirming people are whom they say they are, I have an issue w/ putting citizens at an disadvantage at their given American right to vote. Its all about controlling the right to vote for citizens, which the last time I checked was a violation of the constitution and bill of rights..

• It's far more statistically significant than actual instances of voter fraud.

• One of the more confusing posts in some time

• I'm confused; ID issued for nationalized health care is good but ID issued to vote is bad?

• I think it's interesting that all of these people who sat SILENTLY by while John Wiley Price hijacked elections in Dallas County, while the Medrano family has all but openly stolen elections for years, and while Dallas County Commissioners illegally switched redistricting maps, are suddenly worried about voters being disenfranchised. 

• This is such a tired issue. It is inconceivable that anyone could function into today's society without proof of ID. You can't rent a DVD, hotel room or car without ID. You can't cash a pay check, wellfare check or social security check without ID. I can't even use my credit card without getting asked for ID. In counties all around the country voter fraud is rampant. Here in Dallas county more than six people have been indicted for voter fraud. But at the end of the day there is a simple solution to make it MUCH harder in the future - requiring ID to vote. It is important to be able to trust the outcome of elections. There is a perception (true or untrue) that certain Democratic institutions (like the now defunct Acorn) engage in the simplest voter fraud - lying about who you are. These cases of voter fraud may be overstated or blown out of proportion, but the downside is nonexistent. If you want to vote, get an ID card. Simple as that.

• I don't mind them doing it, either, but that doesn't change the fact that they're not supposed to.

• "Guess what poor people don't do because they are poor?" Have any personal responsibility.

• "India woke up to the fact government regulation was hampering the growth of their economy and have started to reduce the regulations that make it difficult to start a business " Worked out REAL well for workers rights , conditions & the environment eh?

• You get what you dish out in the first place.

• Wait, if they've been indicted under existing laws, why do we need new ones?

• I'm not okay with voter fraud, I just think existing laws on the books are perfectly capable of detecting and prosecuting offenders - the key ingredient is having people in government and law enforcement who care about the issue. It's the same reason I oppose the new financial regulations - the laws on the books are perfectly capable of accomplishing the same thing but people in government choose not to use them.  As for Hong Kong, you are free to move there for their low taxes - an added bonus will be no worrying at all about voter disenfranchisement since you will be living in a Communist country. In case you hadn't noticed, the US unemployment rate is not looking so hot these days, so that argument is sort of out the window. You are also free to move to India if you like the direction they are moving. Comparing the policies relevant to a developing country to the US is asinine. 

• Very quick lesson for you all: Equality and evolution are absolutely irreconcilable and incompatible belief systems. I believe in evolution. I believe it's an ongoing process. I believe it has rendered us all, individually and among groups, with a "diverse" set of skills and traits. To believe in equality and evolution simultaneously, you'd have to believe in a process that took millions of years but somehow, against all mathematical odds and every shred of reason, rendered all ethnic groups cognitively and physically equal from here to eternity. What's truly religious is your blind, naive, unquestioning belief in innate human equality and the "blank slate," because all the available evidence contradicts it. That's why you seek to demonize anyone who dares challenge what is to you a deeply held folk-religious belief.

• again, just because you need a certain form of ID to work, does not mean you should need it to vote. in the United States, voting is a right that is inherent. saying that you need ID to drive, fly, work, etc makes little difference.

• Joe Tone = stereotypical jew libtard propagandist

• What do you not understand about the fact that we systematically oppress the poor in a myriad of ways? Of course the obvious issue is the elderly who do not work, but yeah, if you are poor there is a much, much higher burden in obtaining employment including the I-9.

• To work legally in the United States one must complete a Form I-9.  This document is completed by the employee and the prospective employer must then view certain documents that verify that you are legally able to work in the United States.  A state or federally issued identity document is a requirement of completing this document. There are exceptions for students under 16, but pretty much anybody else has to have something issued by the state or feds to legally work in the United States.  So, by the logic presented (i.e. poverty impedes possession of ID) we disenfranchise the "poor" from working as well as from voting.  It would seem that the undisputed presence of the statutes that dictate the Form I-9 would fly in the face any argument to the disenfranchisement related to presentation of ID to vote.

• Directed at Joe and others: "libs, dumbest, libtards, total embarrassment to all libtard, You even suck at being s propagandist, brainwashed by your egalitarian libtard religion of progressivism, more bleeding-heart white-guilt libtard" Please don't act like all the insults here have been coming from one side.

• Hey liberals and "activists" - look in the mirror and check how many Medranos have been indicted FOR VOTER FRAUD.  If you never check or look for it, you will never find it.  Liberals want that no one ever checks. 

• Guess what poor people don't do because they are poor?

• OK, help me with this one.... I have to show a state issued ID to open a bank account, buy pseudoephedrine, get into house of blues for late night concerts and take a test drive or view an apartment I'm considering renting, but its unreasonable to have to show a state issued ID to vote??  Would some prefer that we do what they do in some countries-conspicuously mark your hand with a semi-permanant ink?  Vote and walk around with a red (or some other color) hand for 2 weeks or just whip out a DL or ID card-I'd prefer the less colorful alternative.

• Why don't you go write for the daily kos or huff po?

• Is there anything more entertaining than poking these Neanderthal idealogues in the eye with a sharp stick?  I think not.  They jump 15 yards offsides SO EASILY!!

• so then you would prefer the higher levels of unemployment found in other countries around the world? so far i've yet to see any reasonable objective reason for why we shouldn't have a voter id as for what other countries do i would prefer to see the low taxes found in much places like Hong Kong and the former Eastern bloc countries, along with less government regulation. India woke up to the fact that government regulation was hampering the growth of their economy and have started to reduce the regulations that make it difficult to start a business I cited other countries' voter id efforts because they recognized that voter fraud can be a problem. apparently you are okay with having voter fraud run rampant in this country

• If you want to vote get either a driver's license or a state ID card.  Bottom line.  They cost a couple of bucks and are available all over the city a short bus ride away.  If you can get yourself to the polls to vote then you can get yourself to a DPS office before election day.

• Excellent comeback for an 8-year-old.  You might as well have gone with the ol' "I know you are but what am I" Faith-based creationist?  You know absolutely zero of what you speak.  Anybody that believes in Adam and Eve is seriously delusional.  You, however, are just plain ignorant.

• @01d456731e39c25fe42e63aca6b04e6f:disqus I'm not really saying anything, at least nothing original. I'm just repeating what the researchers in the above link are saying, which is that that those people are statistically more likely to go without an ID to the polls. Which is why the voters rights' advocates don't like laws like this one.

• It's going to be an interesting go from the SCOTUS if they take this up, as they've been more "conservative" in their decisions as of late. Here's hoping they show some common sense and do the right thing in this case

• as long as we're playing the "it's ok because every other country in the world does it" game, let's talk about taxes, healthcare, and social issues. the fact is that other countries around the world do it because they have far stronger central governments than the United States, in terms of the power citizens are willing to let them have over a whole host of issues. but I suspect you just want to use the rest of the world as an example when it supports something that you believe in.

• If $10 is nothing to you, then I'm sure you will not mind your taxes being raised to cover the cost of IDs for people for whom $10 is a hardship. Oh wait, you said people who can't afford $10 shouldn't be allowed to vote. This is how democracy dies, people.

• This is one of the dumbest arguments I've ever heard. So we get to disenfranchise you for driving without a valid, current license? I was under the impression that there were fines, penalties, and other consequences for motor vehicle violations. I didn't know the right to vote was contingent on being a responsible driver. Can we disenfranchise anyone who has ever had a DUI or a DWI? That's far more irresponsible than driving with an expired license.

• true you don't need a photo id to board the plane, BUT you do need a valid government issued photo id to get through security, boy talk about not connecting the dots. If one can't get through security then one can't board the plane. and there are problems with voting, or are you not aware of the various voter fraud cases that have been filed against ACORN? http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-complete-guide-to-acorn-voter-fraud/ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124182750646102435.html " A Nevada judge on Wednesday gave ACORN, the defunct grass-roots community organization, the maximum fine for its illegal voter-registration scheme in that state.  District Court Judge Donald Mosley was blunt and unsparing in his criticism of the discredited activist group Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/10/judge-gives-maximum-and-fines-acorn-5000-for-illegal-voter-registration-scheme/#ixzz1XvyO4m00 and IIRC ACORN is closely associated with the Democratic Party and the President

• You can board a plane without a Photo ID. Unlike voting, there are proven problems with hot checks and Sudafed.  POS propaganda sites like Heritage, Nation Review and Fux appeal to the most gullible, dumbest, and most racist Hell Dubya's DOJ pent YEARS and FIRED US Attorneys because they couldn't find a problem!

• Texas is just one of 38 states attempting to implement the 30+ year effort by the Reich-wing super-rich t disenfranchise people. Paul Weyrich, father of the right-wing movement and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, Moral Majorit, the Reich-wing Uber-rich funded ALAC (that has been writing the voting suppressions laws. Details at: http://alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed)   tells his flock that he doesn't want people to vote. That's why the GOP is obsessed with voter fraud---only they want to disenfranchise voters because, as Weyrich said back in the '80's...the more voters there are---the less of a chance the Reich-wingers have in any election. Addressing  a gathering of some 15,000 preachers at a training conference in Dallas , Texas in 1980 (Ronald Reagan & Rev. Jerry Falwell also shared the podium).   How many of our Christians have what I call ‘the Goo-Goo’ syndrome? Good Government. They want everyone to vote! I don’t want everyone to vote! Elections are notwon by the majority of people – they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now! As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections, quite candidly, goes up as the voting populous goes down!  Watch the Weyrich video beginning at about 2:45 into this video: http://www.thomhartmann.com/bigpicture/thom-hartmann-unlike-voter-fraud-election-fraud-rampant

• We have such a low  opinion of poor people and minorities. I don't understand how requiring the voter ID would discriminate against them. Oh heck, there I go again, racist me! Who would have thought, something like this would prevent illegal aliens from voting...

• and how  do we stop identity theft and the use of thieves using credit cards? while it may violate the merchant's agreement with the credit card issuer i'm thankful that they did ask for it. can I borrow your credit card? ;-)

• so you''re saying that voting should require no identification at all? how do we prevent fraud?

•  well I took a look and i found one comment saying Joe was a failure, but couldn't find anything approaching "dumbass" if Mexico can put in place a secure system why not the US. As for the illegal migration from Mexico to the US that is a result of the economy not the corruption in the government

• and apparently they put that process in place as a first step to eliminate corruption haven't seen what others call Joe, but I'll take a look

• Because all of the examples you mention are not a basic right to all citizens like voting.

• Yes, this liberal plot has worked so well. The 2000 and 2004 presidential elections come to mind. Liberals also put all those Tea Party Republicans in power in 2008.

• "In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags." So if we just translate our insults into Latin we have "elevated" the discussion? Die dulci fruimini.

• "what do you think about mexico which uses a biometric voter id with photo, fingerprint and holograph? and they double check against a photo in a book?" Good example. Mexico is well known for its corruption-free government and institutions as well as its fine treatment of its poorer citizens. That's why none of them want to come here. "such as *sshole?, mf*cker, d**chebag? Really couldn't you be a bit more creative?" You have noticed what your conservative friends have been calling Joe in the comments above, haven't you?

• Obviously there is a big problem with illegal voting, how else are all these tea bag candidates  getting voted into office.  Photo IDs, preferable drivers licenses, are just the beginning of a series of roadblocks to make voting more onerous than it already is. Address doesn't match, can't vote. Outstanding warrants, unpaid tolls or traffic citations, can't vote. Car you own has no insurance, can't vote. In arrears on your property taxes, can't vote. Not wearing a US flag lapel pin, can't vote. Your picture on your ID doesn't look like you, can't vote. Honestly, the last place an illegal alien would want to go is to a government operated polling station housed in a public institution operated and monitored by mostly gringo polling station workers and the occasional law enforcement officer.

• Serious question: The law says I have to produce an acceptable form of ID at the polls in order to vote, but does it say that the address on my voter registration has to match the address on my ID? (This doesn't actually affect me right now since my DL and Voter registration currently match, but I remember back in college that I voted at my temporary college residences even though I kept my parent's house on my DL).

• They're not supposed to ask for ID when using a credit card. It's a violation of the merchant agreement.

• Given that the arguments for and against voter registration and voter ID are identical, I think it's pretty clear to all that this is nothing more than culture war puffery. 'Course, culture war puffery is why we're here. That's Joe Tone's job, culture warrior. Probably beats window caulker. According to the Texas Tribune http://tinyurl.com/636umjl "The new measure means most Texans will have to show an allowed form of identification to vote in any local, state or national election. These include a state-issued ID card or a driver’s license, a military ID, a concealed handgun license issued by the Department of Public Safety, a passport or a state-issued election identification certificate. <b>The latter is a free ID issued to a person who requests it specifically for the purpose of voting.</b>" <b>a free ID issued to a person who requests it specifically for the purpose of voting.</b> So poor <b>by virtue of the fucking law itself</b> isn't the problem, but disinterested, lazy, shiftless, and stump-fucking-stupid may be. Yeah, you right, I'm about to be disenfranchised, because, see, there ain't no one with the proper grade of extra virgin olive oil available to dip his finger in before he gently worms that big turd outa my ass for me, because shitting it out myself is a disenfranchising burden too great for me to bear, to make room for that tender morsel of my favorite sumpin' someone else needs to be spoon feeding me, 'cause making the effort to feed myself is another disenfranchising burden even worse than taking a shit myself. And on top of that, believe it or not, now I gotta shift my ass around enough to get a free voter registration card and a free voter ID. This is what those young fools in uniform are dying for, a free American vote so worthless to those who could have it that it's just too much trouble for them to bother with.

• Right, that would be the fuck you got mine part of my argument because the poor are incredibly less likely to have or need a drivers licence is fact.

• Ha ha, no, you are. If you believe in evolution and also simultaneously believe in biological racial equality then YOU are the embarrassment to millions of years of evolution. You are an evolution-denying faith-based creationist, but you are so brainwashed by your egalitarian libtard religion of "progressivism" that you don't even realize it.

• oh because G_David we want to make sure that you read what we post.  as for easily ignored screeds yours rank up there at the highest level I love your open-mindedness and ability to converse in the most intellectual manner possible. I guess you are in agreement with Mexico's voter id program since you offered no opposing view, and if that is the case then you approve of the Texas voter id law Sic (ita) age ut frater tuus

• Thank you G-David for engaging is such a scintillating discussion about such an important issue. you do the liberal/progressive wing of our polity a true honor. Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus ventosissimis exponebantur ad necem

• And you are a total embarrassment to millions of years of human evolution.

• And for those of you that haven't yet figured it out, instead of re-posting the same drivel every time you think of another brilliant point, why not try the 'edit' function and put it all into one meaningless, easily-ignored screed?  It makes you look much less desperate.

• You are a total embarrassment to all libtard "advocacy journalists". You even suck at being s propagandist. Hardly anyone is buying your libtard horse shit. You are a failure, Joe Tone. Get used to it.

• "Old people, poor people, blacks, Latinos." Those are wildly broad strokes.  Are you saying these wildly broad categories of people are generally presumed not to be carrying ID?  Is that the argument?  More to the point, they're all presumed to be going to vote without carrying any sort of ID?   For that matter, if they've managed to hear that it's election day in the first place, why can't they also be presumed to hear they need to bring an ID?

• Nope, I think dumbass sums you up pretty well.

• I cannot accept with a straight face the argument that any statistically significant percentage of persons is literally "too poor to keep current identification."  It makes no sense.  Having to go to the DPS one day every seven years is not the insurmountable ordeal you cast it to be.  I've been poor.  Living on other people's couches poor.  Afraid-to-ask-for-time-off-work poor.  I always had a driver's license.

• wow! what a brilliant comment one of the best i've ever read. did you bother to read any of the links? what do you think about mexico which uses a biometric voter id with photo, fingerprint and holograph? and they double check against a photo in a book? once again a liberal/progressive proves that point that when one can't argue with facts it is better to use the ad hominem attack method. could you not come up with something better? such as *sshole?, mf*cker, d**chebag? Really couldn't you be a bit more creative? Stercorem pro cerebro habes

• Exactly, you should only be allowed to vote IF you can also board a plane, cash a check, or buy Sudafed.  That's a really kick-ass argument, dumbass.

• in Mexico every voter has a secure voter ID card, with a photograph. When the voter arrives to the polling station, the poll workers check it against a book with the photograph of every single voter in the precinct. http://www.vdare.com/articles/memo-from-mexico-by-allan-wall-15

• wonder if these activists are aware that Mexico's voter id comes "complete with photograph, fingerprint, and a holographic image to prevent counterfeiting"? http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:UgnmDyt1TwwJ:vdare.com/awall/voter_registration.htm+voter+id+mexico&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us "Mexico's voter ID card is now widely regarded as one of the most secure, reliable voter identification systems in the world. So trusted is the integrity of Mexico's voter ID credential that amid all the controversy surrounding the close presidential election on July 2, 2006, no one questioned the security, reliability, or authenticity of Mexico's voter identification itself. Indeed, Mexico's voter ID has become the country's de fact o identification document and is readily accepted as positive proof-of-identity by merchants, banks, government officials, and citizens nationwide." http://www.security-technologynews.com/article/mexicos-voter-id-cards-ensure-one-citizen-one-vote.html Unusual supporter for Texas Voter ID law http://www.governing.com/blogs/view/Texas-Voter-ID-law-has-an-unusual-supporter.html

• Well, it's not just who has ID and who doesn't. It's also about who hears about the new restrictions and who doesn't, who has the mobility to go home and get their ID if they don't know they're supposed to have it. Old people, poor people, blacks, Latinos -- all less mobile. But, yeah, those same people all are less likely to have ID, at least according to the libtards at the Census bureau and other government agencies. There are some stats about it here: http://www.lwv.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=17580&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm   Either way, these laws are generally pure politics, largely designed and pushed by anti-illegal-immigration activists fighting a phantom problem. You don't have to be a libtard to have a beef with that, do you?

• what I find interesting is that in virtually every other country in the world voters are required to present a photo id and once they have voted usually a finger or thumb is dipped into indelible ink so they can't vote again. I've also noticed that these activists don't complain about the photo ids that have to be presented at airport security, a bank to cash a check or like tonight at a store when using a credit card. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/23/voter-fraud-houston-tea-party-truethevote-texas/ http://www.newschannel5.com/story/13000987/illegal-immigrant-manages-to-vote-in-election?redirected=true http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/03/a_peek_at_the_rancorous_fight.php http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/no-showing-photo-id-not-poll-tax_591458.html http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/247724/opinion-just-deroy-murdock "You can't cash a check, board a plane, or even buy full-strength Sudafed over the counter without ID. Why should voting be different?" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704816604576333650886790480.html

• I had to show my ID to get a moving van last month. I had to show it to get into my new apartment. I had to show it to buy cold bu-rah this weekend. I have to have it if I get pulled over for any reason. I have to have it when I make a purchase at the mall. So tell me, why, when I carry my ID around on my person AT ALL FUCKING TIMES can't someone who is going to be casting a vote on the future of our country. Are you telling me the poor (me in that category), minority (my gf in that category) and the old who believe almost any scare tactics that Democrats tell them and shouldn't be voting anyway can't be bothered to have their ID's like, oh I dunno, MOST NORMAL PEOPLE THAT INCLUDE THE ABOVE GROUPS? This is just more reason "moderates" like myself have been leaning more and more to the right. It's ridiculous to think that poor/minority/old people can't get ID's. If, for some reason, a person doesn't have an ID that cost $10 freaking dollars and can be renewed online or through the mail, then maybe they shouldn't have the privilege of voting anyway. Maintaining your ID is easier than going to the polls to vote.

• So showing your ID will keep the poor from voting......so like only a 19% turn out instead of 20?.....

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