Voter suppression in Illinois...

[Mecklomaniac]

Voter suppression in Illinois. President Obama voted absentee in Illinois and was asked to show ID... zowie! Good thing he renewed his drivers license or he may have been disenfranchised. Some one needs to reign in the evil republicans running the Chicago machine. Requiring that voters prove they are who they say they are.

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Hopefully Eric Holder isn't disenfranchised in DC.

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[TonyR]

In Pennsylvania, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai was caught on tape this summer boasting about his colleagues' success: "... First pro-life legislation -- abortion facility regulations -- in 22 years, done. Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done." In Ohio, the Republican Party chairman of Franklin County, which includes Columbus, was even more blunt. Doug Preisse said, "I guess I really actually feel we shouldn't contort the voting process to accommodate the urban -- read African-American -- voter turnout machine."

There is no hidden agenda here. The strategy and tactics are as far out in the open as those voters standing in line for hours waiting for their turn to vote. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/no-one-in-america-should-have-to-wait-7-hours-to-vote/264506/

(bolding mine)

[Kid A]

Voter suppression in Illinois. President Obama voted absentee in Illinois and was asked to show ID... zowie! Good thing he renewed his drivers license or he may have been disenfranchised. Some one needs to reign in the evil republicans running the Chicago machine. Requiring that voters prove they are who they say they are.


Actually, as someone who lives in Illinois, I can tell you the voter laws in Illinois are very different from the new photo ID laws popping up in GOP controlled states.

Driver's license is just one form of ID acceptable to present at polls in Illinois:

- A valid and current Illinois driver's license
- A valid and current state ID issued by the Illinois Secretary of State
- A current utility bill with name and address
- A current bank statement with name and address
- A recent government check with name and address
- A recent paycheck with name and address
- Another government document that shows the name and address

For people (like senior citizens) who don't drive, a bank statement or gov check is easily available, doesn't require going out of there way to pay for and acquire a photo id.

[orinjkrush]

how about a photoshopped hawaii birf certificate?

[houghtam]

Actually, as someone who lives in Illinois, I can tell you the voter laws in Illinois are very different from the new photo ID laws popping up in GOP controlled states.

Driver's license is just one form of ID acceptable to present at polls in Illinois:

- A valid and current Illinois driver's license
- A valid and current state ID issued by the Illinois Secretary of State
- A current utility bill with name and address
- A current bank statement with name and address
- A recent government check with name and address
- A recent paycheck with name and address
- Another government document that shows the name and address

For people (like senior citizens) who don't drive, a bank statement or gov check is easily available, doesn't require going out of there way to pay for and acquire a photo id.

Very reasonable Voter ID laws. As long as that information (what different forms are valid) is prominently displayed and easily accessible, I don't see any problem with a law like that.

It's attempts like PA and OH's to require a specific form of ID many people may not have or a new form of ID many people may not be able to afford or obtain that are truly disgusting and a thinly veiled attempt to shrink the electorate, which always plays to the advantage of the Republicans.

[Garcia Bronco]

Unfortunately none of those indicate if you are a US Citizen with the privilege or the responsibility to vote in this country.

[houghtam]

Unfortunately none of those indicate if you are a US Citizen with the privilege or the responsibility to vote in this country.

That's what voter registration rolls are for.

derp.

[TonyR]

"One of the things that you always want to be for, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, is that you want everyone who's eligible to vote to vote. ... I think that all of this stuff that has transpired over the last two years is in search of a solution to a problem, voting fraud, that doesn’t really exist when you look deeply at the question. It’s part of the mythology now in the Republican Party that there’s widespread voter fraud across the country. In fact, there’s not." - Steve Schmidt, top McCain strategist in '08.
http://www.salon.com/2012/11/05/former_mccain_strategist_voter_fraud_doesnt_really _exist/