If you have to have a drivers license and the drivers license isn’t free, that’s a poll tax and illegal.

This could actually work out. The DMV’s in most states are like outposts of hell. Slow, generally understaffed, and grumpy. You could make a case that the DMV’s are a barrier to voting and require them to properly staff.

Boxturtle (And how does a corporation get a drivers license?)

This bill is less stringent then many bills. It doesn’t define ID as a drivers liscence. You could potentially bring your utility bill to the polls and have it serve as an “ID” from what I understand.

They don’t require the ID be a drivers liscence.

Why won’t minorities or the elderly carry ids? Seems reasonable to confirm ones identity before allowing them to vote.

The bill would allow voters to present any of several documents as valid identification, including a driver’s license, voter registration card, government-issued photo ID, social security card, bank statement or utility bill.

The first three cost, not everybody has the last two. and to get a replacement SS card you need:

“Complete an Application For A Social Security Card (Form SS-5);
Present a recently issued document to show your identity;
Show evidence of your U.S. citizenship if you were born outside the United States and did not show proof of citizenship when you got your card; and
Show evidence of your current lawful noncitizen status if you are not a U.S. citizen.”

Be real difficult to do the above if you’re homeless, illiterate, or speak only spanish.

Boxturtle (Got no problem with voter ID, got problems with how they are implementing it)

Cost. Hassle. Lack of knowledge that they need to do so until they’ve been denied the vote.

Boxturtle (betting that there’s no money to advertise this change)

What difference if they have to show an ID or not. No one actually counts any real votes anyway.

Really not that hard or expensive to get a government issued photo id. Stop making excuses for people just being plain lazy.

Cost is like $5……Not really a barrier to entry.

It is time for the Democrats to stop complaining that the Repubs are passing voter suppression laws and do something about it. We have known that they have been working on this for the past two years. Why has no Democratic organization spent any money to remedy the situation. If they are making it so everyone needs to have an ID, then we need to get those potential voters an ID. Go into Virginia and start bringing the elderly and minorities to the DMV to get ID. Help the get the documentation required for this and pay for their ID. IT will cost less and be much more effective than an ad about the voter suppression. This might even be a great task for the occupy movement. While you are trucking the potential voters to get their ID, then you can make an effective Ad about how their (Repubs) voter suppression tactics will not work. Crying about the fact that Repubs are undemocratic and unfair is already pretty well known.

Nice pantload. These same Repubs are closing the DMVs in the minority and elderly areas, making it harder to get the IDs. $5 is only for the ID itself. Many of the elderly will have to pay more to get birth certificate documentation. That is why the the DNC should be organizing and paying for those in need to get their IDs.

I was an Official Election Observer in the 2004 Ohio Re-Count.

No mention of the Democratic Party and its horrific anti-democratic actions in Pennsylvania, Ohio etc etc? When Ralph Nader was not even allowed to be on the ballot 2004? Or in Minnesota when the Democrats gerrymandered Green Party elected officials in Minneapolis?

Perhaps more recent examples like in Wisconsin just a few weeks ago. Wisconsin resident Aldous Tyler or Darcy Richardson were not allowed to be on the ballot to primary president Oily-Bomber.

Oh heavens. Where is the outrage?

This is a bi-partisan issue. To pretend otherwise is shameful Veal Pen politics.

Watch the movie American Blackout with my hero, Cynthia McKinney and then let us talk of the issue of the War On Voting.

I have no problem showing my ID along with my Voter Registration card. However, if I have to show all that stuff then I really want my vote counted. If I have to show my stuff, then they must show me my ballot and allow me to see it counted. PAPER BALLOTS!

No more paperless black box vote machines.

How old are you?

Do you realize that most of the elderly were not born in a hospital and do not have a government issued birth certificate?

The reason the Cons, er Selfservatives are pushing this is because they have attacked Social Security and do not want the voter backlash.

If you can’t prove you are a citizen of this country what possible reason do you have to be voting? This is a non-issue.

As BT pointed out in #5, there are countless homeless, illiterate, and Spanish-only speakers who are clamoring to vote.

I don’t have any problem if you want to make it easier for these dregs of society to get their ID as they are hopefully citizens. But that is a separate issue from requiring one to identify themselves as a citizen prior to voting.

WRONG!

People have their supposed secret identification numbers that were at one time used to identify them as citizens. Of course, that was before banks and every other entity was allowed to require that number and they went willy nilly across the planet.

Why do they have to have a PICTURE ID?

And if you are so keen on kicking elligible voters out of the system, then why can’t we have REAL paper ballots?

why a picture id? To prevent fraud….To prevent you from using my ssn.. What are you so scared of?

“dregs of society”

That pointer you have might turn around.

What on earth would make you think that homeless, illerate, or spanish speakers are not American citizens? Our economic and society structure promotes all three!

I’m not afraid of anything.

Why is the GOP so afraid of paper ballots and transparent counting?

But you have to have to have something to establish that you have the right to vote – like I might want to vote for the next Canadian PM when I go to Canada, but just because I want to vote for someone, it doesn’t therefore mean that I can or should be able to vote for them…The Canadians wouldn’t have to accept me voting in their elections just because I’m a warm body who shows up.

I’m not saying they aren’t citizens. I’m not saying all of them are either. If they can prove their citizenship they won;t have any problem voting. Seems very reasonable.

People that already have their district issued voter ID card should be allowed to vote regardless of having another set of identification.

Why are county issued voter ID cards not good enough for the Cons?

So you are all in favor of disenfranchising the elderly who might well have been born at home and not have a birth certificate? Especially poorer elderly in their ’60s and up?

Because that is a large part of the universe of people impacted here.

And even though $5 may be cheap to you, for a poor person, that just might be the loaf of bread and half gallon of milk for the last week of the month. And it is a poll tax by just another name.

Because they don’t have a picture so there is no way to match the district issued voter id to the person actually there to vote. I could show up with your district issued id and vote under your name. If a picture ID was required that wouldn’t happen. If I write your name down on a piece of paper it does not make me you.

What kind of milk are you buying that it lasts a month?

That argument lost it legs in 1970.

A person with their voter registration ID can only vote ONCE in their own Precinct.

You people have lost any reality and are simply trying to keep people from the polls. It is evident and not about to change the minds of people that have voted for years and registered to vote in their legal areas.

The ONLY people that are allowed to vote fraudulantly are people like Ann Coulter and other rabid right Conselfservatives.

OMG!

You can’t even read. No wonder your mind is twisted.

Who said anything about voting more than once? If you vote under my name its fraud. Having a picture id helps confirm the voters identity.

misread the post……whoopie…..

Having your voter registration card prevents fraud!

Hell, if someone stole your SS card what makes you think they wouldn’t get the driver’s and voter ID’s?

The issue is insanity in it’s premise and all of you that keep it going just prove how much you wish to knock out the votes.

I never said they wouldn’t. But that is a hell of a lot more work then borrowing grandmas voter registration card and heading down to the precinct for her.

Are you so scared that the picture id won’t match the name on voter registration card?

You are your type can keep going on this issue. That’s fine with me. I don’t care how deep you dig the holes you have to stand in.

Because, believe me it will be a hole that you can’t fill back up fast enough. Keep talking about voter fraud because it helps to convince America that the black boxes and secret counting will come to an end quicker!

I suppose you would be opposed to finger print identification as well. Much more difficult to defraud the system that way isn’t it?

There is no requirement of a picture. If you are going to type then you should at least know what you are talking about. Otherwise you look like an idiot.

You’re delusional. No wonder you can’t find a job.

Hey pops. The whole conversation above is about why a picture id should be required. Get a clue, otherwise you will look like an idiot.

Someone who after six decades still hadn’t gotten their birth certificate also wouldn’t be able to receive Social Security, etc. Not getting a birth certificate far from being an expense, would be costing them thousands of dollars a year in lost benefits.

So grandma votes ONCE. Big deal.

Just keep up the fraud talking points. I love it because it will make our system better.

Yes voter fraud is a big deal.

Mark Sanford and Nikki Haley are why I can’t find a job.

You should watch your pointer. Like I said, it may turn on you.

I told you I would accept that California job you had but you never sent the company contact info. DON’T YOU EVER talk about jobs with me again!

EVER!

you never gave me your email address……….Makes it difficult to reach out to someone.

Yep. For the Cons, it is always a big deal.

I’m done. You cannot be any more dense than a hickory plank.

Certainly a “spirited” discussion here today.
Think I’m gonna sit this one out.
..
..
OK, OK, OK….how ’bout we try this. When you “register” to vote, you list a “password”. That password must be disseminated before you are allowed to vote. No, that won’t work. I forget all my passwords here at work and have to have the IT guy tell me what they are.

That’s my best shot….I give up.

You are trying to argue that voting for someone else is not voter fraud and you’re calling me “more dense than a hickory plank”

Most people have or can get access to a Social Security card. While it does require documentation, it isn’t onerous. My son recently headed down to the Social Security office with his selective service card and his birth certificate and was able to obtain his.

In order to register to vote you have to have a domicile. If you are residing at a shelter then I would hope that shelter staff would help individuals locate and access resources to ensure they get documentation like a birth certificate or social security card. Items like the two mentioned would be pretty integral to being able to move forward past residing in a shelter at some point in time.

First off, I’m female. So calling me pops makes you look like a moron AGAIN. Second off, the post is ACTUALLY about the Virginia law, which does NOT require any “picture ID.” So, again, you look like a moron.

If I were you I’d quit while I was ahead.

Requiring someone to present some other type of identification ALONG with their voter registration is not out of line unless you require an American Express card or their country club ID. :-)

I told you not to wear pants to the blogosphere…:-)

18 posts and counting from BackEast. Either you’re a paid troll, or you have too much time on your hands. Or maybe both.

Ironically enough, the party that appears to commit it fairly frequently is the one proposing legislation to prevent it.

Jane pays me to keep the page hits up. Thanks for participating.

Getting the I.D. can be a problem.

#1 State I.D. REQUIRES a Birth Certificate be presented (not a COPY, but one with the official Seal) or a CURRENT Passport (which you can’t get without a birth certificate).

Many older people do not have, and never have had, a birth certificate. My father is an example–born at home, on a farm, with NO record. When he applied for Social Security, fortunately he had an older sister that could supply a signed affidavit that he was actually born when he said he was, and that he was who he said he was. Doesn’t look as though this is “good enough” anymore. Many people are in this situation.

Since many people do not have an original, stamped birth certificate, they must obtain one, possibly from another state. This, in itself, is a drawn-out process (I went through this myself 30 years ago) and is not inexpensive.

#2. If someone is a naturalized citizen, they must provide BOTH a birth certificate for the country in which they were born AND their citizenship papers. The latter is easy, the first–not so much if you were born in someplace like Tanzania or Botswana or Maylasia. How do I know this? Because my wife just got a state I.D. under the new rules. Fortunately, she was born in Britain and actually had a birth certificate.

#3. For women, who may have changed their names multiple times due to divorce, or having been remarried, or even just married once, even with a birth certificate they must produce their marriage papers to “prove” their name change. This is another really difficult hurdle to overcome if the marriage certificate has been lost or destroyed, and replacement requires MONEY.

The government is actually REQUIRING what they call “Secure I.D.”, and even states that have chosen to opt-out, such as the state that I live in, are actually implementing the Federal requirements for their I.D. and driver’s license. If you think Virginia will not do the same, you are living in fantasyland. Requiring anything other than a rent receipt or utility bill in order to vote will lower the numbers of people that vote. It especially will lower the number of poor voters, who cannot afford to pay for their I.D. or for the certified birth certificate (even if available) or marriage license that they will need in order to get that I.D.

IT said my password needed to be eight characters, so I used Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Ba Da Bum.

“Many people are in this situation.
Since many people do not have an original, stamped birth certificate, they must obtain one, possibly from another state. This, in itself, is a drawn-out process (I went through this myself 30 years ago) and is not inexpensive.”

But along with getting that, it makes you eligible for thousands of dollars per year. It’s not like you’d get nothing in return for your efforts…not doing it leaves gives you nothing and cuts you out of the social safety net. It might be a long drawn out process, but by the time someone is reaching retirement age, it should have been taken care of by then, which there are shelters and agencies to help with that if someone is indigent.

“Requiring anything other than a rent receipt or utility bill in order to vote will lower the numbers of people that vote.”

If I’m a Rhodes Scholar from Kentucky who is studying at Oxford University, just because I pay rent and utilities for a flat in the UK, it shouldn’t mean that I should be able to vote in UK elections. Conversely you would be blocking the homeless from voting as well as those who live with friends/family and don’t pay rent.

Since we’re primarily talking about homeless, illiterate, and Spanish-only speakers (hopefully a small population, even for VA), we could allow anyone who walks up vote. If they can show ID, let their vote be counted unconditionally. If not, let their vote be held “pending confirmation”.

Then if the Dems win 50k votes to the Reps 40K or somesuch, and there are only 1200 “no ID” votes, it doesn’t matter anyway.

This particular bill does not require the ID to be a state issued ID. As a matter of fact it allows the second form of ID to be something as simple as a utility bill.

It was probably written this way because the courts have required states that require state ID to fork over the money to pay for those ids. That being said its list is pretty broad in terms of what qualifies as ID.

IT told ME I couldn’t use my last name. So I used HIS last name.

You have to be registered to vote and they don’t have same day registering in this state. With that onus in place you could hardly qualify as just “walking up and voting” even before this bill.

I “move” we support the VA bill as written.
Second???

So when did Republicans suddenly come out in favor of a national ID card? You hypocrites have been whining about Social Security and the Mark of the Beast since before I was born.

Oh, I know why — it’s because your puppeteers at ALEC know that requiring voter ID and putting up other barriers to voting makes it harder for people who don’t tend to vote for Republicans! That’s why Minnesota’s own ALEC go-to person Mary Kiffmeyer fought with former US Attorney Tom Heffelfinger over whether or not Native Americans could use their tribally-issued driver’s licenses to vote in state elections.

Just admit it, dude: Your side is racist. Thanks for playing!

You know, I know that this whole thing is a Republican effort to disenfranchise people. But as a good government democratic lefty I have to say that it makes good rational bureaucratic sense that every citizen have a verifiable ID, and shame on the left if we don’t work to make this happen, either nationally or in every state.

The problem with this legislation is how it’s being implemented and for what purposes. But get out the vote requires that parties (at least) know who everyone is, where they are, what challenges they face in voting, and it requires that we work to make sure that they overcome those challenges. Whether for a party or for governments, organization requires…. being organized. I’d rather see the left jumping on this bandwagon, and pushing it toward a national ID system (franchised in all likelihood to the states for administration), and making the wing nutters uncomfortable as all hell… than to just oppose it because of how and why it is being raised now.

Here in Oregon the whole ID thing seems pretty trivial, especially if you tend to stay at the same address over the years. They just mail the ballot to you, confirming your address in the process, and you sign the ballot and mail it back, confirming your identity in the process, after a fashion.

But a national database, or 50 distributed databases, of US citizens, together with their current voting status, current insurance status and other useful details for getting along in life, just seems like simple common sense to me, and something to aim for as a policy goal, and something to make the right crazy with in a useful way as we do it.