Can someone explain to me why voter ID laws are bad?

The intent is discriminatory.

sekond guesser wrote:

The intent is discriminatory.

How??? That's what Liberals say about anything they don't like or want. How are voter ID laws discriminatory? Everyone has to prove they are who they say they are...the voter ID laws aren't to just single out one group and force only them to prove who they are. They are for everyone, therefore by definition they are not discriminatory.

It is racist against poor people who don't have licenses or passports.

NPSFlib wrote:

It is racist against poor people who don't have licenses or passports.

Driving is racist. Travelling is racist.

NPSFlib wrote:

It is racist against poor people who don't have licenses or passports.

They can have state ID's. Say they are poor and on assistance, how do they prove their identity there? How do they prove their identity for Medicaid?

There is no reason at all why someone shouldn't have an ID. There is no discrimination, just lack of initiative to get it and too many people making excuses for them. Like the social justice warriors who cry "race" for everything under the freaking sun.

There's a very obvious tell in nearly all state voter ID laws - absentee balloting doesn't require ID. Wouldn't those intent on fraud prefer to just mail in a few thousand illicit votes rather than physically cast ballots at multiple locations on voting day? The answer is obvious so why no requirement on most absentee ballots if preventing fraud is the objective? Simple, because the intent of the law is to target favorable demographics for the political party responsible for the legislation.

Identification for any civil rights is racist!

Tree 26 wrote:

NPSFlib wrote:

It is racist against poor people who don't have licenses or passports.

Driving is racist. Travelling is racist.

Driving and traveling aren't constitutional rights. One person, one vote, is. The question that voter ID opponents raise is why is universal suffrage bad? What is wrong with letting people without IDs vote? When it comes to illegal/undemocratic outcomes, the evidence seems to support them more than you.

webby wrote:

Tree 26 wrote:

Driving is racist. Travelling is racist.

Driving and traveling aren't constitutional rights. One person, one vote, is. The question that voter ID opponents raise is why is universal suffrage bad? What is wrong with letting people without IDs vote? When it comes to illegal/undemocratic outcomes, the evidence seems to support them more than you.

Without proper identification, one person/one vote is unenforceable and unachievable. Your argument refutes itself.

19th Amendment wrote:

There's a very obvious tell in nearly all state voter ID laws - absentee balloting doesn't require ID. Wouldn't those intent on fraud prefer to just mail in a few thousand illicit votes rather than physically cast ballots at multiple locations on voting day? The answer is obvious so why no requirement on most absentee ballots if preventing fraud is the objective? Simple, because the intent of the law is to target favorable demographics for the political party responsible for the legislation.

Bullshit. Complete bullshit.

The reason is that it would be way more inconvenient for Dems to bus people to the voting booths if they had to actually take the time to prove that the people they were busing in 1. are citizens, 2. are eligible to vote, and 3. are zoned to vote at the voting center in question.

There is absolutely no reason why the same ID used to claim government assistance shouldn't be required to vote. They could even bring in their tax return...now THERE is a good joke.

Can you link to examples of the massive voter fraud which requires all the hand-wringing and passing of new voter-id laws?

Maybe people passing these laws don't vote themselves. I have to go the correct precinct (of which there are hundreds in my city alone). I have to then give my name, and sign the voter roll. If someone had already used my name, it would be signed already and I wouldn't be able to vote.

So what are the fraudsters doing? Showing up at a polling site, guessing people's names who haven't yet voted, signing in as them, voting, leaving, then coming back, guessing another name, rinse and repeat? Do people really think this is happening en masse? That's ridiculous.

webby wrote:

Tree 26 wrote:

Driving is racist. Travelling is racist.

Driving and traveling aren't constitutional rights. One person, one vote, is. The question that voter ID opponents raise is why is universal suffrage bad? What is wrong with letting people without IDs vote? When it comes to illegal/undemocratic outcomes, the evidence seems to support them more than you.

You have it backwards. Freedom to travel is a constitutional right. Meanwhile, there is no individual constitutional right to vote.

I think it is a bit overblown. Yes, there have been a few (and very few) cases of voter fraud. It also seems a little silly since you can mail in a ballot without an ID.

I am not opposed to the laws but I think they are a solution looking for a problem.

webby wrote:

Tree 26 wrote:

Driving is racist. Travelling is racist.

Driving and traveling aren't constitutional rights. One person, one vote, is. The question that voter ID opponents raise is why is universal suffrage bad? What is wrong with letting people without IDs vote? When it comes to illegal/undemocratic outcomes, the evidence seems to support them more than you.

Why would anyone want someone who doesn't contribute to society to vote? Who could possibly think that is a good idea?

19th Amendment wrote:

There's a very obvious tell in nearly all state voter ID laws - absentee balloting doesn't require ID.

Absentee balloting has long favored Republicans.

Legislators and Gov. Rick Scott said they wanted to make voting less convenient — "harder," according to one senator — as part of a systemwide crackdown on fraud.

Only here's the thing: They are full of it.

They never wanted to crack down on fraud. If they had, they would have focused on the voting method where fraud most easily thrives — absentee ballots.

Think about it: With absentee ballots, no elections official ever lays eyes on many of the supposed voters. No one verifies ID — or even that the supposed voter is still alive.

In Florida, fraudulent absentee ballots have allowed corpses to vote — and prompted entire elections to be overturned.

Yet Scott and the Legislature did nothing to crack down on this little-regulated practice, originally developed for active-duty military personnel, yet now used by anyone who wants to do so.

Instead, they went after early voters — shortening the time from 14 days down to 8 — with legislators such as Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton saying: "I wouldn't mind making it harder to vote. It should not be easy."

Why? Because absentee voting has long favored Republicans.

And early voting has favored Democrats.

So Republicans decided to clamp down only on early voting — in the name of combating "fraud" — while leaving the voting method most susceptible to fraud completely untouched.

IT Guy wrote:

Can you link to examples of the massive voter fraud which requires all the hand-wringing and passing of new voter-id laws?

Maybe people passing these laws don't vote themselves. I have to go the correct precinct (of which there are hundreds in my city alone). I have to then give my name, and sign the voter roll. If someone had already used my name, it would be signed already and I wouldn't be able to vote.

So what are the fraudsters doing? Showing up at a polling site, guessing people's names who haven't yet voted, signing in as them, voting, leaving, then coming back, guessing another name, rinse and repeat? Do people really think this is happening en masse? That's ridiculous.

How often are those voting lists purged? The crapshoot you propose indeed seems silly, but if John Smith hasn't voted in 20 years (or died and hasn't been removed yet), it is a different story.

Nobody thinks people who commit fraud are idiots. There is always a way, just like there is always an explanation for those magic tricks you see on TV.

thejeff wrote:

Why would anyone want someone who doesn't contribute to society to vote? Who could possibly think that is a good idea?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you a teacher?

Then according to this board, you should not only be stripped of your right to vote, but also sent to jail without any hope of parole

sekond guesser wrote:

The intent is discriminatory.

So are TSA checks at the airport. Let's get rid of them NOW!

racket wrote:

thejeff wrote:

Why would anyone want someone who doesn't contribute to society to vote? Who could possibly think that is a good idea?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you a teacher?

Then according to this board, you should not only be stripped of your right to vote, but also sent to jail without any hope of parole

I lol'd, but I am not sure why :-)

Are you saying that teachers don't contribute to society? Or were you just making a general statement about the views expressed on this site?