SCOTUS Allows Texas Voter I.D. Law

[89Hen]

http://www.wbaltv.com/politics/voting-i ... h/29354932

BALTIMORE —There are only eight days left before Election Day, and as more big names are expected to join Maryland's candidates for governor this week, a few problems have been reported surrounding the polls.

The Maryland State Board of Elections is investigating complaints that voting machines are flipping Republican votes to Democrat. Complaints of vote-flipping, as some call it, are coming from as many as nine Maryland counties, including Anne Arundel, Montgomery, Frederick, Howard, Queen Anne's and Baltimore counties. State elections officials said they have a team of people looking into the complaints.

[Skjellyfetti]

Vote flipping is a legitimate problem and it happens not just to R -> D

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdpGd74DrBM[/youtube]

The thing is... the voter ID laws do not fix any legitimate problems with voting in this country.

[89Hen]

Vote flipping is a legitimate problem and it happens not just to R -> D

The thing is... the voter ID laws do not fix any legitimate problems with voting in this country.

D > R would never happen in this state.

The other thing is... Voter ID laws do not create any legitimate problems with voting in this country.

[houndawg]

If we pass these voter ID laws and the conks keep on losing, what will be the next excuse?

[Skjellyfetti]

The other thing is... Voter ID laws do not create any legitimate problems with voting in this country.

It keeps people from voting that otherwise could do so legally?

[89Hen]

The other thing is... Voter ID laws do not create any legitimate problems with voting in this country.

It keeps people from voting that otherwise could do so legally?

How's that?

[Skjellyfetti]

Eric Kennie is a Texan. He is as Texan as the yucca plants growing outside his house. So Texan that he has never, in his 45 years, travelled outside the state. In fact, he has never even left his native city of Austin. “No sir, not one day. I was born and raised here, only place I know is Austin.”

You might think that more than qualifies Kennie as a citizen of the Lone Star state, entitling him to its most basic rights such as the ability to vote. Not so, according to the state of Texas and its Republican political leadership. On 4 November, when America goes to the polls in the midterm elections, for the first time in his adult life Eric Kennie will not be allowed to participate.

Ever since he turned 18 he has made a point of voting in general elections, having been brought up by his African American parents to think that it is important, part of what he calls “doing the right thing”. He remembers the excitement of voting for Barack Obama in 2008 to help elect the country’s first black president, his grandmother crying tears of joy on election night. “My grandfather and uncle, they used to tell me all the time there will be a black president. I never believed it, never in a million years.”

He voted again for Obama in 2012, and turned out for the 2010 midterm elections in between. But this year is different. Kennie is one of an estimated 600,000 Texans who, though registered to vote, will be unable to do so because they cannot meet photo-identification requirements set out in the state’s new voter-ID law, SB14 .

The law, which has been deemed by the courts to be the strictest of its kind in the US, forces any would-be voter to produce photographic proof of identity at polling stations. It was justified by Governor Rick Perry and the Republican chiefs in the state legislature as a means of combatting electoral fraud in a state where in the past 10 years some 20m votes have been cast, yet only two cases of voter impersonation have been prosecuted to conviction.

Before SB14 came into effect, Kennie was able to vote by simply showing a voter registration card posted to his home address. Under the vastly more stringent demands of the new law, he must take with him to the polling station one of six forms of identification bearing his photograph. The problem is, he doesn’t have any of the six and there’s no way he’s going to be able to acquire one any time soon.

The first of the six forms of ID accepted under SB14 is a US passport. No luck there. What would someone who has never even crossed the city boundary of Austin do with a passport?

The second is a US military ID card, but Kennie has never been in the military. The third is a driving licence, but he doesn’t have a car and has never possessed a driving licence.

The fourth is a license to carry a concealed handgun. “I did have my own gun when I was about 14 or 15,” he said, “but that was 30 years ago.” The fifth is a citizenship certificate, and no, he doesn’t have that either.

And then there’s the sixth method of identification allowed under the law. It’s a new form of photo-ID card created specifically for voting under SB14, known as an election identification certificate (EIC).

To get an EIC, Kennie needs to be able to show the Texas department of public safety (DPS) other forms of documentation that satisfy them as to his identity. He presented them with his old personal ID card – issued by the DPS itself and with his photo on it – but because it is more than 60 days expired (it ran out in 2000) they didn’t accept it. Next he showed them an electricity bill, and after that a cable TV bill, but on each occasion they said it didn’t cut muster and turned him away.

Each trip to the DPS office involved taking three buses, a journey that can stretch to a couple of hours. Then he had to stand in line, waiting for up to a further three hours to be seen, before finally making another two-hour schlep home.

In one of his trips to the DPS last year they told him he needed to get hold of a copy of his birth certificate as the only remaining way he could meet the requirements and get his EIC. That meant going on yet another three-bus trek to the official records office in a different part of town.

The cost of acquiring a birth certificate in Texas is $23, which may not sound much but it is to Kennie. He is poor, like many of the up to 600,000 Texans caught in the current voter ID trap.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014 ... nority-law" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[travelinman67]

The other thing is... Voter ID laws do not create any legitimate problems with voting in this country.

It keeps people from voting that otherwise could do so legally?

It keeps people from voting that otherwise have done so illegally.

[AZGrizFan]

It keeps people from voting that otherwise could do so legally?

How's that?

Yes, please elaborate.

[89Hen]

Kennie is one of an estimated 600,000 Texans who, though registered to vote, will be unable to do so because they cannot meet photo-identification requirements set out in the state’s new voter-ID law, SB14 .

The problem is the Texas law being too prohibitive then. Not that an ID is required. Other states with voter ID laws don't have this same problem.

[AZGrizFan]

The cost of acquiring a birth certificate in Texas is $23, which may not sound much but it is to Kennie. He is poor, like many of the up to 600,000 Texans caught in the current voter ID trap.

You ought to try gettin' a fucking drivers license in this state (or as The Guardian calls it "a driving license").

[Ibanez]

The other thing is... Voter ID laws do not create any legitimate problems with voting in this country.

It keeps people from voting that otherwise could do so legally?

What? That makes no sense. You already need an ID for so many other things. You can't get a job, cash a check, get your welfare check, get on a plane, buy cigarettes, etc... without showing ID. Seriously, what the hell is the problem? Oh, that's right. The problem is that the Left says this will disenfranchise people that don't have IDs. It's 2014!

[Ibanez]

Kennie is one of an estimated 600,000 Texans who, though registered to vote, will be unable to do so because they cannot meet photo-identification requirements set out in the state’s new voter-ID law, SB14 .

The problem is the Texas law being too prohibitive then. Not that an ID is required. Other states with voter ID laws don't have this same problem.

IF the State is going to require you to have state issued Identification to vote and you do not have it, then the state should provide it. Yes, it's an expense, but that is the ONLY way to avoid this, " People can't afford to get an ID."

[Ibanez]

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014 ... nority-law" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm sure Texas has a list of documents that would satisfy the requirement. Maybe he should have taken time to get the necessary documents instead of wasting time on the bus. How does this guy buy alcohol, cigarettes, porn, prove he's the person cashing a check, registering at the doctors office, etc..? Furthermore, if he thinks a cable bill is proof of Citizenship, then we are doomed if he ever votes! The guy is 45 yrs old and has gotten this far with NEVER having to prove his identity? I call bullshit. He had an ID card...what's preventing him from renewing it? Nothing. This is a non issue, IMO.

[AZGrizFan]

I'm sure Texas has a list of documents that would satisfy the requirement. Maybe he should have taken time to get the necessary documents instead of wasting time on the bus. How does this guy buy alcohol, cigarettes, porn, prove he's the person cashing a check, registering at the doctors office, etc..? Furthermore, if he thinks a cable bill is proof of Citizenship, then we are doomed if he ever votes! The guy is 45 yrs old and has gotten this far with NEVER having to prove his identity? I call bullshit. He had an ID card...what's preventing him from renewing it? Nothing. This is a non issue, IMO.

While I fully support the need for Voter ID laws, I am here to tell you that Texas has some severely fucked up identification requirements. Case in point: I tried to get my driver's license when I moved here and had to bring my Arizona license, my birth certificate, my passport or social security card, a mortgage or electric bill showing residency, my auto insurance and my car title. Just to get a fucking drivers license. In EVERY other state I"ve lived in, if you carry a valid DL from one state, they simply exchange it for one from their state when you arrive....but not Texas....NOOOOOOOOOOOO.....that would make too much sense. They wouldn't give my wife a DL because she's not on the title of any of our cars. THAT'S the fucking mentality we're dealing with here.

edit: Oh, and there's a list alright, but when you pull that list off the internet, it contradicts itself at every turn. So, going by that doesn't always (in fact RARELY) work. Took me three trips to get MY DL, and my wife and daughter are still using their AZ DL's over a year later because it's too fucking convoluted to get a Texas DL.

[Ibanez]

I'm sure Texas has a list of documents that would satisfy the requirement. Maybe he should have taken time to get the necessary documents instead of wasting time on the bus. How does this guy buy alcohol, cigarettes, porn, prove he's the person cashing a check, registering at the doctors office, etc..? Furthermore, if he thinks a cable bill is proof of Citizenship, then we are doomed if he ever votes! The guy is 45 yrs old and has gotten this far with NEVER having to prove his identity? I call bullshit. He had an ID card...what's preventing him from renewing it? Nothing. This is a non issue, IMO.

While I fully support the need for Voter ID laws, I am here to tell you that Texas has some severely fucked up identification requirements. Case in point: I tried to get my driver's license when I moved here and had to bring my Arizona license, my birth certificate, my passport or social security card, a mortgage or electric bill showing residency, my auto insurance and my car title. Just to get a fucking drivers license. In EVERY other state I"ve lived in, if you carry a valid DL from one state, they simply exchange it for one from their state when you arrive....but not Texas....NOOOOOOOOOOOO.....that would make too much sense. They wouldn't give my wife a DL because she's not on the title of any of our cars. THAT'S the fucking mentality we're dealing with here.

edit: Oh, and there's a list alright, but when you pull that list off the internet, it contradicts itself at every turn. So, going by that doesn't always (in fact RARELY) work. Took me three trips to get MY DL, and my wife and daughter are still using their AZ DL's over a year later because it's too fucking convoluted to get a Texas DL.

No blood and/or semen samples? So, your wife isn't on the title of a car and couldn't get a DL? How do teenagers get them?

Maybe we should return Texas. I've never moved out of state so I don't know how difficult it could be but I've known people to move to South Carolina, take proof of residency and their old DL to the DMV during lunch and get a new DL.

[AZGrizFan]

While I fully support the need for Voter ID laws, I am here to tell you that Texas has some severely fucked up identification requirements. Case in point: I tried to get my driver's license when I moved here and had to bring my Arizona license, my birth certificate, my passport or social security card, a mortgage or electric bill showing residency, my auto insurance and my car title. Just to get a fucking drivers license. In EVERY other state I"ve lived in, if you carry a valid DL from one state, they simply exchange it for one from their state when you arrive....but not Texas....NOOOOOOOOOOOO.....that would make too much sense. They wouldn't give my wife a DL because she's not on the title of any of our cars. THAT'S the fucking mentality we're dealing with here.

edit: Oh, and there's a list alright, but when you pull that list off the internet, it contradicts itself at every turn. So, going by that doesn't always (in fact RARELY) work. Took me three trips to get MY DL, and my wife and daughter are still using their AZ DL's over a year later because it's too fucking convoluted to get a Texas DL.

No blood and/or semen samples?

Maybe we should return Texas. I've never moved out of state so I don't know how difficult it could be but I've known people to move to South Carolina, take proof of residency and their old DL to the DMV during lunch and get a new DL.

It's incredibly frustrating dealing with the local government types here. Worst that I've ever seen...and I'm an educated White man. Can't imagine what a poor black fella goes through when he gets off that third bus.

[89Hen]

The problem is the Texas law being too prohibitive then. Not that an ID is required. Other states with voter ID laws don't have this same problem.

IF the State is going to require you to have state issued Identification to vote and you do not have it, then the state should provide it. Yes, it's an expense, but that is the ONLY way to avoid this, " People can't afford to get an ID."

I can agree with that.

[GannonFan]

IF the State is going to require you to have state issued Identification to vote and you do not have it, then the state should provide it. Yes, it's an expense, but that is the ONLY way to avoid this, " People can't afford to get an ID."

I can agree with that.

Agreed too. If you have a voter ID law, it shouldn't cost you at all to get the ID. Texas is just an example of a messed up state when it comes to governing (among other things).

[CID1990]

Eric Kennie is a Texan. He is as Texan as the yucca plants growing outside his house. So Texan that he has never, in his 45 years, travelled outside the state. In fact, he has never even left his native city of Austin. “No sir, not one day. I was born and raised here, only place I know is Austin.”

You might think that more than qualifies Kennie as a citizen of the Lone Star state, entitling him to its most basic rights such as the ability to vote. Not so, according to the state of Texas and its Republican political leadership. On 4 November, when America goes to the polls in the midterm elections, for the first time in his adult life Eric Kennie will not be allowed to participate.

Ever since he turned 18 he has made a point of voting in general elections, having been brought up by his African American parents to think that it is important, part of what he calls “doing the right thing”. He remembers the excitement of voting for Barack Obama in 2008 to help elect the country’s first black president, his grandmother crying tears of joy on election night. “My grandfather and uncle, they used to tell me all the time there will be a black president. I never believed it, never in a million years.”

He voted again for Obama in 2012, and turned out for the 2010 midterm elections in between. But this year is different. Kennie is one of an estimated 600,000 Texans who, though registered to vote, will be unable to do so because they cannot meet photo-identification requirements set out in the state’s new voter-ID law, SB14 .

The law, which has been deemed by the courts to be the strictest of its kind in the US, forces any would-be voter to produce photographic proof of identity at polling stations. It was justified by Governor Rick Perry and the Republican chiefs in the state legislature as a means of combatting electoral fraud in a state where in the past 10 years some 20m votes have been cast, yet only two cases of voter impersonation have been prosecuted to conviction.

Before SB14 came into effect, Kennie was able to vote by simply showing a voter registration card posted to his home address. Under the vastly more stringent demands of the new law, he must take with him to the polling station one of six forms of identification bearing his photograph. The problem is, he doesn’t have any of the six and there’s no way he’s going to be able to acquire one any time soon.

The first of the six forms of ID accepted under SB14 is a US passport. No luck there. What would someone who has never even crossed the city boundary of Austin do with a passport?

The second is a US military ID card, but Kennie has never been in the military. The third is a driving licence, but he doesn’t have a car and has never possessed a driving licence.

The fourth is a license to carry a concealed handgun. “I did have my own gun when I was about 14 or 15,” he said, “but that was 30 years ago.” The fifth is a citizenship certificate, and no, he doesn’t have that either.

And then there’s the sixth method of identification allowed under the law. It’s a new form of photo-ID card created specifically for voting under SB14, known as an election identification certificate (EIC).

To get an EIC, Kennie needs to be able to show the Texas department of public safety (DPS) other forms of documentation that satisfy them as to his identity. He presented them with his old personal ID card – issued by the DPS itself and with his photo on it – but because it is more than 60 days expired (it ran out in 2000) they didn’t accept it. Next he showed them an electricity bill, and after that a cable TV bill, but on each occasion they said it didn’t cut muster and turned him away.

Each trip to the DPS office involved taking three buses, a journey that can stretch to a couple of hours. Then he had to stand in line, waiting for up to a further three hours to be seen, before finally making another two-hour schlep home.

In one of his trips to the DPS last year they told him he needed to get hold of a copy of his birth certificate as the only remaining way he could meet the requirements and get his EIC. That meant going on yet another three-bus trek to the official records office in a different part of town.

The cost of acquiring a birth certificate in Texas is $23, which may not sound much but it is to Kennie. He is poor, like many of the up to 600,000 Texans caught in the current voter ID trap.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014 ... nority-law" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For every one Eric there are 20 dead Juans

[AZGrizFan]

I can agree with that.

Agreed too. If you have a voter ID law, it shouldn't cost you at all to get the ID. Texas is just an example of a messed up state when it comes to governing (among other things).

It's not costing him for the ID. It's costing him for the birth certificate to prove who he is so he can GET the ID.

[Ibanez]

Agreed too. If you have a voter ID law, it shouldn't cost you at all to get the ID. Texas is just an example of a messed up state when it comes to governing (among other things).

It's not costing him for the ID. It's costing him for the birth certificate to prove who he is so he can GET the ID.

I understand the slippery slope the Left talks about, however it's a bunch of bunk. I don't have a copy of my birth certificate. But I have a passport. And a drivers license. And to work in SC, I've have had show my ID. Don't most employers require proof that you can work in the US? Something tells me this fella doesn't work.

[CAA Flagship]

So poor people get welfare and other entitlements without an ID? Something stinks.
The pussification continues.

[Skjellyfetti]

Something tells me this fella doesn't work.

He cashes in scrap metal. He makes about $20 a day - the cost of the birth certificate.

Yes, he's very poor.

And, a poor black man may not be much of a sympathetic figure to y'all. There was another story of a 93 year old veteran being turned away because of a lack of photo ID. His drivers license expired years ago.

It really is a crock of shit.

[Skjellyfetti]

double post