Sunday May 29, 2011, 3:27 am
Republicans have a long history of gaining electoral advantage by schemes to deprive people likely to vote for Democrats of the right to vote. Methods used include caging, choosing challenge based on race, electronic vote theft (ES&S and Diebold), preventing voter registration campaigns, placing too few polling places districts with high concentrations of minority voters, and now, voter ID laws. Their excuse is the straw man, voter fraud. The actual problem is virtually nonexistent, and what few cases there have been are mostly Republican fraud.

Sunday May 29, 2011, 5:04 am
A.) Here in Washington State, your legal I.D. is just like a driver's liscence, if you do not drive...and it states that it is I.D. only and is valid for 5 years, (to drive, it must be renewed every year)...what is wrong with that?

B.) The rest of this, though, I have been wanting to hear solutions, since the last Presidential election, on how to stop the GOP from this garbage.....(I donot know everything, nor do I hear everything).......all I have heard is that all these items, incidences have happened, how outraged "LOGICAL" people are, Senators, Congressmen,Reporters, Journalists, etc.,MSNBC & Bill Maher Shows, etc........What are the solutions and what can the general public do, to prevent this "#^%*&%@#@!!! crap" FROM HAPPENING ANYMORE!!??!

C.) Seriously, WE can rally, effectively and logically, if WE know what to do on several levels so that all can be comfortable in being involved...this is key...we need the shyest person, that votes, to be able to participate in their quiet ways!!!EVERY VOTE COUNTS!!...AND THEY ARE NOT GOING TO MARCH, DEMONSTRATE OR SWING FROM THE TOP OF THE HIGHEST BUILDING WAVING A SIGN!(They donot want anyone including their spouse to know who they vote for and even lie about it, just to keep "the peace" in their homes....but they VOTE & it counts!!............So what are the solutions, Please!!??!!

D.) I so want to know! Thankyou!

Sunday May 29, 2011, 6:04 am
noted and agreed! thanks Tom

Sunday May 29, 2011, 6:28 am
Republican fraud , preventing people from voting is exactly what I am asking about, as to how to stop them with logical solutions!!???!!...just to clarify in a nutshell what I was asking in my previous comment. Thanks!

Sunday May 29, 2011, 6:33 am

*What's wrong with showing a legal ID to vote? First it's your right to vote. Second it's a dangerous precedent to allow one party to dictate who will or will not be allowed to vote. By having to go to the extra effort of creating the games Tom listed above, republicans exposed themselves. Just more of the smaller government pledged by republican/T's.

Each state has certain voting requirements in place, as long as those do not breech federal law I doubt anyone cares. In Texas, we do show our drivers license with our voter registration card.

More distractions.

Sunday May 29, 2011, 7:31 am
So if the voter ID law is passed in every state and the Republicans still lose, what's next? The mark of the Beast on forehead or back of hand? That would disenfranchise the Christians, and low and behold, the Republicans have always catered to their voting bloc!

Sunday May 29, 2011, 9:03 am
Jimmy Mach - I wish I had said that! Nice post Tom.

Sunday May 29, 2011, 9:20 am
Remember "cow tipping"? It's gonna take a hell of a lot more of us to tip that damned elephant! We need to start right now, getting people registered and making sure they vote. If we don't get on the same page and DO IT, by the next election, then we fail. Thank you.

Sunday May 29, 2011, 9:50 am
Just like Hitler, gop is trying to control things in their favor, like news, internet, and this voting scam is just another way to take power from the people and give to those in control. If we, as citizens of the US don't put stop to it NOW, they will just take US over. We are becoming a Facist country.

Sunday May 29, 2011, 12:42 pm
Evil prevails only when good men and women fail to act.

Here we go; after reading this posting, Thank you Tom, I was already to jump up on my soapbox and rip off my normal rant about election manipulation and the ritual of voter fraud ravings by the right every election cycle. Then I thought for a couple of minutes, which resulted in considering a less aggressive rant.

My guess is that most folks bothering to read this posting are of a common mind, regarding the recorded election results of the last few elections. Most will probably agree that Bush/Chaney failed in the voting booth to win any election. Given most generally agree the Supreme Court gave them one, and Diebold offered up the other. No doubt we will also generally agree that the widespread mistrust of electronic voting machine operators, for profit tabulator systems (as was the case here in NM in 2004) exists. We all know suppression goes on by manipulation of polling place access and quantities of voting stations in high Democratic registration areas (most notable in high minority, older and low income populated districts) going on virtually unchecked. As does the unmistakable undervoteing disparity in these same areas at 6% + while in affluent Anglo districts, where normally there are a glut of polling stations and election workers the average is 1.88%.

Yes, there is consistently an initial morning after uproar, then it’s forced to the wayside by a media being paid and instructed to divert attention by creating more immediate or pressing issues, not unlikely to involve a fear factor. These diversionary tactics are played out in living rooms and pressrooms nation wide. Leaving the election manipulation issue in the hands of a minuscule number of intensely committed patriots to soldier on, against an entrenched, massively financed corporatist elite. Result: the end of democracy.

At the cost of redundancy: If we are intent to correct the system the people will need to get united to stand up in the millions day after day after day at Secretary of State offices in every state in the union. Nothing and no one else will make it happen. Good luck, been there, done that. Without multitudes as back up it’s hard. Although, we did manage to get NM to stop using the outside tabulator contractor, to compile all the various districts votes into a single report for the final recording by the Secretary of State. At least they said they did, but who knows for sure, without a whistle blower. At least their staff actually had to work Election Day 2008 and the totals did come in slower.

Sunday May 29, 2011, 1:05 pm
This bother me a lot. The Republican mindset seems to be "If you don't agree with me, you don't get to vote at all" because these bogus laws overwhelming disenfranchise students, young people, low-income, minorities, the elderly, and first-time voters -- not exactly George W. Bush's famous "base" (identified by him at a multiple-thousand dollar per head fundraising dinner). In answer to Shelly Peterson above -- get active in VOTER REGISTRATION -- it's the only way to counteract these draconian "laws" newly elected rightwing governors and representatives are so happily passing.

Sunday May 29, 2011, 2:02 pm
Thanks Tom does any one really believe that George Bush won the election 2 times. Noted and agree with you Tom.

Sunday May 29, 2011, 3:44 pm
Noted and thanx Tom

Sunday May 29, 2011, 4:07 pm
In IL. you just need your Voter Registration card, which does NOT have a picture ID (yet) & is good until you die or move to a different voting area. So I could see RepubliCONs hating that - but somehow They have been getting more votes - so maybe it's a matter of where they Think they need to stop Democrats from voting (hint, Chicago - St. Louis, etc.) because they can easily manipulate rural voter boxes!:(

Sunday May 29, 2011, 11:56 pm
It is indeed our right to vote, Kit - if we happen to be citizens and eligible to vote. But I see no reason why the state shouldn't have the right to make sure the person voting is actually the person who has the right to do so under the name they're using. I can't get a check cashed without showing picture ID. Or open a bank account. Or do a great many things in life that reasonably require the other person to verify who I am. And I don't expect them to merely take my word for it that I'm Lindsey.

And any voter ID laws are required to have the provision that if a person says they can't afford to pay for state-issued photo ID cards then the state must issue them at no charge to that person. Anyone who is physically capable of heading out to the polls for an election is also physically capable of heading down to the driver's license office to obtain a photo ID, whether it's a driver's license or a non-driver's photo ID card.

Considering the growing political activism of the illegal aliens in this country, is it really an unlikely scenario that a growing number may consider illegal voting to be one means of trying to ensure a victory for those candidates who favor ignoring immigration laws? From their point of view, it would be an extremely sensible step to take. And without requiring positive ID, there would be absolutely no way to stop that from happening - since we're just required to take their word for it that they're citizens who are eligible to vote.

Monday May 30, 2011, 2:01 am
Sneaky and dishonest.

Monday May 30, 2011, 2:14 am
Shelly, at the site one of my readers commented on an excellent article at Daily Kos. Check it out.

Thanks Carol, Jed, Barb and Koo,

Kit, in many states elderly disabled people have a lot of trouble getting out to get the ID.

Bingo, Jimmy!

Hawkeye, excellent!

Right Ann. That's the point I imntended.

Mary, he stole it twice.

Yvonne, you are fortunate.

Lindsey, the problem is that in many Republican states there are no free IDs for the poor and barriers to get the ID that make it overly difficult for elderly and disabled people.

Monday May 30, 2011, 2:15 am
Thanks John and Mary,

Monday May 30, 2011, 5:20 am
thanks Tom for a great posting!

Monday May 30, 2011, 5:48 am
Thanks for the article.

Monday May 30, 2011, 8:28 am
Personally I believe a person should be required to show photo ID to vote. It should have been put in place years ago.

Monday May 30, 2011, 8:43 am
they can do what they want but i still wont vote for these idiots.

Monday May 30, 2011, 10:42 am
It's articles like this that clutch at straws in trying to discredit one party. Can we talk about how Joe Kennedy bought Chicago for his son so he could win? Nixon won the popular vote in 1060 - not Kennedy.
Obama's people bussed black people to register to vote. Interestingly, thousands did not have a social security card, driver's license, nor were many barely literate to fill out the registration form.

Monday May 30, 2011, 12:39 pm
Allan: Obama's people drove voters of all races to the correct polling places when they arrived at the incorrect location. I know because I worked the polls for President Obama in 2008. How is that fraud?! The republicans were free to do the same thing. They just didn't think of it.

Monday May 30, 2011, 12:48 pm
Mail in ballots - the only way to go.

Monday May 30, 2011, 12:58 pm
Agree with Kathy B. I have done mail in for years.

Monday May 30, 2011, 1:40 pm
Vote Democratic to save your future and the American Dream.

Monday May 30, 2011, 2:23 pm
That was the whole idea behind the attack on Acorn--to cut down on voter registration, since studies showed that new voters most often vote the Democratic ticket.

As for George W. Bush, someone once suggested that he could run for a third term--all he had to do was admit he didn't legally win in 2000. Scary, huh?

Monday May 30, 2011, 2:25 pm
I've also heard a suggestion that only homeowners should be allowed to vote. Hope they don't start pushing that one--but as a homeowner, I still intend to fight it as hard as I can.

Monday May 30, 2011, 2:35 pm
thanks Tom...liked it

Monday May 30, 2011, 2:54 pm
Let's face it, both parties are led by scoundrels! Though today, it seems to be mostly Republicans who look to disenfranchise voters, we don't have to look too far back in history to find Democrat leaders trying to disenfranchise voters, under Chicago's Daley "Machine". And let's not forget Tammany Hall, perhaps the very definition of a party seeking to disenfranchise voters.

Monday May 30, 2011, 3:54 pm
Because they know they have nothing to offer the American people, and they know they can't win any other way. They've got to give us but grief and corruption.

Monday May 30, 2011, 3:56 pm
Anyone who pays taxes pays these a-holes (and corrupt Democrat sellouts as well) salaries and health benefits and should be allowed to vote them out of office.

Monday May 30, 2011, 4:04 pm
If some states charge a fee for a photo ID, isn't that technically forcing people to pay to be allowed to vote? Isn't that illegal?
Also I used to vote a straight conservative ticket. That ended. I am only to willing to slam either side depending on the corruption of the moment. But it has become blatant as to who the Republicans work for. The truth is however that both sides cannot be trusted.
Perhaps only Veterans should be allowed to vote and run for public office.

Monday May 30, 2011, 5:08 pm
In 2005 Indiana passed a voter photo ID bill. In the ensuing lawsuit, lawyers arguing in favor of the law produced 250 cases of alleged voting fraud from around the nation. All but 10 were rejected. The rejected cases were campaign financing violations, election tampering, or vote count fraud by election officials and so were not germane to the case.

Out of almost 400 million votes cast in general elections since 2000, the briefs cite one attempt at impersonation that was thwarted without a photo ID requirement and nine unresolved cases where impersonation fraud at the polls was suspected but not proven. Nine possible examples out of hundreds of millions — and these nine cases may have been clerical errors. Not one of the cited reports had occurred in Indiana.

A voter photo ID bill affects about 11% of the population, disproportionately affecting demographic groups that typically vote Democratic. Perhaps inadvertently, it would also affect elderly voters who have given up their driver’s license. It would cost Pennsylvania about $11 million to implement. Similar legislation is pending in 15 states.

Since the justification for this bill doesn’t even rise to the level of being flimsy and since voter suppression is unlawful everywhere, I consider any legislator’s vote in favor of a voter photo ID bill to be a criminal act. In 2008, however, the Supreme Court upheld the law, 6-3. Arguing that the motives of the legislature have no bearing on constitutionality, even the majority opinion conceded that the Republican Party's partisan interest in reducing voter turnout for the working poor, racial minorities, students and people with disabilities likely motivated the law's passage.

Voter impersonation would be a very ineffective way to sway an election.

It makes me laugh when people produce a registration for Mickey Mouse as "proof" of voter fraud. As it happens, every registration drive gets its share of cranks, but there are 4 people named Mickey Mouse in PA alone and 1 named Donald Duck. http://www.whitepages.com/dir/pa/mouse/mickey

Monday May 30, 2011, 7:34 pm
VOTE DEMOCRAT, send a message to the RepubliCONS, "YOUR FIRED".!!!!

Monday May 30, 2011, 8:48 pm
Exactly what repugs want, i.e., the poor & middle class to be kept from voting as they usually vote democratic. Repugs know what they're doing, thus the strict restrictions. There should be a law against such tactics, but alas, will never happen w/majority repugs in the house of reps and fillabuster happy senaters. This is NOT democracy at work. It is flat out facism. Repugs are as unamerican as the Taliban and this is where we're heading if voters don't vote them out of office asap. So get out there and register new voters, helping them get the right "papers" now to vote in these United States. Sad, sad. sad that it's come to this. The America as we once knew it is no more. Thanks, repugs.

Monday May 30, 2011, 10:08 pm
@ Nick H, what else would one expect from fascists.

Monday May 30, 2011, 10:55 pm
In Wisconsin they don't want students to vote in the recall election. They have made it very hard to *prove* who you are. For some it will take about $50 to get acceptable id and you will also need to have kept a receipt from your school. This needs to be stopped. It's wrong. And it's why these people need to be recalled in the first place.

Monday May 30, 2011, 11:02 pm
Next is the implanted chip.
Our veterans died for nothing.
We disrespect them by not defending the freedom they died to give us.
Our government should be dissolved, it no longer serves the people.
The new governmnt should divorce itself from the Federal Reserve and IMF.
What is happening is no small event, the world is being taken over by the Fascist New World Order.
American Religious Fundamentalists have taken over the government, police and the army. Defend yourselves, no one else is going to.
Police and soldiers out there, will you not defend freedom???
Is your 'business' of locking people up too profitable to bother with a thing like freedom, justice and the American Constitution?
If we have to take freedom for ourselves, you will be tried for your crime of not honoring your oath to your country.
See you in court & prison for your cowardice in the face of Fascism!
Only our police and soldiers have freedom anymore.
They hog it all for themselves, that is why they have been called "Pigs".

Tuesday May 31, 2011, 1:42 am
Not surprising in the least. It's standard practice for Republicans. They've been doing it for years,

Tuesday May 31, 2011, 1:56 am
Thanks to all who applied. For those who support the republican view, look again. Mist are seeing through it now.

Tuesday May 31, 2011, 6:12 am
Upon checking back in to see what was being said re: this posting, as it ranks near the top of my list of top 10 strategies the Plutocracy employs to bring democracy down, I see a number of comments favoring mail in voting.

Although mail in ballots would, on the face of it, seem a reasonable solution given it’s A. a paper ballot and B. the voter has the opportunity to take their time filling it out = less errant votes cast. Unfortunately if you check the statistics you’ll find mail in or absentee voting has the highest rate of undervoting, not counted among all ways we’re able to cast our ballot. In addition, our transient nature as a nation further complicates the system since the post office can’t forward ballots because of districting issues. No ballot no vote. Then there’s the military situation. Hundreds of thousands of votes that simply get discarded for a multitude of excuses, the largest of which is undelivered ballots due to addressing issues. Disenfranchising at its highest.

Greg Palast has filed several reports on this very issue over the years and provides some pretty good insights as to the various tactics being used.

Wednesday June 1, 2011, 3:28 am
Hawkeye, Oregon is all mail on voting. There have been no problems here.

Monday June 6, 2011, 10:31 am
There is no despicable thing you can think of that the republicans haven't already done!

Tuesday June 7, 2011, 3:02 am
True