Never attribute to malice that which can be attributed to ignorance.

It's time to cleanup all these data problems.

.

Never attribute to malice that which can be attributed to ignorance.

It's time to cleanup all these data problems.

If you're going to require people to have a photo ID in order to vote, the US is going to have to start giving out free ID's to American Citizens that cannot afford them, otherwise you're infringing on their constitutional right to vote.

more than 9,078,728 votes were cast in Ohio during the 2002 and 2004 elections, there were only four instances of ineligible people voting or attempting to vote in the state–approximately 0.00000044 percent of the total number of votes cast.

Those were the results from a Fraud study in Ohio conducted by the League of Women Voters. Out of over 9 Million votes cast in 2002 and 2004 they found just 4 cases of fraud, which is just 0.00000044%. That is not an ample enough reason to deny people their right to vote just because they can't afford an ID.

There's only ever been 10 documented cases of voter fraud.

The latest being in December when Indiana's GOP Secretary of State was found not only committing voter fraud but was not even eligible to hold his office.

.

For me, we should do everything reasonably possible to ensure the actual and perceived integrity of the voting process. Even if actual significant fraud hasn't been proven (and may not exist), it's still worth it to spend the time and money to eliminate the potential. People need to feel their vote matters - and perceived fraud is one of the most damaging things to an electorate.

And what's to stop someone from voting with a dead person's address?

Kevin, you probably don't care because you have this theory that the poor cannot get an I'd. It's more about vote integrity.

Hey gtouch (? ..lol), I was talking to the OP, twix-4128690 . Sorry that you're confused..

Sorry Newt haven't had coffee yet.

But as the report indicated, there is NO indicator of widespread fraud. As the report suggests a central voter database would be a cost effective solution. In NC there have only been a very few cases of voter fraud (<10), and they tend to be people who forgot they sent in their early vote, or they were told that they could vote by a election official. The real reason for the requirement for a photo voter ID is to stop people that tend to not vote for the GOP. Look at the states that implemented a photo ID voter law. Is is that simple. There is NO voter fraud problem.

A couple of years ago, in MD, a loser in a close state race stated that there was widespread voter fraud and she produced a list of people she claimed violated the voter fraud law. She took the list of dead people and convicted felons, and compared them with the names of people who voted. Guess what, she got some matches!!! What a joke when the local TV stations interviewed the people that she said were dead and voted. She found not one case of validated voter fraud.

gtouch you forgot to tell him they are still voting for Mayor Daley! DA mayor, and not the one in office now! His dad has won every election since he died.

Funny, the liberals didn't want to talk about voter fraud during the days of Acorn in 08.

"The potential for fraud", well except that the actual evidence is there isn't a lot of it. Measures to block voting via photo ID are just that, measures to block voting.

I'm fine with photo ID if people can get this for free if they don't have resources, and there is access to assist them in signing up, otherwise I'm against it.

There are 17k registered Democrats in Detroit over the amount of citizens of age to vote. The registrar has stated that this can not be fixed until after the next election. So its possible that a person could vote in their new home town and drive 20 mins and vote at the Detroit polling place. Potentially 34k votes.

Point to links about voter fraud. In the past several years less than 10 cases.

There is also potential that a tomato will grow in your ear, doesn't mean it will.

Poor don't get ID's for free, often times the paperwork needed to get them is onerous, and without transportation or due to health conditions its difficult to obtain.

About 2.7 million people have active registrations in multiple states, including about 2,000 people registered in four or more states

Lot of vote "potential". We need ID laws. States can issue ID at no cost. South Carolina, after voting in the law, offered transportation to those who couldn't get to a place to get ID. Kind of makes you wonder how they got to the polls to vote doesn't it? Or did they have their cousin do it for them?

The problem is not voter fraud - it's insufficient staff/systems to maintain the outdated voter registration records.

I never thought I'd see the day where even the conservatives were calling for voter suppression. Now it's necessary to win the Republican primary...

This is why requiring some sort of photo I.D. makes so much common sense. It'd at least cut down on opportunity for fraud.

Actually, that's why the proposal for a new bureaucracy to issue yet another piece of photo ID makes NO commonsense whatsoever.

There is no fraud, except by the mullets who eliminate names from the voter rolls because the people live in a district, or have names that sound like they might vote against the party of teh person culling the rolls.

Passing laws that COST MONEY and tie up people's time without actually solving any real problem is STUPID.

Would photo ID ensure that people reported to the registrar when they move out of district? NO!

The same people who vote for a dead person and say that the dead person showed them ID, can vote for a dead person and say the dead person showed them a photo ID.

Most disgusting of all is the fact that this lame-brained idea, that solves no problems whatsoever, but would cost billions to implement nation-wide, got the most votes up on this web page.

gtouch and others: Here in SC, the dead or those registered in another State vote Republican. Usually via a mailed in absentee ballot or by a person going from one poll to another.

County supervisors of elections must maintain their rolls. I bet some do, and other do not. So out the ones that don't. Let their citizens know who they are and hold them accountable. Same for DMV's not coordinating with Insurance Co's. They say in South Florida half of all the cars on the road are uninsured. That's not supposed to happen because the Ins. Co.s are required to notify DMV each time a policy is cancelled. DMV is supposed to compare it with the Car owner's record and make it available to Law enforcement. So at accidents and traffic stops they should stop the driver from using that car until the Ins is back in place. So how do we have half the drivers without insurance ? The DMV/Ins Co. interface is not working either. We need smaller gubmint because these "we'll do it for you" responsibilities the gubmint assumes for itself while denying the rest of us from being able to do it in court simply builds a huge taxpayer expense base to no good. Get rid of all these gubmint employees, they simply are not getting it done.

They should require a photo ID to vote. This will keep the cemetery vote out of the equation as well as eliminate the possibility of other voter fraud. For those who complain about poor people not having photo ID, I say that is a crock. First of all, most states issue non-driver photo IDs for free. The few states that do charge only charge about $5 and I am sure that the fee could be waived if someone really could not afford the $5. In addition, you need photo ID for just about everything in this country. You can't cash a check, buy alcohol, or do many other things unless you can show a picture ID. Those that say that requiring a photo ID will reduce the number of people voting, particularly among the poor (mainly democrats) and full of it. A few states have instituted photo ID requirements for voting and there has been no drop off in the number of people voting or any problems reported in these states. The only people who oppose the photo ID requirement are those who want to continue to help find ways for illegals to vote or to rig votes through means like providing illegals with the name of a dead person to use to vote or by using different names to vote more than once for their favorite candidate. Requiring a photo ID to be able to vote is the most cost effective way we have to reduce the likelihood of fraud in our voting process.

As for the duplicate registrations in different states, that should be easy to fix. In fact, the "motor voter" laws should make it easy. The same way your drivers license in your old state gets cancelled hen you are issued a new one in your new state, your voter registration should be cancelled automatically when you register in your new state. Tying the voter registration data to the already linked drivers license data should be a very easy thing to do.

Voter fraud exist(s). It happens in both parties.

But not because of ID cards!

There are THREE ways to commit voter fraud.

Number one, after the polls close, crooked election judges can cast ballots for anyone who hasn't voted that day. This is why most polling stations require election judges from BOTH major parties to be present at all times. The only way to get away with this kind of voter fraud is to buy off the opposing party's election judge.

Number two, just before an election, an elected official can cull the voter rolls, eliminating people based on the 'odds' that the person will vote for the opposing political party. This can be done on the basis of precint or other demographic characteristics (such as ethnicity).

Number three, you can count wrong. Some ballot boxes can get 'lost' or 'replaced' or be 'found'. That's getting harder and harder to do, but look at Bush v. Gore. It was all about the counting.

What NEVER happens is individuals voting when they are ineligible to do so.

Those of you who want extra-special voter ID cards are not solving REAL problems, but you're spending REAL MONEY to tackle IMAGINARY problems, while letting REAL problems go unsolved.

It's not just stupid, it's wastefully stupid.

If you want to waste your own time and your own money, fine, but spare the rest of us from your inability to discern, much less analyze, real problems.

REPUBLICAN wingnut and fake journalist James O'Keefe was able to commit voter fraud in New Hampshire by using the names gleaned from recent obituaries. In other words, HIS operaatives committed the vote fraud by prentending to be people who were DEAD.

The names of those recently dead were still in the voter database because, as NH voting officials explained, they "purge" their rolls once per year.

And note that though O'Keefe's operatives DID commit voter fraud, they DID NOT get near the voting booths, so weren't able to actually vote.

The REPUBLICAN allegations of voting fraud are themselvfes documented FARUD.

As for the know-it-all "Chicago politics" illiterates: while it was said that JFK was elected as result of voter fraud in Chicago, it is the fact that that alleged fraud was negated by DOCUMENTED pro-Nixon vote fraud in downstate Illinois.

When Republicans appear to be making accusations against others, they are in fact making ADMISSIONS about themselvves.

I think we should reinstitute literacy tests -- for Republicans, especially those who are dupes of the FOX cesspool.

"1.8 million dead people still on the rolls"= Romney's base.

Democracy is a joke anyway. The majority of the people don't have brains enough to know what and how much food to eat for their own health. A lottery would get as good a government as what we have, maybe better.

For those of you absolute hate filled folks on this string who immediately blame the GOP and Tea Party (including the idiot who equated the Tea Party with the KKK) let me fill you in.

I live in the Bluest of Blue states, the Peoples Republic of Maryland. When last voting in a General Election, 2010, I noticed that my father and mother (who were both registered Democrats I must add) were still on the rolls. When I asked how the DEMOCRATICALLY CONTROLLED State of Md removed people from the rolls I was was told they had to miss 3 consecutive elections. When I expressed my disbelief that they voted at all in the last 12 years, as my mother died in 1995 and my father died in 1983, I was given the &quot;deer in headlight&quot; look by the Election Judge, stating they would look into it. I can't wait to November to find out if Mom or Dad voted that year.

If I have to show an ID to see my Democratic Congressman in his office, my Democratic Senators in their offices, my Democratic Governor in the State House, and have to get a background check to visit my Democratic President in the White House, why is it wrong to request i show ID to vote? If I have to show ID to buy cigarettes, a gun, beer, a drink at a restaurant, pick up a letter at the Post Office or pick up a package at UPS, why is it wrong to ensure the person voting is who they say they are? Do none of the &quot;poor people&quot; ever buy cigarettes, beer, alcohol, or get packages delivered? Have they never visited their elected officials?

@usa1967

Acorn was not voter fraud. Acorn workers were given incentives to maximize voter registrations. Some workers committed fraud by putting names down of people who did not exist ... simply so they could get their incentive. Those false names were never going to show up at any polling place, because they only existed in the mind of an Acorn worker! NO VOTER FRAUD!

AND STOP KKK tactics Tea Party - go back to last century for that crap...

It must have been one of those intellectually dead democrats that made this ridiculous statement! He doesn't realize that the KKK was actually made up of democrats! And the same is true today! It is those same liberals who haven't figured out yet what the real goals of the Tea Party is...

It is truly incredible to what lengths liberals will go to deny anything negative to their cause....even when confronted by cold, hard facts. And, just to maintain their level of arrogance, they assert that they possess superior knowledge and intelligence, and that conservatives are just plain stupid......and the cold, hard facts be damned!

How about 2 new rules to vote, 1 a voter I.D card and 2 anIQ over 95, but then again that would not let anyone who watches and believes Faux news out in the cold

twix-4128690 "This is why requiring some sort of photo I.D. makes so much common sense. It'd at least cut down on opportunity for fraud."

Agreed. Then the needed changes could also be used to update the records and save on mailing costs.

Only those bent on fraud would oppose such a common sense approach.

Of course ACORN, or whatever they've changed their name to, would oppose it.

With everyone talking about ID's, what is the problem with requiring it? What does it hurt? Ensuring that you are the person you say you are? ID's in most states are free. The Drivers license you get is free. You just pay for the right to drive. Before you get your permit, you go in and say "Can i have an ID". So what is the problem with that idea?

ex TeaParty Member "How about 2 new rules to vote, 1 a voter I.D card and 2 anIQ over 95, but then again that would not let anyone who watches and believes Faux news out in the cold"

One of the groups that accounted for a significant amount of Obama's popular vote advantage was 'High School Dropouts'. They favored Obama over McCain by a 63% - 35% advantage.

A higher percentage of FOX viewers have college degrees than the general population. Don't be fooled by the phony information from Media Matters.

For those of you that say we shouldn't worry about voter fraud because of the number of convictions, the same could be said about insider trading on Wall St.

There have only been a few insider trading convictions, so obviously it's not enough of a problem to worry about it...

I have a question to all those who propose voter ID, how about a national ID card? It should be requiered of anyone older than 5, with their picture and fingerprint on the card, along with their address and birthdate. Renew it every 5 to 7 years and it can be used in any situation where ID is required.

How about it? Every country in the world has it!

Esam,

If it can double as a drivers license and voter ID (so I don't have to carry yet another card), that's fine for me.

One of the great things Nixon did that he will never get credit for was lowering voter fraud as president. After it was discovered that there was widespread fraud in the Kennedy - Nixon race, after he was elected, Nixon went to work, particularly in Chicago. It was found that over 10,000 dead people and others voted one or more times. The unions and the mafia supported Kennedy. it is believed by some that John, turning Robert loose on the mafia was why John Kennedy was assassinated. Then , when Robert did not back off, he was killed also. Didn't help. There are honest men everywhere, just not many in the Congress and White House right now.

Why should this even matter ???

Dead people can vote...no problem.

Requiring an ID at the polls...why bother ?

I read an article yesterday that said taxpayers will fork over just over $10 billion dollars over the next decade sending refund checks to cover the federal 'child care tax credit' being enjoyed by illegal immigrants...I was not even mildly surprised by this.

But the amazing thing in the article was that these illegal immigrants were submitting for these checks (up to $1800) and were getting them WITHOUT having to provide a valid Social Security number on the federal tax form.

It's been said on this site that we can't run the government like a business is run. That's a good thing...because the "business" of running this government is already bankrupted in more ways that can be imagined.

Tim exactly correct. Voter fraud in the U.S. is almost non-existent. The only fraud that occurs is when the government decides to remove registered voters either through ignorance or the intent to remove their right to vote such as in the case in Florida when they purged the voting database of anyone that had the same name as a felon. Photo IDs oh please this is 2012 not 1970. Photo IDs will do nothing but cost tax payers money for an imaginary problem. How about upgrading the computer systems and starting with a little sense in creating a database containing clean data. It's not rocket science!

Every year I get a list of voters to verify and evry year I list those who I know have moved ro died. The next year they show up again. When I enquire why they say they cannot remove someone on my say. They have to send registered letters and follow a myriad other procedures. Evenntually they stop trying I guess.

Spider-737231 - As a partisan Democrat, I couldn't agree with you more or expressed it any better than your post 1.44! Bravo, for seeing that our superior intellect will always trump cornservatude stupidity. Jealousy is very petty, get an education!

VOTER PHOTO ID....

Voter Photo ID.....

VOter PHoto ID.....

VoteR PhotO ID.....

Better do it quick BEFORE the Presidental election.

Let's hear the "Truth Squad" counter on this one.

Only ten cases. Ever? In your home county, maybe.

If I promise not to vote after I die, will politicians promise, I won't have to listen to any more of their ads?

Oregon votes by mail. No one checks ID. There is no voter fraud. If the GOP wanted to prevent voter fraud they would follow our system. Preventing voter fraud is not their goal. Their goal is to disenfranchise voters who will not vote for their party.

DunkinH (#1.18) another dumb comment bringing up the Acorn boogy man. Show any links to actual voter fraud linked to Acorn. You can’t because there wasn’t any. There were some falsely filled out registration cards, but they were separated and referenced as bogus, but they had to be turned in because that is the law for voter registration groups like that.

There were NO recorded incidences of people attempting to vote with a bogus registration relating to Acorn. It’s just a right wing talking point with no basis in fact.

I doubt they would stoop so low as to permit fraud to exist!

(sarc)

A job well done by ACORN for Obama! And by the ACLU for fighting the requirement of government issued IDs at the polls...

Two worthy efforts to improve our country. (hopefully most will understand the sarcasm here - those who don't are scary to the rest of us)

The very group that is heading up the research recommends AGAINST voter ID as a solution. It is not a solution to this problem. It's a solution to a problem that is shown over and over to be in the imagination of the paranoid... like having two IDs is so difficult.

We must insist that the dead report their death to their voter registrar within 24 hours of their last breath, or face unbelievable penalties... maybe make it a capital offense.

And if they were registered in multiple states when they died, the penalties should be even harsher.

If you have the same name as one who died, you must go as well.

I personally saw 6 dead people vote at the last election.

My cousin is registered in 57 states and flies to each one of them to vote... he tries to vote for the winners in each state though... stupid that he is.

We should test each voter for drugs, citizenship, eye sight, and brain power... failing the drugs and citizenship automatically casts your vote to the Democrats and failing eye sight and brain power to... guess.

My friend has 20 Social Security Numbers, 20 drivers licenses in 20 states, and is all ready for any voter fraud ID scheme that comes his way... hopefully these database people don't have their way or he'll be stopped in his tracks.

10 bucks says we will find all of the above somewhere in future Republican posts. LOL

give me my FREE Voter ID and i'll be glad to show it when I vote......somehow, the republicans will find a way to PRIVATIZE elections and make money from it, if at all possible...now, as we speak, they are working on PRIVATIZING death and dying!!

OBAMA/BIDEN 2012

gtouch

That posted by someone named "newtisapig"..........priceless. Mine was for humor. You apparantly have your panties in a wad over something.....relax its just a joke.

A joke? You and your party seem to lack a sense of - well, everything; including a good sense of humor or an ability to govern. That "Chicago-style politics" would ever be used to do anything except reinforce conservative talking points - now that's priceless. Or maybe a more appropriate word would be - tasteless.

don97524

Oregon votes by mail. No one checks ID. There is no voter fraud...

HA HA..... most anybody in Oregon has a story of recieving the wrong ballet or multiples. Where you been??!!!!

]Vote by mail is the definition of fraud,

where others in the household are able to see a person's vote and those too old or perhaps otherwise handicapped can easily be manipulated to vote a certain way.

ROY WILSON-336103

Agreed. Then the needed changes could also be used to update the records and save on mailing costs.

Isn't it sad that the most powerful country in the world has a voting system of 1800s? And the most powerful country in the world expects to "fix" this issue by forcing people to pay for ID cards so that they can vote.

One way to fix this, anyone registered will get a voter ID card in the mail. No apps, no fees, no driving to RMV...just get one (unless you are not regustered yest).

Of course ACORN, or whatever they've changed their name to, would oppose it.

Funny Roy, but it was ACORN that brought the fraud up. And the fraud was not to get Obama elected, it was so some could make some extra cash. I guess you can call this creative entrepreneurship.

Newt the Pig I am not sure what Sen. Robert the KKK Byrd was but I am sure he was not a teabagger or Republican. A few of my relatives from the deep south were KKK. I will never be a Democrat or Lib just because of them.

As far as voter fraud there is none. The only fraud being committed on the American public is ObamaCare.

Some 1.8 million deceased people are still listed as active voters, according to the study, which is based on a computer analysis of a proprietary voter database used by Democrats.

Why do the Democrats have a proprietory voter database? What use would they have for their own "proprietory" voter database with 1.8 million deceased people listed on it?

justoneguy

Receiving the wrong ballot is not voter fraud. The system works and increases voter participation.

Voter I.D.?

Maybe they should administer I.Q. tests to determine voter eligibility!

Some people never learn from their mistakes.

No one is saying they have to. Do you have a drivers license? That is your ID.

Don't have one? Your state will GIVE you a state issued ID. That is your ID.

Wrong. Just went through this process with my wife who cannot drive any more. You still have to pay for a state issued photo ID, even though you are required to have a photo ID by the state.

same reasons as for republicans I suppose.

That being said, in my state/county in Michigan, we have to show a valid picture ID, they check it with one set of books. Then we go get a ballot, that is recorded in another set. If we don't have a valid ID, proof of where we live is all that is needed, a utility bill or something. Go vote and that's it. There is no widespread voting fraud. I did find it interesting though that in the 2004 election that in Ohio, several precincts machines "broke down" and those ballots were taken to a different precinct to count. In Ohio, the presidential candidates names were listed in a different order from one precinct to another. A same sex marriage proposal was also on that ballot. The strange thing is all the ballots counted this way that in the precincts that went with Bush approved same sex marriage, those that went with Kerry approved a constitutional ban on same sex marriages. Go figure.

Who are these people without ID's?

Have you ever met anyone over 18 without ID?

These people would not be able to drive, drink, cash checks, get credit cards, loans, cars, bank accounts, they wouldn't be able to work in many states, and if they didn't work, they wouldn't be able to cash Gov't checks.

Oh, I forgot, no spray paint, no cigarettes, no rental agreements including movies. They couldn't fly or go in to visit kids in public schools.

They can't get married or divorced.

And I'm forgetting more things.

So the real question is: are these the type of people you want deciding who leads our country?

If you are a child who is not responsible enough to take care of yourself, then we don't let you vote.

We need to expand that to anyone on public assistance. If you can't even take care of yourself - and I have to pay to feed, house, cloth, educate, medicate and generally support you like a child: you shouldn't get to vote.

You are a burden on society. Your poor decisions got you to where you are. Don't expand your poor decisions to our leadership, where your moronic ideas will then get to rule those who are not behaving like children.

same reasons as for republicans I suppose.

That being said, in my state/county in Michigan, we have to show a valid picture ID, they check it with one set of books. Then we go get a ballot, that is recorded in another set. If we don't have a valid ID, proof of where we live is all that is needed, a utility bill or something. Go vote and that's it. There is no widespread voting fraud. I did find it interesting though that in the 2004 election that in Ohio, several precincts machines "broke down" and those ballots were taken to a different precinct to count. In Ohio, the presidential candidates names were listed in a different order from one precinct to another. A same sex marriage proposal was also on that ballot. The strange thing is all the ballots counted this way that in the precincts that went with Bush approved same sex marriage, those that went with Kerry approved a constitutional ban on same sex marriages. Go figure.

@Tim - Ohio requires the picture ID.

simple solution, every who votes has a social security card, the IRS can deduce if this person is alive or dead based on tax filings, the age can be verify, therefore it should not be a big deal...heck credit card companies can track you down with their number why can't our government full of "Intellectuals"... it's not rocket science people, one should be able to vote online and it should not be difficult to weed out the fraud from the actual citizens... easy as pie...one social security number = pays taxes = allowed to vote.... if social security number was issued in 1879, maybe someone should check to see if person is actually alive. If social security number shows no tax filings for several years maybe should check to see if person is a student or unemployed or something, but their should be another check to see if person is a valid voter... bottom line, if google can keep track of what color underwear I wear then our government should be able to track valid voters.... here's an idea for job creation, task private sector to keep a database of valid voters to cross reference what government thinks are valid voters... just a silly thought....

In the case with ACORN - that was not voter fraud. It was voter REGISTRATON fraud. There is a difference. A few ACORN employees submitted false registrations. They were getting paid by the number of people they registered so they would just make them up to fatten their paycheck. It doesn't mean these "fake" registrations ever cast a vote - which would be voter fraud.

Newt had a similar problem when the petitions to get him on the ballot in Virginia were scrutinized.

Even though the inaccuracies impact one in eight registrations, researchers at the Pew Center on the States said they don't see it as an indicator of widespread fraud.

And partial truth is not a lie? The current election process is a sham, I trusted my neighbors counting the votes a lot more than I trust the machine that took their place at the township building!

We'll have the leadership that's chosen for us, not the leadership we choose!

I read one story about a woman that can't get an id for 50 years. Lol, I think her state or federal representative can help her. If she tries to get help and they don't help her than I am pretty sure her local newspaper would be all over her story.

They find these obscure cases and try to make it the rule rather than the exception. People on welfare should be better regulated. If you are receiving federal money then we have the right to make damn sure you are who you say you are. President Obama says he can save us billions by eliminating fraud, well what have you done?

@Roger - Ohio only started requiring photo ID's in 2011, so that would have no effect on a study done about 2002 and 2004. Nice try at manipulating that information, but you failed.

Why is so hard to accept the need to identify yoursef before to exercise your right to vote, there is not excuse that in a developed country like US poverty is a reason for not to have an ID, every house have at least a TV , you are going to tell me that people can afford to have a TV but not an ID, this is just bulls#$%^ . Community organizers and left wing nuts , see jeopardise to continue with the practice of voting fraud ,that need to end now.

@Oskar - This idea that there is massive voter fraud is a myth, every study done on the issue shows that there is less than 0.0000004% that a vote is fraudulent (or 1 out of every 2,250,000 votes). If you take that math and extend it to a general election which usually draws about 100 Million votes, only 44 of them would have been fraudulent. This voter fraud craze is just an attempt by repubs to strip voting rights away from young people and poor people (two groups that usually don't have a photo ID). Why else would these laws allow for gun permits to be used, but not student ID's?

The problems with voter registrations is the same problem many government agencies and large companies deal with on a daily basis. Users of systems are not really diligent about maintaining their information. And, there are also honest errors: typos, confusing people with the same names, different systems with different information about the same person. A national registry makes the most sense. Having these out-of-date legacy state-by-state systems are ridiculous in the Internet Age. The benefits of democracy may be eternal but the systems that run it should not be.

As for the photo ID issue: as long as there enough choices that people in different circumstances are permitted to vote, this is a non-issue. The primary gap is voting in absentia (military on deployment, expat Americans living overseas, etc.) where physical presence does not exist. There is also the matter that there are other ways to cheat in elections: ballot stuffing, ballot counting schemes and legalized obstructions to voter registration (an example historically is poll taxes or "IQ" tests).

While the Constitution does not spell out HOW elections are run, that does not mean it is a free for all. It PURPOSELY does not deny nor spell out the methodology used.

Well ex tea party, your second rule would definitely do away with the democracy. People with an iq of 95 and above are certainly a minority. Likely as not, the government would be worse not better, having a high iq is no gauge of common sense.

Ryan...

You hit the nail right on the head !!! People who are incapable of obtaining or owning a simple identification card are the exact people whose votes are "deciding who leads our country"...the Democrat Party depends on these votes and that's why we keep reading about ways to make it even easier for anyone to vote.

feisty/betty has nothing to say, unbelievable

Poor people buy alcohol and tobacco, right? They cash checks, right?

You need ID for that.

What's the problem?

Isn't voting at least as important as check cashing, tobacco and alcohol?

Here's an idea...let's ID, give intelligence tests, and civics exams to the POLITICIANS, not the voters!!!

Error's in registration records does not mean, fraudulant voting! "Punishing" the voter for the country clerks mistake in 1) not purging registration records of folks who have died 2) Not purging voting registration of those who have moved from one State to another and 3) Putting Goofy or Micky Mouse on the registration, or other obvious "pimped" registration. It only becomes fraud when Goofy votes, or rather, he votes more than once, either as Goofy, or as Goofy and Jon Doe. AGAIN, for the slow, and ignorant among us...you know who you are Registration is NOT voting. It is fraud if you vote twice, under any name, or vote twice in different States, OR you vote in Florida as a resident AND vote absentee as a military person or a retired person in your original State of residence. THAT is fraud, and illegal.

p.s. now if each State wants to foot the bill to have picture Voter Registration cards issued for each voter registered in their county/parish, each year...then by all means do that!

Pro Individual

This is the reason why we make so many mistakes electing our leaders, we the voters must pass a test of civic , the same test that legals immigrants have to take in order to get their citizenship, probably they know more about our country than we do. 100 questions , if you pass you are ready to vote , if you fail go home and learn your lesson. However I'm sure people will complain that it will be a discrimination agaist the poor, but immigrants have to pass anyway. LOL

So all the Right-wing Conservatives want to have all voters use a photo ID to prevent POTENTIAL voting fraud. Funny how those same Right-wing Conservatives keep bashing others for wanting to have Universal Health Care to prevent POTENTIAL health problems for ALL U.S. Citizens.

Guess one POTENTIAL problem is just far more important than any other POTENTIAL problem. Thing is, the health problems faced by more than 50% of the population, simply because they can't afford to pay more than $300 a month for "insurance", are far more than just "potential".

oskar...

Now that electronic voting is here, I'd suggest a simple 5 question test that gets taken before casting one's votes. Nothing tricky...things like "Name the Vice President of the US"..."What is the governor's name in your state"..."Name one state representative in your area"..."Name one of your state's US Senators"...again nothing tricky.

The voter answers 5 questions...get one wrong, no problem. Get two wrong and your vote goes into the dumpster with your incorrect answers.

I started feeling this way when my 85 year old grandmother told us that she'd voted for the candidate who had a fuller head of hair. Sorry to sound "un-American"..but grandma taught me that our beloved "one man - one vote" deal was not all that it had been cracked up to be.

Squidword " Voter fraud in the U.S. is almost non-existent."

How do you know? Since voter registration information is 'confidential', nobody is able to verify.

The reason voter fraud is considered so low is because nobody is allowed to check, except government workers who are too busy to check - or care, since most fraud comes from Democrats and most public workers vote Democrat.

Personal experience - I visited my mother at a rest home around voting time several years ago, and there was a Democratic operative telling the elderly which boxes to fill out on their voting form, explaining why it was best to vote Democratic, and then collecting the forms to 'mail them'.

Gee, I wonder if there was any fraud involved?

Voter fraud is rarely reported or investigated, thus the precieved low number of cases. Since the voter fraud normally benefits the party in power there is no incentive to investigate. I can remember two major cases where voter fraud was claimed and neither was investigated and these were for major elective offices. One was for a US Representative seat and the other was for a US Senate seat. In one case it was in California where there was a sudden influx of Dem voters and elected a Dem to a seat held by a Republican for decades. The voter registration went from something like 65% Republican to 55% Democratic in the space of a week, just a few days before the registration cutoff. I forget where the Senate seat possibel fraud happened but it was the same sort of event, a sudden influx of newly registered voters right before the cutoff.

And of course there was the successful effort to supress Republican voters in Florida during the 2000 election. Florida is a two time-zone state like Indiana. The Panhandle of Florida is heavily Republican and is in the Central Time Zone. In 1964 the various news organizations began calling the election for LBJ before the polls closed, supressing the Goldwater vote. They promised to not do this again; and they kept that promise in 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 but "forgot" in 2000 and called Florida for Gore before the polls closed in the Panhandle. Voter turnout in the Panhandle was down to about 75% of normal.

Chris & ROY...

Again...thanks for 'reality'.

I keep wondering how it could be that half the people on this site are all experts in the history of "voting fraud"..."that's right folks there have only been 10 cases of voting fraud in the history of the United States of America....I know, I know, some people say there has been 9 cases of fraud while others might contend there have been 13...but just come to the source and trust me on this...TEN is the actual number of cases in our nation's recorded and unrecorded electoral history.

Thanks for allowing for an element of doubt !

Oh Roy, there you go again

From a Fox News story,

"Justin Levitt, who wrote "The Truth About Voter Fraud" for The Brennan Center for Justice. "It doesn't seem to matter what the problem is, (voter) ID is being sold as the solution to a whole bunch of things it can't possibly solve."

After a five-year hunt for voter fraud, the Bush administration's Justice Department came up with little widespread fraud, finding mostly cases of people mistakenly filling out voter registration forms or voting when they didn't know they were ineligible, The New York Times reported in 2007. But none of the cases involved a person voting as someone else. The investigation was paid for with a tax payer funded $1.4 million Justice Department crime-fighting grant.""

From factcheck.org

"In another attempt to paint groups and people with whom Obama has some connection in as unsavory a light as possible, McCain has gone after the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. And we’ve gone after him, for an ad accusing the group of "massive voter fraud" and for saying in the final presidential debate that ACORN is "now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy."

Both claims are breathtakingly inaccurate. There’s a huge difference between voter fraud and voter registration fraud. And while ACORN, which hires part-time, $8-an-hour canvassers to go door-to-door and register people to vote, has had widespread problems with phony registrations invented by employees who don’t want to work, the problem has never been that it sent people to the polls using bogus identities or to vote in any other fraudulent manner. Even the Republican prosecutor of the largest ACORN case to date said the shenanigans of ACORN workers were "not intended to permit illegal voting.""

From The New York Times-

WASHINGTON, April 11,2007 —" Five years after the Bush administration began a crackdown on voter fraud, the Justice Department has turned up virtually no evidence of any organized effort to skew federal elections, according to court records and interviews.

Although Republican activists have repeatedly said fraud is so widespread that it has corrupted the political process and, possibly, cost the party election victories, about 120 people have been charged and 86 convicted as of last year. Many of those charged by the Justice Department appear to have mistakenly filled out registration forms or misunderstood eligibility rules, a review of court records and interviews with prosecutors and defense lawyers show.

Richard L. Hasen, an expert in election law at the Loyola Law School, agreed, saying: “If they found a single case of a conspiracy to affect the outcome of a Congressional election or a statewide election, that would be significant. But what we see is isolated, small-scale activities that often have not shown any kind of criminal intent.”"

your statement "

How do you know? (Since voter registration information is 'confidential', nobody is able to verify.)1

The reason voter fraud is considered so low is because nobody is allowed to check, except government workers who are too busy to check - or care, (since most fraud comes from Democrats and most public workers vote Democrat.)2

If portion #1 is correct how do you come up with #2?

The reality is that nobody knows how much voter fraud occurs, because nobody gets to check since the information is 'confidential'. It's only a fluke that ANYONE gets caught.

One of the story's comments is interesting, though "according to the study, which is based on a computer analysis of a proprietary voter database used by Democrats."

Why would a political party have a 'proprietary voter database'? It sounds a little to devious.

At any rate, a photo-id card requirement for voting would solve virtually all of the problems, and low income people can already get one for free, or virtually free ($7 in California, free for those over 62). You need a photo ID to buy liquor, cigarettes, cash checks, etc. Why not one for voting? Such a simple solution to put this issue to bed. I wonder why Democrats are so opposed?

Actually, ROY, there have been numerous investigations and they all that voter fraud is very minor. Think about it. Voter fraud is a very expensive way to change the result of an election. How much per vote would it cost? Do you expect people to risk a felony conviction and thousands of dollars in fines for a few bucks? Most people vote in their own neighborhoods with election judges from that neighborhood. Doesn't it make sense that the risk of getting caught are high? Anyone with money who wants to influence an election is probably much more successful creating a PAC which has no contribution limits and can spread negative, even untrue information about a candidate.

Follow the money, and in this case the economics of voter fraud don't make sense.

Lets see....the LIBS say that we can't have voter ID's because it inconveniences the poor and minorities and will cost too much.

So the same ol KKK mindset is still with the democrats...minorities are either too stupid or too poor to get an ID card.

I've got an idea...take some of the next slush fund money ( like GM and solyndra ) and buy ID cards for all the dumb, poor, minorities that the democrats think are incapable of doing for themselves.

Poor old Democrat party...can't break those old racist, bigoted habits.

vwterry- Kudos for the Brennen Center study reference...kinda blows the smoke out of the water, now those are facts for a nonpartisan source. Please folks get the facts they're out there.

For all of you right-wingers drumming up your Fox News's socially-engineered, "ACORN" bogeyman again....

"The ACORN tapes, whose misuse by Breitbart closely parallels his behavior in the Sherrod affair."

Sherrod Hoax Exposed, but Breitbart's ACORN Fraud Lives On

Excerpts:

Reporting on Andrew Breitbart's latest bit of deceit--using a selectively edited video to paint a low-level USDA official Shirley Sherrod as a racist--has given the media a chance to resurrect one of their favorite myths: Breitbart's triumphant takedown of the community-organizing group ACORN.

In September 2009, Breitbart's website BigGovernment.com posted videos, made by conservative activists Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe, supposedly showing ACORN employees counseling the pair--ostensibly pretending to be a prostitute and a pimp--on how to avoid paying taxes and other illegal activities. The videos were later found to be completely misleading.

Also, it is now clear the videos were heavily edited to make employees appear to be answering questions in more sinister ways. In fact, Juan Carlos Vera, a San Diego ACORN employee who was fired as a result of the videos, was found to have called his cousin, a police detective, after the pair left to report their activities.

Furthermore, ACORN has now been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by three separate independent investigations.

www.fair.org/blog/2010/07/23/sherrod-hoax-exposed-but-breitbarts-acorn-fraud-lives-on/

--------------------------------

Also, let's see when the GOP/Tea Partiers will dismantle any program to fix and centralizing the voters' databases, by CUTTING THE BUDGET for it.

Truth team...nice try...LMAO

Every four years the same thing comes up... Why doesn't anyone fix it? The republicans are always speaking of voter fraud, while the democrats don't do a thing to register more voters...

Evey single state in the union needs to use the same system for registering and identifying registered voters... Is that so hard in this day and age? I think not...

Is it racist to ask for ID to buy alcohol?

Is it racist to ask for ID to buy cigarettes?

Is it racist to ask for ID to cash a check?

Of course not, sillies!

Voting is more important.

Well joe if you had read the article, since states don't share info then do tell, what good will the ID do since you can have ID's and be registered in multiple states? Just can't think past your nose huh?

Don't be ignorant Sally, IDs would be tied to a data base available in all states. This would prevent multiple voting.

Such a system would never be instituted under Obama's administration, Acorn was instrumental in taking advantage of the loopholes in the current system. Whatever Acorn has morphed into in 2012 will be doing the same thing for him this year. Eighty plus Mickey Mouses will again vote for their favorite cartoon characters Obama and Sleepy Joe!

ACORN is long gone, and last I heard it was GOP that was indicted for voter fraud. In fact, Republicans insist on computerized voting with no paper trail, when it's widely know that the chips can be played with.

Each side has "the potential" for fraud.

Provide photo ID's for free and I'm fine with it, provided access for registration and the documents needed are not onerous.

1.8 million dead voters? Well we see the Republican voter base now

Eric

part of new truth team....ha,ha,...LMAO

this is going to be real funny..truth team..ha,ha,ha

Acorn...try New York communities for change..Joe Kest...

heavy in with OWS loons..acorn is alive and well..now thats the truth

Even a "free" ID costs time and effort which will be enough to stop some from voting. We already have pathetically low voter turnout, and this will make it lower. Studies show low voter turnout is good for Republicans, so not surprised that they like the voter ID laws.

ACORN is long gone

Eric, you are deluding yourself. Acorn the name is gone.... all of the folks that were part of that organization are still very active and are doing the same thing, just under different company names. What they did for obama in 2008 was very profitable.... they have no intention of stopping that gravy train in 2012!

The wealthy rethuglicans would like nothing better than to have a ID card showing your address to vote problem is the wealthy have 10-20 adressess so they can vote 10-20 times, while the majority of Americans can barely put a roof over their head.

Let me guess. All these dead voters voted for obama back in 2008.

Wayne- please let me ask you a basic question: Do you care if your vote counts?

You seem to be more worried about people voting than people voting properly. Why have election laws if you don't want people to abide by them? Isn't it a simple idea that you want your rights as a registered voter (no party affiliation required) protected so that your vote is not negated by a fraudulent vote? We vote for leaders- Do you want to pick your leader or are you ok with what ever the outcome is? We vote for budgets- Do you want a say in how your taxes are used or are you ok with whatever the results say? Are you ok with people voting using dead people's names? Are you ok with illegal immigrants voting and deciding how you will live and work? Are you ok with people being able to vote in two states in an election?

I think that you are crazy to hand your rights away so easily.

In Fla a non driver can get a State ID at the DMV. It looks similar to a DL but it is only a State picture ID. THere are NGO's all over that take people to the Supervisor of Elections to vote. Same people would be willing to take people to the DMV once every ten years to get their ID updated. SO I never bought into this idea that non drivers have no ID and no way to get one. It's easy to do, but you can't do it from your living room. You do have to make the effort to call one of the social groups or NGO's that will send a volunteer to drive you to the DMV. Yet some say, it's so hard. Some people just want to create chaos to chamoflage their own ineffectiveness, laziness and dysfunction. Many of us volunteer time and donate cash in addition to paying the taxes feeding these gubmint offices. We just need to take the next step and REQUIRE responsiblity and accountability.

a "free" ID costs time and effort which will be enough to stop some from voting.

That's the whole POINT.

And the ONLY point.

A dead guy can vote just as easily with a photo ID as he can with an ID that has no photo.

You guys are confusing dead voters with vampires. It's VAMPIRES who don't appear in photographs. (Of course, if you're stupid enough to believe in vampires, you're stupid enough to believe that photo IDs will stop them from committing rampant voter fraud.)

I for one have no problem with a photo ID/driver's license, I don't think it is stupid or racist (I'm black) and I've always used my driver's license for voting. I always thought it was kind of stupid to have the voting card without a picture could be used for fraud (and I thought about this when I was 18 yo). I think the ID card is/was free in Louisiana and you never have to renew it. I am not saying everyone who uses a voter card would have multiple ones with different addresses, I am just saying I wouldn't be surprised.

I think that it would take a scam artist or someone completely eaten up with the dumb ass to even suggest that it would be too much of a burden on Democrats if we require voters to show positive I.D.

Ex tea party

Sure you are...ya I believe you

JoeinNY
I've worked in IT for 25+ years. I've worked on large databases like the ones states and local governments use. It's not that easy to compare data from one source to data from another source. I won't go into all the details but it has to do with exactly what data is collected,how it's formatted ans stored,etc. So many entities will have thousands of different formats.

To be honest, if you really want to do this you must have a national system, a mandate that every gov. entity that deals with addresses and/or death must send a specific data dump on a regular basis and then process the info and send the clean data BACK to the states.

It will be very expensive. And I mean VERY expensive. Would it be worth it? In the long run, yes, and not just for voter registration. But I can see a lot of screaming over the 'national database'. I'm quite sure we will do it one day. But you have to pay for it and it will take years.

We've seen voters in foreign lands risk life & limb to cast their votes.

And in the US, we've come to the point where it's a cruel imposition to even suggest that voters have to be put thru the torture of a little bit of personal "time and effort" to get a stinking identification card for voting purposes.

What a lazy group of malcontents we have become in this country. Another term for that would be "spoiled brats". The founders must be rolling in their graves trying to figure out what has happened.

Well joe if you had read the article, since states don't share info then do tell, what good will the ID do since you can have ID's and be registered in multiple states?

Well Sally I guess you are suggesting even tighter controls, welcome aboard the boat of reason.

lol, when so many people objected to Id's it only drew more scrutiny toward this issue. Why would so many people object to something so reasonable, unless???

since it came up in this thread, all I can say is.....TEA Party = Tax Evading Americans Party......that is all

Tax Evading Americans Party

You have state tax, city tax, county tax, sales tax, federal taxes, death tax, capital gains tax, all the hidden taxes that are passed down to the consumer; don't you ever wonder how much tax is enough?

Do you just cave in to the demands from that politicians that they need more money to spend?

How about taking the more difficult road and demanding that our money be spent more responsibly.

My little community got federal stimulus money. They put signs up boasting an improvement paid for by the keep America working program. And sure enough, 6 months after the signs were posted, the work done was disgraceful and is already falling apart. And because it was free federal money not really a big issue.

patrick demarco... and I wonder how many of the contractors that bid and won the contracts for those improvements were Republicans sucking on the government teat. You know, the job creators.

"That's what I like about the South"......before the Voter's Act of 1965, and a SCOTUS decision; States and in particular, Southern States regularly tacted on voter fee's, reading tests, ID requirements, etc. to block poor "white trash" and people of color's access to their right to vote. That is the reason the Fed Government, and others are opposed to blocking peoples access to their right to vote. Read history sometime, context would be nice too....as well as a fact or two.

JoeNY,

It's illegal to vote using someone else's name. We don't need to put a bunch of hurdles in front of legitimate voters to stop fraud (which BTW, has NOT been happening).

I'm more worried about all this rush to restrict access to our democratic process than I am about a non-existent made-up problem.

Pat

Is that the same voters rights act the democrats ( particularly Al Gores papa ) tried to block? Ya, I think it was.

Blocking access to vote...you mean like the New Black Panther party blocking voter access in Philadelphia in 2008?

Read up on your history and you'll see who the real sleaze bags are.

Wayne- Wrong again. Voter fraud is a problem that's been around for many, many years. It's nothing new. Just look at Chicago as an example- it's well known that the dead vote often there.

Regardless of the illegality of it, people vote in violation of the laws. What is the big deal with having to show a legal photo ID to prove whom you are and where you live. It only would take a few minutes. Similarly, why not have biometric ID verification? Yeah, I know it costs money, but it might make the voting more legitimate. I am also nervous about the digital voting machines- they require programming that must be verified or the results can be tainted.

If you truly want someone to respect your opinion, refrain from childish name calling...it immediately renders your point meaningless.

Joe if someone wants to commit fraud, they can also just make a fake ID. Also, the very few documented cases of illegal voting in the last election were felons who voted when they did not have their voting rights restored. They very easily could have had valid ID and still been illegal to vote. It's a non-solution to a non-problem.

ALso, just saying something is a well-known fact doesn't make it a fact.

BTW - I'm with you on the digital voting machines. I think the idea of making it easier to cast a ballot is good, but a paper ballot needs to be produced at the end - no reason a voting machine could not get that done. Then you have a verifiable result to audit the machine results and correct errors.

You folks just leave those dead people alone. Obamy needs them on his voters base.

The dead have been voting nearly as long as we have a right to vote. This is far from a partisan issue.

The system is corrupt through and through. Focus on just one party, and the others slip right on by. Selective resentment never benefited anyone.

More cartoon characters voted for obama than ever before in US History. Why Goofy himself voted for the guy over a hundred times in 10 states!

Millions of intellectually dead folks also voted Democrat in 2008. Boy do they feel dumb now!

Republicans play with the chips in the voting machines. That's why they don't want a paper back up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/24/us/computer-voting-is-open-to-easy-fraud-experts-say.html

Philadelphia voter intimidation

Columbus, Ohio acorn fraud..

Eric, get of the Republicans play with the chips. While the article you provided a link to shows the possiblity that the chips can be manipulated, it provides absolutely no proof or any mention of the GOP engaging in fraud, only the potential for it. And since you libbies want to use the article in this thread to support your case that there is no widespread voter fraud, only the potential for it with these incorrect registries as a means so say voter id cards should not be required since there are few documented cases of voter fraud, then you cannot use the article you posted and say the the GOP has the potential for voter fraud with these chips, since again, you cannot show proof of widespread voter fraud by the GOP by manipulating these chips.

obama the King Acorns and other nuts!

Philadelphia voter intimidation

Funny, but not one single voter complained about voter intimidation in Philadelphia.

They reported the idiots outside the polling station in one location, but not one single voter reported feeling intimidated.

But photo IDs would have helped how, exactly?

I have a question to all those who propose voter ID, how about a national ID? It should be requiered of anyone older than 5, with their picture and fingerprint on the card, along with their address and birthdate. Renew it every 5 to 7 years and it can be used in any situation where ID is required.

How about it? If I'm not mistaken that's what just about every country in the world has.

Esam... better yet, tattoo a number on everybodies arm at birth. No tattoo, no vote.

Just callin it how I see it

The problem is that what YOU see isn't real.

That whole bit about the Attorney General filing a lawsuit against a KKK member for voter intimidation in Philadelphia is something you just made up.

Like oil and water, prejudice and reality do not mix readily.

common

I guess you don't understand how intimidation works...like witness intimidation...

It isn't. You need an ID to buy a six pack, get a hotel room and for a kid you need one to get into a rated R movie. But not to vote? That piece of garbage holder doesn't want it because it'll help his boy obuma.

I'm 50, I don't get carded. Kids don't vote.

Republicans want to limit access to minorities and the elderly voting, plain and simple. There is no proof of voter fraud.

Provide the ID's for free and make sure people have access and sane ways to apply.

If they can get to the grocery store, they can get ID. I say BS on discriminating against minorities and elderly. They vote now (supposedly) don't they? Any state that would require ID should give it for free. Even if they do you nay sayers say it is infringing on rights. BS again.

It's not so much a question getting your picture taken, its what you have to do to prove who you are and what it cost to prove who you are. If your poor, may not drive and it cost $15-20 dollars to get a certified birth certificate from another state...assuming they have it on file because of your age... it becomes just a way of suppressing the vote of the poor and the elderly. If you were born at home, it becomes even more of a problem.

Voter registration errors/mistakes are an issue and can be cleaned up as the article indicates.but the actual case of fraudulent voters at the polls IS EXTREMELY SMALL!!! like.00003% nationally

I agree that everyone needs a picture ID to do just about everything a "normal" person does. However, we need some control of the Absentee Ballots being mailed out and counted in all elections. At present there is very few ways to verify and lots of ways to commit fraud.

Horse feathers!

I don't understand why a photo ID for voting is so bad.

A. It costs money. LOTS of money. At $10 a card just for the card, a state with 10 million voters will require $100 million just for the cards.

Then there's the time it takes to GET the card. It will take a LOT of time to get the cards. With 10 million voters, even if it only takes 4 hours to wait in line to get your card, that's 40 million hours. If those voters work and earn an average of $20 per hour (about 40K per year) that's $800 million in lost productivity, per state, per year.

But you also need buildings for those people to wait in, while they're registering to vote. And you need staff to process the applications. And that staff needs to be paid, and they will get benefits including retirement programs. So you'll be paying for them forever.

And you need photographic and printing and laminating equipment.

B. Photo IDs won't solve any problems anyway. According to the article, the problem is that people are not UNregistered once they move or die. They don't need photographs to unregister.

Photo IDs solve NOTHING, and they WASTE TAXPAYER MONEY. THAT'S what's wrong with them. For starters, anyway.

Horse feathers! The only way Pew and/or the League of Women Voters could possible collect such information accurately would be to have a person stationed at each polling place verifying each voter's photo I.D. The statistics they present are just so much garbage.

Just exactly how many women in the USA are actually members of this League of Women Voters?? What percentage of women voters are members???? This is nothing more that another special interest group trying to imply that they represent the women voters of the USA. They represent no one and nothing but their own warped special interest.

uncommonsense - your first argument doesn't hold water. There are DMV's in each and every state in which people stand in line every day to get their licenses new or renewed. We wouldn't need new facilities to do any of it. And they either have the laminating/printing equipment or it is a matter of days until you receive it in the mail.

But you also need buildings for those people to wait in, while they're registering to vote. And you need staff to process the applications

In my state, you are asked at the time of getting/renewing you license if you are registered to vote and they do it on the spot.

The ONLY people who would need to get the ID are the ones who don't drive, don't have bank accounts and all the other little things of everyday life. What is it you libs object to so much?

The problem with voter ID is people like a 95yr old woman who does not and has not ever had a birth certificate, her birth was recorded in the family bible, now she has to hire a lawyer, which will cost her over $200(for someone on a fixed income, that's a lot money), and mounds of paper work, just to vote, which is a constitutional right not a privilege. What about states that are charging $28 for a ID, students, poor, elder do not have that kind of money to spend on an ID, or people who live 2 to 3 hrs away from the nearest DMV, its about suppressing the votes plain and simple, theirs is so little fraud. This is just about the repugs & baggers because so many people came out to vote for Obama in 2010, and they just can't stand it, so this is their way trying to stop them from voting, the only frauds I see are Repug & baggers.

Take part of your payroll tax reduction ( 2% ) and go buy a stinking ID.

I love how the stinking dems get all huffy about $10-20 to get a ID card...yet think nothing of the govt spending $550 million on a failed idea like solyndra.

Or billions on wars in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and soon to be Syria.

Or billions on dumb ideas like super trains. Nit wits all of you.

You can't use photo ID. Holder said so.

Spot on !

Newt

Hey watch it...the KKK was democrat..don't remind the blacks and immigrants..

they don't remember....shuuuuuuuush

RP-2387990: That was pre-Civil Rights. Now the KKK and WP groups are Republican.

the KKK was democrat (sic)..don't remind the blacks and immigrants..

One of these days the Republican Party is going to have to stop it's race baiting about blacks and immigrants.

People don't remember that the Democratic Party was full of bigots 100 years ago, because most of the bigots are in the Republican Party today.

And if they don't like people saying that about them, all the GOP has to do is change back to what it once was.

GOP...party of Lincoln

DNC...party of KKK

Sorry, but you can't change history

Last KKK member in Senate...Robert Byrd Democrat

People don't remember, but we'll keep reminding

Check your beloved OWS movement out...union backed...they hate immigrants

So many like RP will scream like crazy that the left "CAN"T SAY BUSH ANYMORE CAUSE HE"S GONE NOW" (visualize the red face) but have no problem going back over 100 years to back their statements.

As he said "Sorry, but you can't change history"

That's funny, but blacks were heavily involved in the republican party ( including MLK ) until the 60's. The voting rights act would have never been passed without reps.

Propaganda is a strong mind changer. In fact they still think dems are working for them. For their votes, but not the people. Completely destroyed the inner cities or haven't you noticed.

Last time I looked Robert Byrd was a DEMOCRAT

Nope! They vote extreme right.

I actually am in favor of voter ID, but I question those who claim it is Obama's fault that we do not have it. He has only been president for 3 years, why was in not put into place in any of the republican or democratic administrations before him ?

Part of it could be because we have 14 million illegal residents now. Not sure if that has anything to do with it but the dead alone should have had. I know you need ID to REGISTER but to not have to show that same ID to vote is ludicrous.

it could be because we have 14 million illegal residents

This is why it's so annoying when people GUESS instead of learning the facts.

Besides the fact that it's a) lazy, b) intellectually dishonest, and c) a sign of sloppy and inadequate thought processes, GUESSES are so often WRONG.

First of all, the generally accepted number of unauthorized Americans at present is 10.8 million, not 14 million. But that's minor.

Second, there's not one single documented conviction of any unauthorized immigrant voted in an election in the past 20 years that I can find. Feel free to try to document one. In fact, I challenge you to. That's a MAJOR flaw in your argument. What you say isn't even true and the truth not only fails to support your main premise, it actually rebuts the premise.

Third, all you're really doing is stirring up fear and hatred of people who have done you no harm, and who do the exact same things every day that you do (except for the bit about blaming others unfairly, and talking without having any facts to back up your arguments).

And that's the main thing.

You don't know what you are talking about, but yu are willing to mindlessly repeat falsehoods that you heard from someone else (you probably don't even know who), so that you can stir up hatred and resentment of innocent people.

Common ... your facts check out. I beleive there have been four cases of voter fraud in the last 30 years. Why is it that if people claim to know this is occurring they haven't turned in the perpitraitors? Hot air is free!

Commonsense - Did you bother to read the second sentence? I wasn't stating it to be a fact, I wasn't stating it to be a worldwide accepted theory, I did NOT in any way suggest that it was the only reason.

Part of it could be because we have 14 million illegal residents now.

And you skipped the two VERY important words in the first sentence.

Typical liberal, taking things out of context and piling on like the know all and be all that you and your kind think they are. I was putting forth a thought on a small portion of the reasoning for the push.

And I also said that the mere fact that the dead were such a large number, it alone "should have had" a LOT to do with it in the past.

Second, there's not one single documented conviction of any unauthorized immigrant voted in an election in the past 20 years that I can find. Feel free to try to document one. In fact, I challenge you to. That's a MAJOR flaw in your argument. What you say isn't even true and the truth not only fails to support your main premise, it actually rebuts the premise.

And just how do you propose to prove anyone committing voter fraud without having to provide ID? If I didn't live in such a small town, I could go vote for my neighbor because all I have to do is know my name and address to be escorted to the machine. If an illegal or even I walk up to a polling place and says his name is John Smith and I lives at 123 Any Street, they cannot ask either of us to prove who we are. All I have to know is that my neighbor died 6 months ago and I can use it. They don't take names off the rolls unless someone tells them to.

Squidword, there have been dozens of times in the last 30 years where voter fraud was claimed and never investigated. As I mentioned in another post I can remember at least two cases where this involved major elected officials. Your "4 cases" is because of a lack of investigation not a lack of fraud.

I was going to make that comment as well. If it's not investigated (because it's assumed that it doesn't really happen), then they can say "There was no evidence of fraud." I saw a video clip of an interview with our State Attorney General after the 2008 election when there were a number of voter fraud cases in court and there were a number of convictions as a result. During the interview, the S.A.G. claimed he had no knowledge of any "evidence" of voter fraud. a stack of papers was placed on the table and the interveiwer asked, "What about this evidence?" The S.A.G. said he could not say anything about unconfirmed claims, to which the interviewer replied that much of the documentation before him was court documents from recent investigations that had led to convictions of voter fraud. The S.A.G. responded with a statement about not having his reading glasses so he couldn't review the documents and comment on them. Afterwards, he continued his platform of "There is no evidence of voter fraud.', and still claims it to this day.

- And does anyone want to bring "Project Veritas" into this debate?

The problem with voter fraud is that it changes the real vote so as to never know who won or what spending measure really passed.

Real voter fraud is when Dems challange a ballot issue they don't like. Stealing votes that way is worse.

joe donahue - same for democrats, both parties' ideologies are completely unworkable so the center is where things really should get decided.

and 100 million walking dead democrats are demanding to be taken care of by the taxes of those 55 million

joe donahue - same for democrats, both parties' ideologies are completely unworkable so the center is where things really should get decided.

If by "middle" you meant socially liberal and fiscally conservative, then I'd agree. If you meant the pragmatic soulless "middle" that has no philosophy beyond immediate gratifiacation, control freakery, and shallow answers, I would have to disagree.

libertarian realism good, pragmatic utopianism bad

4thand10,last time I checked you people werent paying any taxes, you have the middle class paying them for you.

Yep

outsmarted those dims

STnH Why are you picking on Chicago? - I never picked on Texas where was Bush from? Oh I see because our President is from Chicago

You know it never hit me I should blame Bush's previous residence maybe I missed something

However now the Supreme Court that's a different issue yes sir STnH I blame the Supreme Court thank you for showing who I should hold accountable for Bush's illegal election

The onus should be put on the elections boards keeping their records up to date and not put on the voters. Motor vehicle licensing, violations, and insurance were also not very accurate and not being shared years ago, but

Nana, Holder said so.

ellie, grab a dictionary, look up the word fraud, read the definition until you understand what it means then get back to us.

Dictionary def....fraud = obama and democrats

Dictionary def....fraud = obama and democrats

Right, because all those neocons who lie are just peachy keen, right? Doh!!!

Voter ID would complicate voter fraud.

That's funny, hot daddy!

Because NOBAMA and the socialist democritic party wants to win reelection. Plain and simple.

Your an idiot! We had a list of all dead and moved out of district voters for every election in the 60's. And yes we voted most of them. $5 and 1/2 pint of whiskey each time my "no id" voters voted. Then we toted them to another polling place to vote again.

hot daddy-4087878... in reading your posts, what you are saying is that the Repubs have been committing voter fraud for 50 years, since you appear to be an obvious member of the offending group.

dem465yr- that is not true in every state. I've seen hidden camera videos from a couple of places where polling and election workers tell "would-be fraudulent voters" who, after asking if a name (of a deceased person) is on their rolls, the officials (assuming that the person asking is that person), say, "Yes, you are on our rolls." and they are told that they do not need to show ID to receive a ballot. The person tells them they would feel better going home to get their ID and leaves the polling place (the point was to show how easily it could be done, not to actually do it). I've also seen similar videos taken from my local county courthouse where an individual asks about getting stacks of absentee ballots for people who don't feel like voting in person. They are given the requested stacks of paperwork, told how to fill it out, told that no notarization or ID check is required, and the forms can either be mailed back or returned in person. This person, then asks about "assisting people with filling out absentee ballots" and is told that it's OK to do and that they can get each person set up to receive an absentee ballot for every election, and that, again, no ID check or notarization is required. When asked about the possibility for abusing the system, they admit that they think the system is flawed, but that's the way it works and they don't think it actually gets abused much.

So why did Bush not institute it when he had control of congress ? Or for that matter why did any previous administration not institute voter registration ? I agree with you in questioning Obama's opposition, but this issue certainly is not a new issue that never existed before Obama became president. Why did the others before him ( either party ) not institute voter ID ?

Beacuse no other candidate in history has pandered to the illegal population the way that Obama does. So, no, it's never been an issue before.

cmstubbles...that makes no sense at all. 1st, no one is making a claim that illegals are trying to vote, that is insanity. You seem to feel that there was no problem with illegals until 2009, I think you need to do your homework. According to any credible source you use, fewer illegals have come into the country since 2009, and more have been deported. Don't let your blind hatred of Obama cloud your judgement. You don't really believe that the voter identity issue only started in 2009, do you ?

obama promised transparency, what happened to that

Ron38, it was BHO's doublespeak form of transparancy. It is well known that the dems with all their ACORN and disgraceful UNIONS thugs are the ones that are carrying out the voter fraud. Oh, and a note to socialist ERIC. You want the govt to buy all the id cards? Fine, lets do away with the socialist cell phone giveaway scam. Use that money if necessary for another giveaway. At least Auntie's little nephew can't sell his dope using granmaw's gubmet phone.

Matt, maybe his Truth Team will get to the bottom of that

hot,

Yea, they're brain dead!!!

hot, this is Obama's largest constituency. You can't clean this up--he'd lose!

hot, this is Obama's largest constituency. You can't clean this up--he'd lose!

Not quite, as you won't be getting the Ron Paul vote in 2012. Come negotiate with us for a candidate to nominate in 2016 if you want to win then.

Cut the budget!!!! Spend less!!! Smaller government!!! Government do something!!!! LOL You guys just can't figure out what way to run at any given minute can you?

You got that right Sally! Spend more money for a problem that isn't a problem! If people could only read & comprehend.

Besides, now that Corporations are "people too" a few corporations now take away millions of our votes anyway! Of course "dead people would not understand the implications of this, would they?

It's amazing we want smaller government, but, need a law for what is the definition of a marriage, if or how to get an abortion, what insurance a workplace has to offer you, how to vote. Can't we do what 3rd world countries do and dip your finger in ink so everyone knows who voted or even better who did not.

Can't we do what 3rd world countries do and dip your finger in ink so everyone knows who voted or even better who did not.

Last I looked those countries have fixed elections too...like Afghanistan, Venezuela, Cuba, etc.