Voter ID Laws

Water Cooler
#1

So the justice department is now suing TX over it’s voter ID law saying it discriminates against minorities.

http://news.yahoo.com/justice-department-says-sue-texas-over-voter-id-163556129.html

Why are voter ID laws discriminatory only against poor minorities and not poor whites?

In 2011, 46.2 million people in the US were living in poverty and the nation’s official poverty rate was 15 percent, up from 14.3 percent in 2009, according to the US Census Bureau. That figure appears to be the highest number seen in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been recorded. Although poverty rates for blacks and Hispanics are proportionately nearly three times higher, by absolute numbers the predominant face of the poor is white, the latest report shows. Over 19 million whites fall below the poverty line of $23,021 for a family of four, accounting for over 41 percent of the US destitute, nearly double the number of poor blacks, according to the survey data revealed by AP.

I get it that a higher percentage of the black and Hispanic populations are poor and therefore potentially unable to get the ID’s required to vote, but if money is the problem then it’s really white folks who are being kept away from the polls.

#2

Unfortunately its just because the current US president is black and needs hispanics as part of his voting block. Pretty crappy but completely predictable reason.

But I’d really be curious to know how many people don’t have any kind of usable photo ID? I mean, seriously, who doesn’t have a drivers license/state ID or passport?

#3

Reminds me of the good ol’ days as a bouncer. It would neveer phase me to hear some of the excuses when I’d ax, “Why you ain’t got no id?” My guess was they had warrants and couldn’t set foot in a government building, don’t drive due to DWI ish, or just are some other form of ghetto rat trash. Here were some of the doozies.

“I’m fresh off da plane from LA/Miami/NYC/Etc mannnn!!, das why I ain’t go no ID.” Hmm, pretty sure you need an ID to board any commercial aircraft.

“WTF brah! I’m a grown ass man!” Hmmm, yes you area grown ass man. Hence you should know that to enter said establishment in said town demands that you show proper identification to ensure you can drink.

“Ayo, I ain’t got no ID Cuz, but dis is my boy, he’ll vouch for me!” Ha, and who is your boy!? Both of you GTFO of my line.

“I ain’t got no ID, but I got a pocket of fat dollaz to blow up in this btch.” Yeah, no, you don’t.

“I ain’t got no ID, but I got this major credit card to ring up a high tab.” Yup, no you don’t. I could go on about the ‘ballaz’ who’d bark out top shelf drinks, open a tab, then have the card get declined when the total hit $35. They’d be desparately calling friends to cover for them. Pathetic.

“I ain’t got no ID, but we rolled up in dat Escalade over there, we good right?” No. Are you here everynight so the repo man can’t find it?

And so on. Amazes me that in a country where you need a proper ID to get on an airplane, buy alcohol, obtain employment, enter a bar, and drive a car is the same country where you don’t need no ID to vote…

Hit up YouTube, “Philly Voter” which is safe for work. This ladies and gentleman is why we need voter ID laws.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QNZ2z2Cr4o

Rant Over.

#4

It just doesn’t smell right when every voter ID law has been proposed by republicans, and in most cases it’s in tight districts with a large, poor black communities.

On the surface I think it makes sense. You should need an ID to vote. I don’t want some dude coming in and being like, “I’m CvM, where do I vote?” Hell, you need a license to catch a fish, you should need one to elect a president.

#5

^ I have no doubt that the end result is fewer minority voters, which is why the laws are always proposed by Republicans, but should that really be reason enough to block them? Is it really discrimination if the affected group is just choosing not to do what they need to do? What if white people decided they were tired of voting on Tuesdays and stopped showing up at the polls? Would Democrats be okay moving elections to Saturdays so that white people wouldn’t be “discriminated” against? No, they’d be shitting themselves happy that white people stopped voting.

Dems don’t seem to have a problem busing people to vote, why can’t they bus them to get ID’s?

#6

I don’t know how you live without some form of ID. School, government, work, etc…

#7

I agree, there’s no sound reason why we shouldn’t have ID’s required for voting.

They made a mountain out of a mole hole; such is politics and the Dem base bought it.

#8

Should people mentioned above be allowed to vote? If they are not employed, not in school, not driving, not flying, not fishing, and not drinking; do they have any business influencing an election!?

#9

Haha. I was going to say this, but it usually drives libs into rage mode. I do think that it’s ridiculous that you don’t need any vested interest in society to vote. I would impose stricter rules than the above if it was up to me…

#10

I say the more the merrier. The only citizens I would block from voting are people in prison on election day and convicted felons. I’d even lower the voting age to 16. If any politician ever suggests that non-citizens should have the right to vote, he or she should be immediately executed.

#11

I wouldn’t suggest super stringent rules, but how do you feel about people voting if they don’t pay taxes? Should you be allowed to vote how money is being spent if you’re not involved in supplying it?

#12

As long as they’re legally not paying taxes, yes I think they still have the right to vote. Not that politicians actually do much of anything, but officially they do more than just decide how money is spent.

#13

Just so’s ya knows–the current administration is suing Texas over more than just voter ID laws. They’re also having a huge fight right now because the Texas Republicans have gerrymandered the voting boundaries, and the feds are saying that it’s discriminatory.

I think it’s quite simply that we have a Democrat president and Texas is largely Republican, and Texas is big enough to really matter (unlike ND).

Our Attorney General (who will undoubtedly be the next governor) recently said that his job was very simple. He gets up in the morning, goes to work, sues the federal goverment, and goes home.

#14

Texas, Respect. I may have to just move there.

#15

Walter Williams commented on this a while back. He argued that those who have no skin in the game should count less than those who do. He suggested that every citizen gets one vote, and for every $10,000 you pay in federal taxes, you should get an additional vote. That way those who finance the government have more of a say in how it is run.

Probably not. To a guy who’s lived in NYC forever, you’d get bored. Even the “cities” would feel like suburbs to you.

I, on the other hand, don’t think I would be cut out to live in NYC, Chicago, or SF.

#16

If republicans were really worried about illegals voting they could just run a random audit of voters and if your name is pulled you have to prove citizenship. If you said 1 and 1000 voters will be reviewed to verify citizenship with the consequence of deportation, you would stop illegals from voting tomorrow. Of course, they wouldn’t do this because they’re not really worried about illegals voting (because they don’t) they’re worried about poor minorities that are too lazy to get the proper ID.

#17

You can actually board an airplane without ID. They will make you go through additional screening procedures (patdowns), but I did this from DC as I lost my ID while there.

#18

^^^ Aren’t active duty military exempt from income taxes in some states and aren’t military serving in combat zones exempt from federal income taxes? They wouldn’t be allowed to vote then, right?

#19

Every law has exceptions. I’m just suggesting that people be vested in some way. I’d say military service counts as a vested interest.

#20

I get you, but when you have to start making exceptions that’s where you start making things too complicated (tax law for example). Most college students don’t pay taxes either. Are they vested? What about the mother of 3 who is gainfully employed, gets hit by a drunk driver, losing her husband, one of her kids, and is a quadripligic the rest of her life? I doubt she’s paying taxes anymore. Is she vested? What if she was the drunk and somehow beats the charges? Is she still vested?