Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com
The Arizona Eagletarian has already dealt with TownHall columnist Mona Charen’s pile of malarkey defending voter ID laws that appeared in Thursday’s Arizona Republican. I would add that the study that right wingers have been passing around like a doobie at a Willie Nelson concert that purportedly “proves” that a significant number of non-US citizens are registered to vote has been fact-checked and found to be lacking in conclusive evidence.
Voter ID laws are clearly a form of voter suppression targeting minorities and others likely to vote Democratic. It’s been described as similar to the poll taxes that were outlawed decades ago but they’re actually worse than that. You could at least pay the $10 poll tax and be able to vote. If you don’t have the required ID, however, you are not just possibly having to pay a fee (though the ID pushers insist that the IDs are always free), you may also be looking at having to take time off work and a long drive or several trips of public transportation to get whatever government agency dispenses the IDs, which may be oh-so-coincidentally located far from where you live. Voter ID laws are essentially a poll test for would-be voters who lack the privileges that make obtaining an ID a simple matter for people like Mona Charen.
If conservatives are truly concerned about ineligible people voting then why don’t they embrace the obvious solution for that? That would be a national ID, issued for free to all US citizens at age 16. It could be distributed through the schools, libraries, and post offices. The purpose of the card would be to determine eligibility to work and, at age 18, to prove US citizenship for voter registration. Local jurisdictions can then require other documents proving the voter’s address but there would be no doubt that the voter was an American citizen. (Please note that my proposal has nothing to do with immigration policy and it would have no impact on a non-citizen child’s ability to be enrolled in public school. Also, don’t annoy me with paranoid black helicopter conspiracy bullshit about a national ID. We already have forms of it, such as military IDs and passports.)
Conservatives pushing for voter ID laws have never embraced the simple solution of a national ID card because their goal is to deny the franchise to anyone who might disagree with them. Period.
There is nothing wrong in trying to stop vote fraud. However the biggest voter fraud is stoping american citizens from registering to vote and voting so ids used only for voting purpose should be given free to all voters who are registered to vote and to all citizens who are eligible to vote free. Their picture can be added at polling place when they vote and sent to them for next election. This would not stop minorities and democrats from voting so republicans would oppose it unless they are made to do it.
It must be horrible living with the boogeyman of the GOP hiding in your closet to cause eternal fear. I am a Republican and I believe the Vote Picture ID cards should be free and made as easy as possible to get while still protecting the integrity of the card. I don’t of any GOP member who disagrees with that. What we want is honest elections, not to stop Democrats from voting.
Steve,
Are all people, including postal clerks and librarians, liberal crooks in your world? Let me remind you there was a cheater at the DMV, and it was Russell Pearce, a right wing Republican.
Good point, Patricia!
I have to modify my words a little: I could the Post Office issuing the National ID Card if it was handled the same way they issue Passports. I think the security level for those is sufficient. I still wouldn’t want libraries handle it because librarians are too political to be trusted. The same for schools…they are too political. If the DMV is too difficult to reach, there are other options that would be accetable. Sheriff’s Offices and Police Stations, for instance. Clerks of the Court, County Registrars and other official agencies who deal with sensitive documents requiring accountability. The point is the document could be made readily available for free.
Librarians and school teachers/administrators are too “political” because why? Because they’re more likely to be women?
I personally like the idea of National Picture ID card issued free at age 16 to citizens who provide proof of citizenship. However, I would only want it issued through the DMV of each State, not schools, the Post Office or libraries. The schools, post offices and libraries are organizations that play fast and loose with regulations and tend to be rather liberal in nature. I don’t think they could be trusted with remaining honest in issuing the cards.
Having only the DMV do it means that non-drivers, who are more likely to be poor and/or disabled have to find transportation to offices that are often not anywhere near public transportation. I don’t see how anyone could play fast and loose issuing an ID that requires a birth certificate.