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Behind the spin on voter ID

Post on July 6, 2012 by 15 Comments »

Scott Mooneyham’s latest column provides a needed dose of sanity to the debate over the Republicans’ obsession with making it harder for people to vote with their voter ID laws and refusal to free up federal funding to make the November election run more smoothly.  He also gives us one of the quotes of the week.

To believe that there is widespread, orchestrated voter fraud based on people voting more than once under other people’s names is akin to believing in Elvis sightings and one-world government.

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Comments (Closed):15

  1. david esmay
    July 6, 2012 at 10:37 am

    When your support and demographics are rapidly disappearing, voter suppression as a means to power is your only recourse. To disguise their real intentions, the GOP seeks to create a phony problem where this none. My maternal grandmother never drove, never had a government issued ID, but never missed voting in an election for 67 years.

  2. Frank Burns
    July 6, 2012 at 10:37 am

    In my opinion one fraudulent vote is too much. Showing photo IDs is a prudent precaution done routinely by everybody from cashing a check at a bank, to attending an Obama speech. We are obligated to take measures needed to safeguard democracy.

  3. Judy Blume
    July 6, 2012 at 11:15 am

    Frank, the only thing North Carolina needs safeguarding from is the fring to which you belong.

  4. Frank Burns
    July 6, 2012 at 11:24 am

    Judy, Please don’t mention that to the bank teller the next time you want to cash a check, they won’t cash it for you without a photo ID and they won’t appreciate it if you call them a “fring”.

  5. Chris Fitzsimon
    July 6, 2012 at 11:26 am

    The last time I looked the constitution did not guarantee the right to cash a check.

  6. Frank Burns
    July 6, 2012 at 11:31 am

    Chirs, Did the constitution say anything about declaring a political affiliation or filling out your address? No but we do it anyway.

  7. Chris Fitzsimon
    July 6, 2012 at 11:48 am

    That’s because they don’t create barriers to voting like turning away the 600,000 or so people who don’t have a government-issued photo ID does.

    By the way since you are worried about the “fring,” I am responding because I don’t know if “Chirs” is reading this.

  8. david esmay
    July 6, 2012 at 11:48 am

    Frank your opinion entitles you to cast one vote, other than that it’s worthless.

  9. Frank Burns
    July 6, 2012 at 12:09 pm

    Chris,
    I’m pleased that you are able to keep your sense of humor. I don’t that very often on the left.

    The 2005 Report on Federal Election Reform, co chaired by former President Jimmy Carter recommended that Photo IDs be used to safeguard elections and made specific recommendations regarding the sick, one legged grandma’s etc. who don’t have a photo ID. Very simply handled with the help of the HAVA funds. http://www1.american.edu/ia/cfer/report/full_report.pdf

  10. Jeff S
    July 6, 2012 at 2:39 pm

    The whole issue is a red herring.

    The goal is not to suppress votes, it’s to give a portion of the white GOP something else to be angry about. It’s working.

    Focus their indignation on “them” so they won’t notice the party platform doesn’t do a thing for them. I have had this discussion with multiple people who honestly think this is a major problem and that “elections are being stolen”. When pressed, they have clearly given no real thought to the issue. The idea was appealing. They wanted to believe it and that was the end of the thought process.

    In my opinion though, the dems need to stop fighting over what is a largely irrelevant issue. It’s doing nothing but contributing to the ultimate goal of keeping conservatives paranoid. If you’re defending the practice, then the allegations must be true right?

    We need to get off of our heels and make the first move for a change. Democrats seem incapable of it lately. Hell, even articles like this are a sign of it. How many blurbs about this have their been? Stop arguing their talking points. Call the GOP leadership on their crap and drop it.

  11. Jack
    July 6, 2012 at 5:20 pm

    The Republicans can only win long term office by stacking the deck. This language of fraud is being used throughout the country to eliminate voters from the rolls of which the majority would not vote republican. If voter fraud is as rampant as the right wing claims then perhaps the right-wing need to have the NC Board of Elections investigated for concealing such fraud. But they haven’t which reveals something about the claim.

    The blatant use of force by the Republicans to enact public policy that denies people their civil rights and constitutional rights is a call to action.

    The Republicans talk about getting government out of our lives yet their actions in the NCGA is contrary words but then again their not making the effort anymore to conceal their contempt for the people.

  12. gregflynn
    July 7, 2012 at 4:50 pm

    For the record, NC GOP rejected HAVA funds this election cycle by refusing to appropriate $660,000 to secure the $4,000,000 federal funding.

  13. Alex
    July 7, 2012 at 11:19 pm

    That was another $ 4 million that we don’t have that would need to be borrowed. I wish you folks would realize Federal money is not free- it’s our money !

  14. Jack
    July 8, 2012 at 7:57 pm

    The mission of the Republican Party in North Carolina and across the country has been the disenfranchisement of millions of people with disabilities for the purpose of isolating them from the most important civic responsibility in a Democracy – voting.

    I guess civil rights does have a price.

  15. david esmay
    July 9, 2012 at 8:47 am

    You have to ask yourself, given the complete lack of evidence involving voter fraud, why has the GOP and ALEC become obsessed with it now? It is an act of desperate and power hungry men.