The ACLU is standing against a bill in Pennsylvania that requires voters to show identification because old people and black people are reeeeeeaaaaallly stupid and don’t know how to get identification.
PoliticsPA reports:
State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe’s Pennsylvania Voter Identification Protection Act, HB 934, passed the House State Government Committee and will advance to the House floor for consideration. The civil rights advocates at the PA chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) were quick to criticize the measure, saying it would lead to disenfranchisement…
ACLU says that a significant portion of U.S. citizens, 11 percent, do not have a government-issued photo ID, and that the law would create a barrier around the voting booth.
“According to research, 11 percent of U.S. citizens do not have government-issued photo ID,” said Andy Hoover, legislative director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. ”Those without ID are disproportionately the elderly, African-Americans, and the working poor.
“Voter ID laws create barriers to the ballot box that, intended or not, remind us of our country’s sad history of denying the vote .”
What an insult to old people, poor people, and African Americans. Don’t they realize that the ACLU looks down on them as somehow unable to get any identification whatsoever.
And the assertion that asking for identification is like “our country’s sad history of denying the vote” is just ridiculous. When I’m asked for identification to get on a plane I’m not reminded of the days before planes were invented.
The bill’s author said that “Currently in Pennsylvania it is impossible to board a commercial airplane, cash a paycheck, operate a motor vehicle or even purchase season passes to a neighborhood swimming pool or amusement park without displaying a valid photo ID.”
But we all know what this is about. This isn’t about making sure minorities and old people get to vote. This is about the Democrat Party’s ability to defraud elections. Make no mistake, by standing against this voter identification bill the ACLU is coming out in favor of fraudulent elections.
And by coming out for essentially giving more votes to Democrats doesn’t that make Republican voters count for less than one vote. My goodness it’s almost like Republican voters are only 3/5 of a vote or something, according to the ACLU.
In closing, I just think it’s kinda’ weird for an organization that actually issues membership cards to be against identification. And to get one of their membership cards you have to give them your credit card information. So I guess they don’t just accept your word for it that you’ll donate. They need verification, huh?
May 11, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Besides, it is hard for dead people to get a government issued ID. Also, how can you vote early and vote often if people check who you are.
May 11, 2011 at 6:15 pm
I am always shocked at the lack of security measures in regards to voting. All I have to do is state my name and address, and they check me off. NO ID NEEDED! Voting doesn't really mean anything if the votes are vulnerable to manipulation.
AND if you are too incompetent to provide ID, then perhaps you are too incompetent to have a say in who will be governing the rest of us who are capable of showing proof of who we are and whether or not we are eligible to vote.
Even libraries REQUIRE proof of residency and a photo ID before issuing library cards. How much more important is voter confidence that fraud is not a part of the standard procedure?
May 11, 2011 at 6:56 pm
People you know this is about stealing elections it has nothing to do with helping poor old grandma to vote. This is nothing but stealing votes, these bastards so far have gotten away with it.
May 11, 2011 at 7:02 pm
I honestly don't understand why Republicans don't do more about this. I often criticize the GOP for only caring about winning elections but voter fraud prevents that. Why don't they care?
May 11, 2011 at 7:53 pm
Of course, it's not "because old people and black people are reeeeeeaaaaallly stupid". It's because a disproportionate percentage of old people and black people are reeeeeeaaaaallly poor and may not be able to afford the time or money required to obtain a gubmint-issued ID.
Not to mention the fact that the voter ID bill will cost REAL MONEY to implement at a time when fiscal austerity is supposed to be a top priority.
May 11, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Libs all of a sudden interested in fiscal discipline. I love it.
May 11, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Actually, cons only pretend defecits are important when a dem is in the WH.
As bleeding-heart librul Dick Cheney said in 2002, "Reagan proved deficits don't matter".
May 11, 2011 at 8:12 pm
I live in Kentucky and have been showing my ID for years. No problems at all.
May 11, 2011 at 8:18 pm
If the government would allow people to use their social security card, surely there would be no issue, right? Government issued, at no direct cost; they mail you one when you're born! Or if you come to this country legally… oh wait, that would also rankle the ACLU.
May 11, 2011 at 8:36 pm
After doing a little research, PA must provide gubmint-issued photo ID for free to those who say they can't afford it in order to avoid legal challenges.
That jacks up the estimated cost of passing the bill to $11,000,000 for just the first year of implementation. That's alot of money to waste to fix a problem that does not exist.
May 11, 2011 at 8:42 pm
As somebody who has worked with the poor and elderly in an inner city area, I can tell you that obtaining identification can be difficult if not impossible for many. I'm sure that you have no problem paying for identification, but even 10 or 15 dollars can be an insurmountable obstacle for somebody whose job doesn't even pay enough to buy food and shelter. For elderly people, especially elderly black people, this can be even more difficult. This came up when Congress was trying to force Washington, DC to require birth certificates from people receiving Medicaid, the problem with that being that many black people in the South were denied birth certificates because they weren't allowed to use hospital services during the Jim Crow era.
As for the necessity of ID when cashing a check, that's also a major problem. I remember that when I was working in the city many of the people I served had no identification aside from the IDs that were given to them by check cashing establishments for the purpose of getting their Social Security or TANF funds because no bank would let them open an account without a driver's license. It's not about them being stupid, it's about the system being designed in a such a way that they simply can't obtain these documents.
May 11, 2011 at 9:57 pm
I'm all for free identification cards issued by the government. The DMV will already issue you an identification card without the driver's license part. If Republicans pushed for free ID's, it would knock down the entire argument of the ACLU. It is a pretty small potion of the population that would want the ID without the diver's license so the expense would not be too high. It would be worth it, in my opinion, to end voter fraud.
May 11, 2011 at 11:14 pm
Who isn't for free ID's? It's the government doing the charging for it. And then they're gonna' turn around and say they can't ask for voter ID because it costs too much? Makes no sense.
May 12, 2011 at 12:33 am
I'd think that conservatives, at least the ones at the far end of the spectrum, would have problems with mandatory identification. After all, they're the ones who talk about national identification cards being the "mark of the beast." I wonder how they feel about this move, especially considering that the states that are pushing for these requirements are by and large red rather than blue.
May 12, 2011 at 3:39 am
I think it is a great Idea, especially for alzheimers sufferers. When they forget who they are and wander off, they can just open their ids and voila, here I AM, me in the picture and my address and I am all set. Honestly, these Ids are necessary not only to preserve the honesty of voting but to identify medical emergencies and save lives and loved ones.
May 14, 2011 at 10:50 pm
My mom has an ID without the driver's license part. It's cheaper too because you don't have to renew it as often.
I just don't understand how you can go around without ID. Maybe it's because our IDs are checked for everything as a military family member that I just can't understand not having one.