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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThank You Mr. President. Thank You Gen. Holder
Last edited Sun Aug 25, 2013, 12:13 PM - Edit history (1)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The Justice Department sued Texas on Thursday over the state's voter ID law and will seek to intervene in a lawsuit over its redistricting laws that minority groups complain are discriminatory, but Texas Republicans insist are designed to protect the state's elections from fraud.
Attorney General Eric Holder said the action marks another step in the effort to protect voting rights of all eligible Americans. He said the government will not allow a recent Supreme Court decision to be interpreted as open season for states to pursue measures that suppress voting rights.
"This represents the department's latest action to protect voting rights, but it will not be our last," the attorney general said.
http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Gov-t-to-sue-Texas-over-voter-ID-law-4752989.php?cmpid=hpbn
As Republicans try to disenfranchise us through redistricting and take us back to Jim Crow with onerous ID laws, we are blessed to have these two men fighting for our rights, just as Democratic Presidents and Attorneys General have since JFK and LBJ.
Response to arely staircase (Original post)
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freshwest
(53,661 posts)was not just about segregation. Check DU, google or Wikipedia, if yu are sincere in that question Most of us here know the details, but I don't have time right now.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)PA GOP leader admits Voter ID is for Democratic vote suppression ...
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/52504712#52504712
Response to arely staircase (Reply #3)
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arely staircase
(12,482 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Remember, they watch Fox News and listen to Limbaugh. They are told that dead people vote in Chicago and some people vote 40 times. I know, it's nonsense, but it's all they hear. They believe cheating by ACORN allowed Obama to win both elections. This insanity is not adequately refuted in the regular media.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)I think it is a result of the general laziness (intellectual and otherwise) of reporters and editors. The "tell both sides of the story" framework is inadequate for fostering an informed citizenry. It is easy to blame low-information voters for not seeking out the truth. Though it takes little effort to do the research to get to the bottom of current events, many peoples' lives really are filled with the daily grind to the point that even a little research is too much to ask. So people just hear the MSM say that the Repubs claim 'A' but the Dems say "B" and either agree with A or B based on who they are more inclined to believe to begin with. The media is too lazy and cowardly to say "the Republicans say voter fraud is a problem but that is total bullshit." They are afraid of being called biased or liberal, when all they would really be is truthful.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)I'm far more concerned about election fraud. Too much of the country votes on black box machines.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)If it prevents one person from voting then the people who voted the law in should go to jail and never be allowed to vote again.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)You know.
Cha
(297,935 posts)were just a freaking mirage! 'cause fox told 'em.
Tanuki
(14,926 posts)Don't you find it odd that Texas is so selective about what kind of ID is acceptable (e.g., even the photo ID issued by a state university is not sufficient, but a concealed carry ID is fine)? When the Texas ID laws were struck down by the federal courts last year, they cited the huge discrepancy between possession of acceptable ID by Hispanic and non-Hispanic voters. This is part of a widespread, ALEC-sponsored initiative and you are being naïve or disingenuous if you want to pretend this is not a deliberate and ham-handed assault on the voting rights of groups (minorities, students, the disabled, the poor, etc.) that are more likely to vote for Democrats, and less likely to possess the proper ID. I live in Tennessee and although I have a car and a drivers license, in my state it is difficult for the rural poor to get to the offices where they would have to go. Women, especially the elderly, have been turned away because their birth certificate showed a different surname and then they had to jump through hoops to document their marriage, and it is not as simple as some people seem to think. When the voting clerk at the last election asked me if I had a photo ID, I said yes, and I also have a copy of the Constitution, which does not say anything about requiring a photo ID. It sickens me that all these flag-waving hypocrites who are always defending "the American way" are so quick to stomp down the basis of a democracy, i.e. the right of each citizen to participate on an equal basis in the electoral process.
Response to Tanuki (Reply #15)
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adieu
(1,009 posts)We only care that you reside in the district that you're voting for. Does a CCL ID indicate your current place of residence? A university ID clearly does so, as it shows that you're a student at the university.
TeamPooka
(24,286 posts)I was juror #6....
At Sat Aug 24, 2013, 02:56 PM an alert was sent on the following post:
acceptable ID
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3527515
REASON FOR ALERT:
This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate. (See <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=aboutus#communitystandards" target="_blank">Community Standards</a>.)
ALERTER'S COMMENTS:
This is a RW troll. First he wants everyone to show ID when voting now he says that a gun license is a good ID but college ID is worthless. Please hide this. All of his 5 posts are in this thread.
JURY RESULTS
You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Sat Aug 24, 2013, 03:08 PM, and the Jury voted 5-1 to HIDE IT.
Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT and said: This person wants to make voting harder, therefore HIDE.
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT and said: Voting doesn't kill anyone either....this is a stupid RW argument.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: He's asking for an argument... Give it to him.
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT and said: Fuck off you worthless Gun Troll, racist, voting rights denier.
Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.
rl6214
(8,142 posts)A Texas CCL number is the same as your DL number and the lic has all of the information that a DL has.
adieu
(1,009 posts)ID does not indicate your residence. I don't know how Texas works, but here in CA, if I move, my DL does not change. They don't immediately send me a new DL with the new address. My address on my DL is my old one from three years ago. When the DL expires and I am required to go to the DMV for exams, then I will get a new one. Otherwise, I just get a piece of paper that sticks to the back of the ID saying that it has been renewed to a new expiration date.
So the use of the DL to verify the voting district of the voter is pretty much useless. If it is to verify that the person is who he or she claim it is, then so would a student ID.
rl6214
(8,142 posts)That's crazy that CA dosent require the same.
adieu
(1,009 posts)immediately once I move. But they don't send me a new card with the updated address. The system knows that I am living in my current place. But unless someone actually contacts the DMV database, the address they see on my card is what they think is my address.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)how much more transparent can they be? it is pretty much a taunt.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)voter fraud is nearly non-existent nationally. North Carolina just had a similar study in their state.
Both studies were under Republican administrations and came to the same conclusion.
Response to stevenleser (Reply #17)
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Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)And ACORN no longer exists.
reusrename
(1,716 posts)Except for the voter fraud committed by folks like Ann Coulter, it does not exist.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)WASHINGTON, April 11 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.
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)And causing a much larger problem in the attempt to fix this non-issue.
Peacetrain
(22,881 posts)My mother has not driven in 55 years.. she is 84, and she let her state ID expire.. she cannot get medications for allergies when she needs them because she does not have a state ID.. I can buy her medications.. but I cannot vote for her
It has cost her a pretty penny to try and get copies of her birth certificate etc.
This whole thing of photo IDs was a solution in search of a problem
and in the meantime , it has disenfranchised millions.
Hekate
(90,978 posts)Regarding the driver's license: Women change their names when they get married; if there's only one car in the family, it's the man who drives it; women are less likely to drive -- it was a good point.
Most women still take their husband's name when they marry, and if they and their families are living on a cash economy they won't have the usual plastic trail.
Peacetrain
(22,881 posts)My Mom was in a terrible accident in her late 20's and never drove a car again.. The folks moved a few times..things got lost in the move..including her birth certificate after she retired.. I don't even think a couple of my older uncles have birth certificates because they were born at home.
So they are going to punish the "Greatest Generation" and those right behind them because they do not have the documentation.. that is nuts
Many of my older relatives have never had credit cards and that is a thing of pride for them..
bahrbearian
(13,466 posts)arely staircase
(12,482 posts)bahrbearian
(13,466 posts)hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)arely staircase
(12,482 posts)I guess some people aren't very good at trolling.
hey justin
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)but were selectively enforced by local election officials in a discriminatory way. In this case, the requirements for voter ID have a disproportionately negative effect on the poor, minorities, students, and the elderly.
ID cards cost money. You have to get them in person, which could mean getting time off from work (not so easy if you have a minimum-wage job). The place where you have to get the ID may not be readily accessible via mass transit, so if you don't have a car, that's another hurdle. (Some counties in Texas don't even have their own office to do this; you have to travel to another county.) If you move, you have to make another trip, to update your address. You need a birth certificate, which some elderly don't have.
So, if you've got a car, and money's not tight, and you can take time off from work, it's not so bad. Otherwise, it sucks. All to "fix" a problem that's virtually nonexistent. John Oliver had a great segment about this on The Daily Show, discussing the new voter ID law in North Carolina. In 2012, 4.5 million people voted in NC and there was one case of voter fraud at the polls. As John Oliver pointed out, they might as well have passed a law that says, "Dave can't vote, and he knows why."
btw, welcome to DU!
Response to winter is coming (Reply #5)
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mick063
(2,424 posts)I would be for an ID law if the government provided national ID, free of charge, at any request. That the government would provide any assistance needed to obtain the ID, including personal guidance and transportation, and assume the financial cost of doing so. That the ID could be issued "on the spot" by census takers and be valid for a lifetime. That a national register of the national ID could be easily accessed at every polling station. That the burden would be on the government to revoke the ID based upon fraudulent registration as opposed to the burden placed upon the individual to pay the poll tax of money and time to required to acquire one.
Under those conditions, I could accept voter ID laws.
Then again, as a tax payer, why would I want to pay for this? Considering the number of documented cases of fraudulent voting does not warrant such laws, it would seem to be a waste of tax payer money.
That's why I think Holder should go after this as a violation of the 24th amendment as well. In the case of Texas they are making people pay for a copy of their certified birth certificate, I don't know if that's done in the other states with voter ID laws.
And I agree, there just aren't enough cases of voter fraud perpetrated by the voters to warrant the hassle. It's just a pretext to keep a certain demographic from voting.
Response to Rstrstx (Reply #12)
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Response to Name removed (Reply #1)
Drunken Irishman This message was self-deleted by its author.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Good on Holder, the defense of civil rights has been a big part of his life. I hope to see this in every state as it is now going to go to court in N.C., too.
hopemountain
(3,919 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)always as Attorney General. He's Attorney General Holder, not General Holder.
http://www.formsofaddress.info/attorney_general.html
Hekate
(90,978 posts)... in this thread. Must be a particular interest for him/her.
bluestate10
(10,942 posts)to agree with them. Their efforts are both foolish and short-sighted. The removed poster likely was a far right poster that has been lurking and couldn't resist the hook of the Justice Department attacking voter suppression attempts, the Justice Department under Eric Holder is the Rights boogie-man. The Justice Department is doing exactly what it should do.
Cha
(297,935 posts)they're doing. Engaged in massive fraud to suppress voting because so many don't want to vote for their NOTHINGNESS.
Yes, Thank you, AG Holder and POTUS!
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)they shamelessly rig the game and accuse us of cheating.