NPR : 94-year-old woman who first voted for FDR denied right to vote in PA

[bullwinkle428]

unless she's willing and able to obtain a new state-issued ID.

"A new report by the Brennan Center for Justice finds that more than 10 million potential voters in states that require photo ID at the polls live more than 10 miles from offices that issue such ID. Nearly 500,000 of these voters don't have access to a car or other vehicle.

Many of these people presumably already have a photo ID, but for those who don't, the new laws pose a special challenge, according to the Brennan center. The center, which advocates for wider citizen participation in government, opposes many of these new voter ID laws.

"I've voted my entire life, from the time I was old enough to vote," says Bea Bookler, 94, of Devon, Pa. She cast her first ballot for Franklin Roosevelt. But now, unless she can get to the motor vehicle office 10 miles from her home, she won't be able to vote in November.

"How would I get there and how would I manage to stand in a line?" says Bookler, who uses a walker. She says she can barely make it to the polling place next door to her retirement community. She also doesn't understand why she has to go to all this trouble in the first place. She already has a voter registration card."

http://www.npr.org/2012/07/18/156935624/study-many-could-face-obstacles-in-voter-id-laws

[still_one]

1. and this is just another reason that at best it is 50/50 that we win /nt

[Tippy]

2. Alert: TN...be sure to check your ballots for accuracy before casing your vote

Here in TN Some of your info supplied by Elections office is incorrect...Your vote might not count..They are going to use everyt hing they can to disenfranchise...It the primary this spring it happend to former congressman Davis and his wife..they had them in the worng district...they did not get to vote..I have been told if ther is a discrepency 1. Do not vote the ballot you were given...2. bring it to the attention of the Election Judges they must supply you with the proper ballot...3. do not excepr a Provisional Ballot, as a lot of time these are not even counted at least here in TN...

[Voice for Peace]

7. this should be its own OP I think..

maybe with more details if possible?

[Tippy]

20. I am still gathering info...I'll do what I can.

I am so slow it is hard to type because of my RA..

[myrna minx]

3. K&R

[Botany]

4. Small price to pay in order to stop "voter fraud"

These are not republicans but thugs doing the work of rich in order to
stop democratic elections from picking the leaders.

BTW years ago our next door neighbor's brother in a very middle class neighborhood
was the governor of Pennsylvania, Ray Shafer, and he played w/ the kids, worked
for education and infrastructure, cared about the environment, and he was republican
too. He would have no home in the republican party of today.

I hope Eric Holder gets involved in stopping this blatant voter suppression.

[unblock]

5. i'm sure republicans hear this story and rejoice at the prospect of disenfranchising an fdr-voter.

[tk2kewl]

6. well if she voted for FDR she must be a commie

[billky]

8. 94 year old woman

Somebody just needs to take her there and anybody else who needs to go..

[PatSeg]

11. I know people her age

and even if someone takes her there, she wouldn't be able to stand in line or spend much time on her feet. This is absolutely cruel and insulting.

[pscot]

9. Sounds like the law is working perfectly

[whathehell]

10. A complete outrage!

Holder needs to get on this QUICK.

I'm from Pennsylvania and that woman is just about the age

my FDR voting parents would have been had they

been lucky enough to live that long....If I lived in Pennsylvania NOW

instead of Illinois I'd be chomping at the bit to do all I could,

personally, to get this changed.

[Botany]

13. Send this article to the department of justice

[e-mail]

Attorney General, Eric H. Holder, Jr., 202-514-2001

[whathehell]

17. Thank you..I will. n/t

[rox63]

12. New GOTV idea in states with voter id laws

Those who have cars and can wait in line, take your elderly and car-less neighbors to the local DMV to get a new ID card. This will need to be done well before the election. But if you can even do this for a few people, it will help.

[erpowers]

14. Crazy

I hope these laws are struck down. How can any judge say these laws are constitutional?

[Doctor_J]

16. Um...the SUPREME Court says that corporations are people

they are corrupt and partisan, which is why law suits are useless.

[Doctor_J]

15. Don't worry. Sleepy Holder will get right on it

He's thinking of planning to draft a lawsuit even as I write this.

[freeandequalpa]

18. Shocking, but true

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania admitted in writing that there is no evidence of in-person voter impersonation fraud, which is the only type of fraud a requirement that voters show ID at the polls possibly could prevent:

http://freeandequalpa.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/the-commonwealth-stipulation/

[MiniprotesterTodd]

19. Let's shoot the horse just in case somebody leaves the barn door open

That's the kind of logic that voter photo ID laws is trying to sell us. The CORPservative leaders of the GOP know their run is about to end, and only lying, fear, and cheating can prevent it. So they're giving us extra doses of all three right now.