Indiana nuns lacking ID denied at poll by fellow sister

[book_worm]

About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place by a fellow bride of Christ because they didn't have state or federal identification bearing a photograph.

Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow sisters at Saint Mary's Convent in South Bend, across the street from the University of Notre Dame, because they had been told earlier that they would need such an ID to vote.

The nuns, all in their 80s or 90s, didn't get one but came to the precinct anyway.

"One came down this morning, and she was 98, and she said, 'I don't want to go do that,'" Sister McGuire said. Some showed up with outdated passports. None of them drives.

They weren't given provisional ballots because it would be impossible to get them to a motor vehicle branch and back in the 10-day time frame allotted by the law, Sister McGuire said. "You have to remember that some of these ladies don't walk well. They're in wheelchairs or on walkers or electric carts."

Nonetheless, she said, the convent will make a "very concerted effort" to get proper identification for the nuns in time for the general election. "We're going to take from now until November to get them out and get this done. You can't do this like school kids on a bus," she said. "I wish we could."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/05/indiana_nuns_lacking_id_denied.php

[DS1]

1. Now that's what I call a separation of church and state!

:hide:

[leftofcool]

2. Rules are rules, even for the sisters

[Solly Mack]

3. Damn

[LisaM]

4. Great.

Thanks, Scalia.

[MADem]

5. IN has the most onerous poll ID law in the nation.

I know some places, people can bring an electric bill with the right name and address on it. Not IN:

Indiana's photo ID law is the strictest in the country. The Republican-led effort was designed to combat ballot fraud, said supporters, who also have acknowledged that no case involving someone impersonating a voter at the polls has ever been prosecuted in Indiana.

[Ilsa]

6. What? She couldn't prove she was the real thing by showing them the secret handshake? nt

[N4457S]

7. Was There...

...a ruler hidden in that habit?

Seriously, Saint Mary's is a NICE place. They had a three star hotel once that we stayed in while visiting friends at Notre Dame.

It's a nice part of the world most of the year.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Though this is a somewhat comical example... a nun turning away the sisters

is almost good enough for a comedy skit... it is not funny

Folks Indiana WILL suppress the vote... and you can take that to the bank... and legally mind you

It is meant to keep the elderly, the immigrant and other non-desirable groups away from the polls

Thanks the USSC for this fuck up, since 2000 they've been racking them up, haven't they?

[N4457S]

9. Kathleen Freeman...

...call your office.

(She played Mother Superior in the Blues Brothers. Hysterical.)

[hootinholler]

10. How sad is it that I read ID as Intelligent Design.

:shrug:

I imagine this scenario played out all over Indiana.

-Hoot