Twenty-five states have broader voter identification requirements, and Wisconsin is not one of them. The Governor thinks this will disenfranchise voters and the senior citizens will no longer get to vote, because it will be to hard and costly. He claims it amounts to voter intimidation. He went on to say the people don’t want to be inconvenienced to have to show it.
I find that funny because of the numerous studies done, two-thirds of Americans, including a majority of racial and ethnic minorities, say the government should make voters show a photo ID. Something that is that absurdly simple or easy and requires little thought but to show an ID to vote. We are asked to provide ID constantly in our daily lives. Voter ID is not to make voting less convenient, but to make it fair.
One would think that voter identification is a no-brainer, and would be good for both parties to guarantee that everybody's votes are being counted and are legitimate. But that isn’t the case. Republicans want it and the Democrats don’t. The GOP is not trying to discourage any legal vote. That is a myth made up by liberals who know fraud favors their side. They are not trying to suppress the legal vote; they are trying to abolish the illegal vote. What it will do is help ensure that a liberal and poorly managed election process is as free from fraud as possible. That should be everyone's goal. There is plenty of fraud; it is always difficult to prove. So why not do something to minimize it?
Voter ID is just common sense, a “reasonable approach,” and the simplest and most effective way to fight voter fraud (this will not protect against election fraud) and protect the integrity of future elections. A "vast majority" of Wisconsin voters already have a driver's license or one of the other two acceptable forms of ID. Many bills have been brought forth to the Governor, to which he voted all of them, that would require voters to show one of three specific IDs: a Wisconsin driver's license; a military identification card; or a state-issued Department of Transportation card, which would have to be issued free.
Governor Doyle and the Democratic lawmakers have charged that any law requiring that voters show a photo ID is racist. This assertion is as offensive as it is ridiculous. How is asking voters to prove they are who they claim to be racist? Democrats obviously don't think much of their constituency if they think people are unable to provide such ID or that getting one free of charge from the state would prove too difficult a task. All that you need to apply for a state ID is a birth certificate and Social Security number.
This begs a larger question. How do these elderly people, whom Doyle claims do not have photo IDs, function in today's society? Are we to believe that none of them drives, buys alcohol, rent movies, smokes, cashes checks or flies? I find that hard to believe.
If you can get to a polling place, the bank, the grocery store, the doctor, the pharmacy, or the social security office you most likely have the means to get to the DMV. For those handful of people who truly cannot make this trip through any other means, I’m sure that Voter ID would inspire volunteers to rise to the occasion. There’s already no shortage of volunteers willing to drive people to polling places. This is just one more stop along the way. The idea that asking for the same safeguard at the polling place is neither voter suppression nor racism; it is reasonable.
Is the teller at the bank racist for asking for ID when you cash a check? Some banks even require a thumbprint. How dare them. Is the clerk at the Pick N’ Save a racist for requiring photo ID when you buy beer or pay for your groceries with a check? Is the pharmacist when he asks you for ID to get your favorite cold medication from behind the counter? Is the attendant racist for asking for an ID and your ticket stub before you board the plane? How about the clerk at the gas station when you pick up your smokes?
I didn't think so and most likely, neither did you. Any rational person would come to the correct conclusion, just not the Governor and his cronies. What does that tell you about them? How about that they are crooks, or at least don’t want a fair election. Without an ID, there isn’t much you can do in this state besides vote.
That is true unless you are a minor in Cudahy looking to buy cigarettes. Within the City of Cudahy 23.81% of the surveyed retailers with tobacco retail license allowed minors to have access to tobacco products after one of two surveys were performed earlier this month. Even with a law, requiring an ID to be shown to prove age, if people don’t enforce it or care it will not matter!
Who does this voter ID hurt, homeless people; lacking an address does make that small segment a problem. At this time, I have no true answer for them. We run the chance of election fraud if we have the homeless shelters have absentee ballets. Maybe the answer lies it either they don’t get to vote (which they have the right to vote) or we start to register the homeless and have a database on them.
It does hurt one other class of people who lost the right to vote and that is convicted felons not served. At least 82 felons illegally voted in Milwaukee in 2004. In some states any convicted felon cannot vote.
Maybe the true answer is to have a national ID card for voting or pass a constitutional (National or State) amendment requiring citizens to show a photo ID prior to voting. This would be passed by the Governor’s vote powers, just as the gay marriage ban did.
Now, what is the difference between "voter fraud" and "election fraud?”
"Voter fraud" is an individual who casts an illegal vote thus committing "voter fraud.”
Examples of this are: someone who is too young to vote; someone who is not a citizen; someone who is not allowed by the state to vote because of punishment for a felony conviction not served; someone who claims to be someone they are not; someone who seeks to vote more than once in an election; someone who does any of these things and casts a vote, commits "voter fraud.” The difference is that "voter fraud" occurs one vote at a time. It does not even have to involve criminal intent.
"Election fraud," on the other hand, is a concerted effort to significantly change the vote totals, and thus alter the outcome and steal the election.
This is what was done in Florida with “Dimpled Chads” “Hanging Chads” or “Pregnant Chads.” I feel much safer letting a machine with no political affiliation recount votes when needed. I know what the definition of lying is. You can never get into the mind of a voter if they were not able to vote correctly. If you cannot follow directions correctly, then your vote should not count. I am sure the law of averages stipulates the equal amounts of people on both sides will make the same mistake, thus canceling each other out.
In the end, Democracy does not work as long as confidence in the election process is compromised. Democracy does work when there are enough safeguards in place to end and discourage attempts of fraud and corruption. A fair election is what we should all demand; it is just too bad that is not what some people want!
From Milwaukee Journal Feb. 26, 2008
Tighter voting laws urged
Milwaukee police report findings from probe into 2004 polling
Nearly three years after police began a probe into 2004 voting flaws in Milwaukee, investigators issued a report Tuesday that says eliminating same-day registration and requiring voters to show photo IDs would minimize the problems found.
As Mark Belling said, “The most important recommendation in the police report is the call for photo identification for voters - a bill Doyle, Barrett and the rest of the Democrats are fighting this very week to kill. This is not a coincidence.”
Democrats, Republicans Get in Shouting Match at News Conference
Two Democratic lawmakers, including the Senate majority leader, got in a shouting match with Republicans at a news conference outside the Senate chamber on Thursday.
Five Republican lawmakers called the news conference to urge Senate Democrats to allow a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to require photo IDs to be presented when voting.
Democratic Sen. Spencer Coggs of Milwaukee stepped forward from a line of reporters to tell the Republicans that he had not allowed a hearing on the bill because he disagreed with them.
Tell our State Senators to advance the Voter ID bill (AJR17)
WI State Senator-7th District
Jeffrey Plale 1-800-361-5487
608-266-7505
Sen.Plale@legis.wisconsin.gov
Senate Majority Leader
Russell Decker, 608-266-2502
Sen.Decker@legis.wisconsin.gov
What we have found in this country, and maybe we're more aware of it now, is one problem that we've had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless, you might say, by choice.
- Ronald Reagan
