Do you think it is fair and wise to require everyone, including the elderly, poor minorities, which is really

Question

the majority as 51%+ Americans are not caucasian ) now to have a state ID in order to vote for the presidential candidate?
I can see the good in that it would cut down on fraud voting. On the other hand, I think it is going to stop many people, mostly the elderly, the poor, and some disabled populations from voting as they can't get to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get the card or can't afford the card. It looks like this law is going to go into effect according to the news today.It seems to me to be a good way to keep some of the minorities (the majority) from voting. I sure hope that every young person makes a concerted effort to vote and help others have the opportunity to vote as well, because in past elections only about 60% of Americans of voting age voted, and of that 60%, about 40% were the wealthy. Please read this thoughtfully and let us all know what you think.

Answer 1

You made a great point and especially about the 40% who are wealthy and vote but then when you consider it-our candidates with the most dough collected to support their run for the white house are actually buying THE WHITE HOUSE, AREN'T THEY!

Answer 2

These laws can be constructed so that minorities have a hard time getting the ids. That is what was done in the Jim Crow south, and the voting rights act was aimed at prevent this abuse.

Whether the law is fair, and legal depends on factors such as how long people are given before the election to obtain the id, how far the government offices are from their homes, how many pieces of id are required to get the government id and what the fee for the id is.

The Georgia law requires a special id for voting, a driver's license or other state i.d. is not good enough. It was only issued at certain offices, and the nearest office to some parts of Atlanta was 35 miles away with no bus route or other public transportation available.

So all these voting requirement laws need to be looked at, and the possiblity of "fraud" needs to be balanced against the likelihood that minorities will be blocked from exercising their right to vote. There have been very few cases of voter id fraud by the way.

Answer 3

"On the other hand, I think it is going to stop many people, mostly the elderly, the poor, and some disabled populations from voting as they can't get to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get the card or can't afford the card."

I don't buy it, any of it. Where I live we have special buses called Access buses that transport elderly and disabled people anywhere in the country. Cost like a quarter for a ride. An ID card is $20 and is good for 5 years.

I have never seen any reliable statistics concerning income level and voting. I would love to see your source. Since based on your stats 40% of actual voters are wealth that means 60% are not.

Your poor/wealth issue about the ID requirement would make sense if say they were requiring passports which will set you back $100 or some sort of more expensive ID.

On the race issue, according to the 2000 census (the most recent) http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/dp1/2kh00.pdf of the people that identifieds themselves as a 97.6% of people idemntifieds themselves as a single race. 75.1% of them identified as white.

Answer 4

I personally believe that it really doesn't matter anymore.There will always be voter fraud,In Texas there were over 200,000 absentee votes that were hidden in a warehouse until after the election For wherever reason,the state of Texas does not want a paper trail.there are more democrats than republicans here and TX is a republican state
.Its been pr oven that the machines can be fixed.In New Mexico GW had 2000 votes before the polls even opened.
The very first time I went to vote 20 years ago the worker told me that if I chose a rep candidate I had to vote all rep.I found that to be a lie later.
If for one second I thought the elections would be counted honestly..I would vote.
As for as the Id cards its not what it seems....
Someday ..those id cards will determine weather you can buy food or not
you may think I am nuts but that's OK too.I just hope that all of you really pay attention and do alot of research before you judge.
And those fingerprints you get for free to protect your child... those are going into Huge databases for reasons known only to the government.Next time ask for ink prints and take the cards with you if you don't want your kid tracked.
Fraud voting will continue until we the people demand different........and I dont see anyone really caring too much to change that. everyone knows GW didn't win but it didn't matter those in power got him in there and look at us now..

Answer 5

I disagree. I don't know that there's anyone who doesn't have some kind of state-issued ID. It is required for countless other things besides voting that, if you didn't have one, not being able to vote would be the least of your problems.
Where I live, there are motor vehicle offices all over that are disabled-accessible. My grandmother had a drivers license, then a state ID when she quit driving, up until the time she died. And as for the poor, they would need that same card to apply for jobs/get housing/seek government benefits, so if they have a roof over their heads, then they had an ID at some point. And it costs $5-10.00. You don't really need to be wealthy to afford it. ( I am going to assume you didn't really mean to make "poor" synonymous with "minority" and overlook that portion of your question.)
It is really impossible to do, well, anything in our society today without some sort of state-issued ID, so your argument is about out of gas.

Answer 6

One would think that the elderly had to have some kind of ID in order to be able to draw social security benefits and medicare. The poor also have to have some kind of ID to obtain any welfare benefits. However, I do think that the states should be willing to issue ID cards to those who can not afford them. The cost isn't that great.

The whole thing is being blown way out of proportion. There are those who will grasp any excuse, no matter how flimsy, to keep people from having to identify themselves at the polls. In North Carolina all you have to do to vote in your precinct is state your name. I could study obituary columns, note the names, find voter rolls, and vote in several precincts for those deceased folks if I wanted to. I am sure that there are plenty of scoundrels who do that every election.

Something has to be done to prevent voter fraud. Do you have any other suggestions?

http://www.hendrixcampaign.com

Answer 7

I'm not really sure what you're asking . . . But to correct you, less than 51% of Americans are minorities actually. If you are asking about whether or not we should allow the elderly to vote then I say yes. Why would you not let someone have a voice? Even if someone is handicapped by a physical or mental disability they still need the chance to express their opinion. Most ballot places have areas to accommodate them.

Answer 8

It is a Grand Idea for us to have to show a Photo ID for us to Vote! It does cut down on Voter Fraud.

My Parents always made it to the Polls to Vote. They did not have a problem showing Photo ID! It's The Law!

If folks do not want to go and vote because they do not want to take time to fish their Photo ID out of their wallets and purses, then they are too lazy to Vote!

Every Time I vote, Before I enter the venue, I have my Voter Registration card and my Photo ID in my Paw ready to give to the Gate Keeper (The one who verifies I am who I am)

Answer 9

YES to help prevent voter fraud. Most people need some type of state ID for various things even if it is for social services so it should not be a problem

Answer 10

If they are so poor they cannot vote, then they are not paying for the government. If your not paying for the government, you are not paying for the service of the voting machine or power of the buildings the voting takes place in. We can also assume they will vote for candidates who put forth illegal, unconstitutional proposals of wealth redistribution.

Honestly. If they cant afford a license, or get one, they have no information on the candidates either. They will be bussed to the voting booth and given free food for the evening to vote for whoever the driver told them about!