Hypocrisy among our elected officials is nothing new. Disingenuously claiming a noble reason for an act that is done for crass political purposes is also nothing new. When it comes to restricting voting by poor and minority groups, both those things come into play and it is infuriating.
John Oliver has a fine segment dealing with the bogus war on fraudulent voting.
Oliver has a firm grasp of the obvious. Which is incredibly important, unfortunately. I really enjoy his pieces.
A right is something you have automatically. Making a conditional requirement for a right means you simply don’t have that right.
I just stumbled across an article claiming that the social security database has 6.5 million ‘active’ records showing age greater than 112 years. Since social security id cards are one form allowed for voting that tells me there is a huge potential for fraud. The SS database is a primary authenticator for a lot of stuff and it sounds like it’s fucked. Probably a lot of dead people getting checks.
Marcus @ #3:
SS cards are not an acceptable option for ID in the North Carolina elections. Those allowed must be a government-issued photo ID that is not expired. The list includes DMV issued IDs, military/veteran IDs, and tribal IDs. Those restrictions are not a problem for me, but they can be a tremendous obstacle for some people. (You know who we are talking about, right? Wink, wink!)
I still don’t understand why in the US people have to actively register to vote. In Israel citizens are automatically added to the registry of voters upon turning 18, as is anyone becoming a citizen after they are 18. (One does need to notify the Ministry of Interior of changes in their address in order to have their precinct information updated.)
@anat #5, in the US the individual states decide on the rules of who may vote within their borders. We have 50 different systems, and the Israeli practice of automatic registry is probably among them somewhere. In my state of Oregon, anyone who applies for a driver’s license or state ID card (both are provided by the same agency) is automatically registered as a voter.
SS cards are not an acceptable option for ID in the North Carolina elections.
Ah, right. I got my PA driver’s license with my SS card. And with my PA driver’s license I can vote.
I think Sarah Silverman deconstructed this pretty well with the whole thing about getting Nana to be able to vote by registering her a firearm. I forget the details. OH right: